Terms of Use

Welcome! This website, https://www.thebiomecollective.com is owned and operated by The Biome Collective Pty Ltd (ABN 66 686 371 415), director: Laura Taylor. If you have any questions or need further information, please email us at: hello@thebiomecollective.com

INFORMED CONSENT

This document outlines the Terms and Conditions for using this website or purchasing from us. It explains the expectations and boundaries we have put in place to support our business and create fair and respectful working relationships. Your informed consent matters, so please take a moment to read it. If you are under 18, we require your parent, guardian or caregiver to read and accept these terms on your behalf.

When you visit this website, use our services or purchase our products you agree that you are over the age of 18, or have had your parent, guardian or caregiver accept on your behalf, and are willing to be bound by these Terms & Conditions. If you don’t agree, you should not continue to visit this website or purchase any product or service from us.

All products and services advertised on this website are offered in compliance with Australian Consumer Law.

These Terms & Conditions may be changed or modified from time to time. Please check back regularly to ensure you are aware of any changes.

There may be additional, specific terms of service provided to you in relation to our services, training and courses. If there is any inconsistency between this document and those specific terms of service, these Website Terms & Conditions are overruled to the extent of the inconsistency.

Content Disclaimer

On this website and in our social media accounts we provide information about health conditions, and testing and treatment options. This content is provided solely for educational purposes and is intended to provide general health information.

We conduct extensive research in order to provide content that we believe to be valuable and true, but we have no responsibility for the use that you make of that information.

Please be aware that the generalised information we provide is not a substitute for specialist advice tailored to your individual circumstances. It is important that you understand that the generalised health information we share is never a substitute for seeking advice from a health professional to receive guidance specific to your circumstances.

There is no professional relationship formed by your visit to our website unless you explicitly choose to work with us by purchasing our services or products.

Any testimonials or results we may display on this website are based on our experience and those of our previous clients. They are not guarantees that anyone else will achieve the same results.

While we take all reasonable care to ensure that the content we create is accurate, relevant and up to date, we make no guarantees and disclaim any legal liability for inaccuracy, incompleteness or error. If you find something that seems problematic, it would be very helpful if you let us know!

We may modify our content at any time, including altering or deleting it without notice.

VISITOR RESPONSIBILITIES

You are responsible for your own safety and wellbeing while browsing the internet. Do not act on anything you read without first conducting your own research, consulting appropriately qualified professionals, and making informed choices about what is right for you, based on your personal circumstances.

It really should go without saying, but as a user of our website, you agree not to behave maliciously, spam any other user, post defamatory content about anyone, infect any aspect of our website with malware, hack into any part of our website where you don’t have our permission to be, or use our website for any purpose other than consuming our content, engaging in our programs, and purchasing our products or services. You also agree not to use our website or content in any way that is unlawful or harmful to any other person or business. If you do, we have the right to refuse you service, ban you from accessing our website or social media, and take action to protect our business.

DOWNLOADS

This site may offer paid and free downloads. While we take cybersecurity seriously and make every reasonable effort to ensure these downloads are safe and hassle free, we are not responsible for any viruses or other damage which might occur as a result of you downloading material from this site. Please make safety your priority and ensure you have adequate internet security to protect yourself against malicious interference from cybercriminals.

EXTERNAL LINKS

From time to time we may provide links to external sites. We have no control over the information provided on these sites, and the links are solely for your information, education or entertainment. We do not endorse any products they offer for sale and have no relationship with them unless otherwise clearly notified.

Disclaimer for Services and Products

There are a number of ways you may choose to work with us that are available to purchase or book through our website. The terms and conditions in this document apply to all of our services and products unless alternative terms are explicitly provided to you.

We offer:

1:1 book-as-you-go health consultations with a member of The Biome Collective team
Consultation packages, which may include additional services such as testing

Our intention in offering these services is to support you with personalised healthcare in a clinical setting.

For health professionals we offer:

Educational training/courses that are suitable for health professionals

Our intention in offering training/courses is to educate and help health professionals up-skill.

