Part of having a website built is considering whether or not to include Terms and Conditions. And what should they say?

I can help you to create a Terms and Conditions page and get your privacy policy onto your website if you need it.

Do you?

If you advertise goods or services through a website you MUST have T&Cs under Australian Consumer Law.

Michelle Marie Whitehead

As long as I’ve been in business, I’ve been refering my clients to Michelle Marie Whitehead for all legal concerns. 

We were both in a business building online course back in 2015/6 and I was lucky enough to connect with Michelle’s unique and loving approach to legals as I got to know her. 

I actually used Michelle’s Do it Yourself Terms and Conditions package to craft my own Terms and Conditions. 

Michelle is also a complete ninja at Intellectual Property and Trademark law if you want to get legal advice around your unique services.

Read her latest blog all about T&C’s here

Ok ok back to Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

Let’s look at one at a time.

Privacy Policy

You need a privacy policy if your business generates $3million a year or more.

If you don’t have a revenue that high there are a few situations where you still need one, like if you offer private health such as naturopathy or support people with weight loss.

Check out the details from the Privacy Act here to clarify whether you need a Privacy Policy or not:

According to the Australian Government your privacy policy should include:

  • your name and contact details
  • what kinds of personal information you collect and store
  • how you collect personal information and where it is stored
  • the reasons why you need to collect personal information
  • how you’ll use and disclose personal information
  • how users can access their personal information, or ask for a correction
  • how they can lodge a complaint if they think their information has (been) mishandled, and how you’ll handle their complaint
  • if you are likely to disclose their information outside Australia and, if practical, which countries you are likely to disclose the information to

I highly recommend using Michelle’s DIY product for the human face of your legals. She really does make it a loving process rather than all this blah blah.

Terms and Conditions

I am not a lawyer so I am not happy giving advice about this topic in depth. Iinstead, I’m going to let Michelle explain her approach to T&C’s which I love. 

“If you advertise goods or services through a website you MUST have T&Cs under Australian Consumer Law. Even more importantly, well-written Website Terms and Conditions can create a connection between you and those thinking about buying from you, increasing trust, reducing anxiety, letting people know that they are in the right place, and educating them about what it is like to work with you so they can give informed consent.”
“When you have T&Cs that are not a good fit – that have been found on the internet or drafted by someone who didn’t truly understand and adore your business – there is an energetic dissonance.
They feel out of tune and unreliable, like an uncomfortable alien appendage hanging off your website because “should” have it, not because you want it to be there.
This is even worse if you have “borrowed” your T&Cs from someone else, because this is a breach of their intellectual property.
Trusting your safety to something stolen is never going to feel wonderful.
Do you really want to build a sense of wrongness into your business foundations?”
“Imagine how it would feel to have legals that were working with you to draw in your ideal clients and manifest the working relationships you desire?
This can happen when you have poured your own heart and soul into their creation, when you feel like they empower you rather than weighing you down.
When you write your legal documents in the same language you use for your marketing, when you understand every word of them and when they are in complete alignment with your values and vision, your T&Cs become an essential tool that supports you in doing business YOUR WAY and saves you a huge amount of ENERGY & EFFORT.”
Above in quotes by Michelle Marie Whitehead.
I hope this blog has been helpful and I wonder if you have figured out whether you need T&C’s + a Privacy Policy? 

“I pay my respects and acknowledge the people of the Yuin Nation, custodians of the land on which I live and work. I also pay respect to all Elders — past, present and future.”