Why Work with Us?

We are a team of qualified naturopaths and nutritionists who all, at a minimum, hold a Bachelor of Health Science degree. We believe it is our responsibility to deliver evidence informed treatment recommendations within the scope of our qualifications. We make all reasonable efforts to meet a high standard of best practice care.

WHAT WE EXPECT FROM YOU

When receiving service, advice or treatment from us, you agree to the following:

You understand it is your responsibility to disclose all current medications including prescriptions, supplements and herbal medicines to the health practitioner you are working with.
You understand it is your responsibility to disclose all current and past health conditions to my practitioner at The Biome Collective Clinic.
You agree to make a commitment to my health and accept that the positive outcomes of your health are dependent on my compliance with the recommended and prescribed treatments.
You understand that as a patient of The Biome Collective Clinic, you are entitled to contact your practitioner via email if you have any questions or concerns regarding the current treatment plan or anything discussed in consult. You also understand that your practitioner will endeavour to respond within 4 business days.
You understand that if your questions relate to a new health concern, medication, supplement or test, which is outside of what has been covered in your care, or if you have more than a reasonable number of questions to ask about your existing plan, your practitioner may recommend a follow-up consultation.
You understand that all provided test results will be assessed during the consult, and will not be reviewed outside of consultation time unless extra time is scheduled.
You understand it is your responsibility to inform your practitioner of any side effects you experience from prescribed herbs or supplements.
You understand that your practitioner is a Bachelor of Health Science Naturopath or Nutritionist and you consent to receiving treatment recommendations by your designated practitioner.
You understand that naturopathy and nutrition are complementary healthcare systems that are not covered by Medicare or private health.
You understand that your practitioner at the Biome Collective Clinic cannot always make recommendations on new issues that arise without a consultation. It is a Naturopath/Nutritionist's duty of care to ensure all bases are covered before prescribing.
You understand that some of the treatments to optimise your long-term health such as nutrition, lifestyle and supplemental therapy is not a quick-fix, and therefore may take time and commitment to notice meaningful changes.
You agree to notify your practitioner at The Biome Collective Clinic 24 hours (during business hours, Monday to Friday) in advance if you need to cancel, otherwise you will be responsible for 100% of the consultation fee. This is to allow time to fill this slot and avoid loss of income.
You agree not to send any case-based enquiries (questions about prescriptions, treatment plans, new complaints etc) and change of appointment requests via social media or text. These must be sent through email only to keep everything safely in one place.
You understand that The Biome Collective Clinic practitioners may use Heidi Health transcribing service for creating consolidated summary notes of my consultation. No patient data or recordings are stored by the service.
You understand you may receive emails from The Biome Collective Clinic from time to time regarding clinic-specific offers and updates. You understand you can opt out at any time using the unsubscribe button in each email. Please do not mark us as spam because this makes it harder for us to reach those who want our emails.

Important Information

RISKS

If something changes with your health, it is important that you advise your practitioner as soon as possible so that they can make necessary adjustments to your treatment plan. Examples include becoming pregnant, receiving a new diagnosis, requiring medical treatment such as surgery, or stopping or starting a medication or changing the medication dosage regime.

Adverse reactions are rare with natural medicine herbs and supplements but they can happen. Advise your practitioner of any known allergies and sensitivities, and if you suspect an adverse reaction has occurred advise your practitioner as soon as possible and cease the prescribed product.

LIMITATIONS

We are not medical doctors. At all times, you remain fully responsible for your own physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. We cannot advise you on whether a medication or medical treatment is right for you, or diagnose a disease. That is the role of your general practitioner or specialist.

While we are trained to support the nervous system and stress responses, and can recommend ways to support your mental health, we are not clinically trained counsellors, psychologists or therapists, and do not offer any kind of diagnoses in this space.

If you are working with a different health practitioner, it is important that you inform us and continue any treatment plans the practitioner has recommended. We are always happy to work collaboratively as part of your holistic health care team.

Indemnity

CONTENT ERRORS

We do not make any guarantees or warranties about the accuracy of any material displayed on this website, or the products, services, or programs offered through it, with the exception of any non-excludable consumer guarantees and other consumer protection provisions set out in the Australian Consumer Law. We are human and errors creep in despite the best of intentions. If you see something that doesn’t seem right, please let us know.

LOSS OR DAMAGE

While we make all reasonable efforts to ensure that this website and our services products meet with the highest standards of best practice, if something does go wrong that is not a direct result of our negligence, misrepresentation or deliberate fault, you agree that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any loss or damage arising out of or related to [my/our] website, any products or services purchased through it, or any material posted on it, irrespective of whether such damages were foreseeable, and regardless of the nature of the claim.

LIABILITY FOR ADVICE

You take full responsibility for your implementation of any suggestions that we may make while providing our services. You understand that our advice is limited to providing you with options for your consideration, and that you are solely responsible for any actions that you choose to take. Always consult your own values and vision, do your own research, and check with appropriately qualified professionals before making major decisions or significant changes. You agree to indemnify us against all consequences arising directly or indirectly from your choices.

CAP ON DAMAGES

You expressly agree that if this indemnity is unenforceable for any reason, our total cumulative liability for all causes of action of any kind (other than negligence or deliberate wrongdoing) shall not exceed the amount that you have paid to us.

Appointment Policies

APPOINTMENTS

You agree to notify your practitioner at The Biome Collective Clinic 24 hours (during business hours, Monday to Friday) in advance if you need to cancel, otherwise you will be responsible for 100% of the consultation fee. This is to allow time to fill this slot and avoid loss of income.

To get the most out of your appointment, you need to be set up in a private, quiet area. You will need to focus so please reschedule if you are going to be driving. We are a child-friendly clinic and don’t mind at all if you are breastfeeding or have a toddler crawling into your lap during our call. In order to get the most of our time together, however, it is always best if we can hear ourselves think, so where possible we try to schedule your appointments for a time when you have a quiet environment.

Payment Terms

CURRENCY & GST

All prices for consultations on our website are in Australian dollars and are not subject to GST. Practitioner mentoring services and courses are inclusive of GST.

FORMS OF PAYMENT

All payments made through this website are processed using Stripe.

SECURITY POLICY

I do not have access to your credit card number or account details. Any financial information you enter is stored in Stripe and is protected under Stripe’s security policy: https://stripe.com/docs/security/stripe.

PAYMENT TERMS

100% prepayment is required for all initial consultation services booked through this website. Payment will be processed at the time of booking. Return consultation services are invoiced at the time of the consult and payment is due on the same day. Our standard process is to store your credit card number in Stripe and we will then charge your card on completion of the appointment. If we do not have your card number on file, we will send you an invoice, which is due on the same day it is issued.

If a payment is overdue by more than 48 hours, we will email you a reminder and

will then send weekly reminders until payment is made. After the first reminder, an administrative fee of $25 (inc. GST) will be added to the total amount due for every reminder sent. This is because having to nag you for payment is not pleasant and requires extra admin management at our end. If there is a problem with payment, please contact us as soon as possible to make alternative arrangements and avoid incurring this administrative fee. If your invoice has not been paid before your next consultation we will advise you that we will be unable to proceed with the appointment until your payment has been made.

PAYMENT PLANS

Payment plans may be offered under special circumstances, so you can spread your payment out over time. You are still committed to paying the whole amount, even if you change your mind about your purchase, as you have had access to our intellectual property / or we have completed the work for you. It is your responsibility to ensure you have sufficient funds to make payment instalments on time.

DEBT COLLECTION

You agree to pay any costs we reasonably incur in chasing overdue payments, including administrative fees, debt recovery fees and legal fees.

Refund Policy

CHANGE OF MIND

We do not offer a refund for services booked through our website if you change your mind, so you are encouraged to consider carefully whether a purchase is right for you before you make your payment. You are welcome to transfer your purchased service to someone else in your life who may benefit from it. We require at least 7 days’ notice prior to your booked service if you wish to transfer the appointment.

CONSUMER GUARANTEES

If a minor problem occurs, which impacts your experience of more than 50% of your allotted time during a consultation, such as the practitioner’s internet connection being unstable, we will reschedule your appointment for no additional charge.

If your practitioner is unwell or is called away due to an emergency and is unable to conduct your consultation, another member of the team may run your appointment if you agree. Alternatively, we will reschedule your appointment for an alternative date.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

We take our obligations under Australian Consumer Law seriously and will do our best to address any issues that arise. However, even if there is a major problem, our liability is strictly limited to:

replacing the goods or providing the services again; or
if we are unable to do so within a reasonable time, refunding the full amount that you have paid to us.

INVITATION TO DISCUSS PROBLEM

If you feel that there is any problem with our services, please let us know within 24 hours of your session. We are keen to understand what has gone wrong if you are unhappy so that we can address your concerns and try to find a mutually acceptable solution.

Intellectual Property

COPYRIGHT & TRADE SECRETS

The content of this website and in all our courses/resources/eBooks is protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world, with all rights reserved. This means that you must not use, copy or make our work public without our permission.

We believe in openness and transparency, so we want to let you know that we sometimes use artificial intelligence, or AI, to help make our content better. This means parts of what you see on our website, including text and images, might have been made with AI assistance. We have chosen our AI tools carefully and have the right to use anything that the AI helped create in our work. We have also invested considerable intellectual effort in transforming the raw material produced by the AI into an original work before sharing it with you. Even though AI may have helped co-create or inspire us, our content is still very much our unique creation, and we claim exclusive ownership of it.

You may link to content on our website or social media profiles, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, but you must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists.

If you are participating in our courses, content may be printed or downloaded to a local hard disk strictly for your personal and non-commercial use. Course content contains my trade secrets that are offered exclusively to participants. It is an essential condition of participation that you agree that you will not provide extracts of any course content to anyone else without explicit written consent.

Commercial exploitation of our content in any way that competes with our business is strictly prohibited.

TRADE MARKS

We claim ownership of my logo as an unregistered trade mark. It may not be used without my express permission.

COMMENTS POLICY

We reserve the right to moderate any comments made on this website, in the Facebook Groups we control, and on any of our social media pages and profiles, including deleting comments that we deem to be rude, offensive, spammy or unacceptable without any notification or correspondence with you. Keep all communication kind and polite, please.

RESPONSIBLE ENGAGEMENT

Disrespectful or aggressive behaviour towards our team or anybody else will not be tolerated.

Dispute Resolution & Jurisdiction

DISPUTE

If a dispute arises, you agree that you will not engage in any public discussion about the issues, will behave politely towards us, and will avoid any conduct or communication which might reasonably be expected to interfere with our business or personal interests. You agree to act in good faith and be reasonably cooperative at all stages of the dispute resolution process. We will treat you with the same consideration.

NEGOTIATION

If you have any concerns, issues or complaint arising out of your use of this website, our products or services, or these terms and conditions, you agree to communicate with us with the intention of making a genuine effort to seek a win/win solution and trying to resolve the dispute in good faith through negotiation and discussion. Please email us at hello@thebiomecollective.com and expect a response within 3 business days.

MEDIATION

If there is a problem, you agree to meet with us in good faith to discuss it and try to make a genuine effort to find a win-win solution. If the problem cannot be resolved within a reasonable time, you agree to engage in mediation and alternative methods of dispute resolution, with litigation being a last resort and any mediation costs shared equally. We commit to making a similar effort to resolve any disputes in a friendly manner.

CODE OF CONDUCT JURISDICTION

These Website Terms & Conditions are subject to the governing law of Victoria, Australia. Regardless of where you live in the world, you irrevocably agree that if the dispute resolution processes fail, the courts of Victoria and the Commonwealth of Australia, will have exclusive jurisdiction.