January 2021
By using the services provided by the NRS you are agreeing to the terms and conditions below.
1. About these terms and conditions
1.1 These terms and conditions (‘Terms and Conditions’) are an agreement between a user (referred to in these terms and conditions as ‘you’, with ‘your’ having a corresponding meaning) of the National Relay Service (‘NRS’) and the provider of the NRS, Concentrix Services Proprietary Limited (ACN 166 171 991) (referred to in these Terms and Conditions as ‘we’, with ‘us’ and ‘our’ having corresponding meanings).
1.2 These Terms and Conditions govern your use of the NRS and our provision of the NRS.
1.3 These Terms and Conditions, among other things, permit us to interrupt, block, restrict or cancel your access to the NRS if you do not comply with these Terms and Conditions. Such action will safeguard the NRS brand and the provision of the service to other NRS users.
1.4 These Terms and Conditions form the entire agreement between you and us relating to your use and our provision of the NRS and supersedes all previous agreements and understandings, whether oral or in writing between you and us, in relation to the NRS.
1.5 These Terms and Conditions are governed by the law of the Australian state or territory in which you ordinarily reside. You agree and we agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of that State or Territory.
2. General terms and conditions of use
2.1 We will provide the NRS to you in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. The NRS includes the Video Relay Service described in clause 3.1 below, and any other services that may, from time to time, be added to the NRS.
2.2 While we will do everything within our reasonable control and capability to ensure that the NRS (other than the Video Relay Service) is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and that the Video Relay Service is available between the hours of 7.00am and 6.00pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, Monday to Friday inclusive (excluding national public holidays), we do not warrant that the NRS will be uninterrupted, continuous or error free. We do not accept any liability to you if there is an interruption to or fault in the NRS caused by any third-party equipment or service that we do not provide or is not under our control, for example, telecommunications equipment, networks and services.
2.3 The NRS may only be used to make calls to or from persons who are deaf, or who have a hearing and/or speech impairment. Such a call constitutes a genuine relay call (‘Genuine Relay Call’).
2.4 Unless you are making an emergency call by dialling 106 or in accordance with clause 2.19, you must register by using the form provided in online or downloadable format at www.accesshub.gov.au/about-the-nrs/register-for-the-nrs to use the NRS.
2.5 When you register to use the NRS, you agree to:
2.5.1 provide accurate and complete information
2.5.2 inform us of any changes to your registration information
2.5.3 maintain the confidentiality of your password and other information related to the security of your account
2.5.4 be fully responsible for all use of your account and for any actions that take place through your account
2.5.5 notify us immediately upon becoming aware of any breach of security or unauthorised use of your account.
2.6 When you register to use the NRS we may collect personal information about you such as your name, address and contact details. We may also collect sensitive information about you including why you need to use the NRS. All personal information will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy accessible at www.accesshub.gov.au/about-the-nrs/nrs-privacy-policy and the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The NRS registration form available at www.accesshub.gov.au/about-the-nrs/register-for-the-nrs contains a Privacy Collection Notice. We will retain any information you provide to us for a period of 7 years.
2.7 We reserve the right to pause or cancel your registration if you do not comply with these Terms and Conditions. If you do not use the NRS for a period of 12 months your registration will automatically lapse.
2.8 When using the NRS you must act in a respectful manner towards NRS staff at all times. We reserve the right to interrupt, block or disconnect any NRS call at our absolute discretion if you act in a way that is aggressive, rude, inappropriate, obscene or otherwise offensive on an NRS call.
2.9 You must not:
2.9.1 use, or allow any other person to use, the NRS for any unlawful purpose
2.9.2 use the NRS in a manner that we reasonably consider may adversely affect the provision of the NRS to other NRS users, or
2.9.3 use the NRS to make ‘unwelcome communications’; Unwelcome communications are unsolicited communications that, by virtue of their content, frequency or timing, are offensive or tend to menace or harass the recipient.
2.10 We may, acting reasonably and subject to our obligations as the emergency call person for 106 under the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Services) Determination 2009:
2.10.1 interrupt, block or disconnect any relay call that is not a Genuine Relay Call
2.10.2 interrupt, block, disconnect or otherwise restrict your access to the NRS if you do not comply with your obligations under clause 2.9
2.11 To call international, premium rate, and certain other numbers that we may notify to you, you must utilise a calling card for the Australian telephone network purchased online or at a retail outlet (for example, a newsagent or convenience store). International call charges will be billed directly to the calling card.
2.12 The numbers 1800 555 677 and 1800 555 727 must only be used for outbound calls placed to another 1800 or fee-free call number. We reserve the right to interrupt, block or disconnect any call that does not use these numbers in accordance with this clause 2.12.
2.13 You are responsible, at your own cost, for providing any equipment necessary to access the NRS, including TTYs/TDDs, modems, computers, telephone and other equipment and for all costs and charges associated with telephone and internet services, including connection, call and data costs and charges.
2.14 With the agreement of the Commonwealth, changes may be made to the NRS or the manner in which the NRS is accessed or used. Notice of such changes and any changes to these Terms and Conditions will be published on www.accesshub.gov.au/about-the-nrs/nrs-terms-conditions.
2.15 Life-threatening or time-critical emergency calls made through the NRS by dialling 106 will be subject to monitoring and call recording as required by law. This is to ensure that calls relayed to an emergency services organisation (‘ESO’), such as the police, fire, or ambulance services, may be recovered by the relevant ESO subject to strict compliance with the relevant legislation. The monitoring and recording of such calls is not for the purposes of coaching and training, but for the purposes of ensuring that access to critical information is available.
2.16 We will protect the security of any such information, described in clause 2.15, in accordance with our legal obligations, including under applicable legislation. All recorded or retained communications will be stored and protected as required by law, and will remain confidential in accordance with our legal obligations. We may disclose information and communications recorded or held by us in response to lawful disclosure requests from authorised state, territory and Commonwealth government agencies.
2.17 Each time you make a call through the NRS, other than by dialling 106, your call may be recorded for coaching and training purposes, subject to your acknowledgement. If you do not agree to your call being recorded, you can choose not to continue with the call. We respect your privacy and will treat all calls with confidentiality. Robust information security protocols are applied in accordance with applicable legal obligations. We will comply with the privacy provisions of all applicable legislation, including the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
2.18 To the maximum extent permitted by law, you exclude, and release us from, all liability to you (whether direct, indirect, consequential or otherwise) arising out of or in connection with your use of the NRS, unless such liability arises as a result of our negligence or any breach by us of our obligations under these Terms and Conditions or any applicable law.
2.19 Please note that if you seek access to ESOs using internet-based devices and/or connections or a mobile network connection, that access:
2.19.1 May not be as reliable as directly dialling 106 with a TTY/TDD
2.19.2 May not always be available depending on a number of issues such as internet connectivity and device coverage
2.19.3 May not enable the emergency operator to identify your phone number or your location
3. Video Relay service access option
3.1 If you use the Video Relay service (‘Video Relay Service’), this clause 3 applies, in addition to clauses 1 and 2 of these Terms and Conditions.
3.2 When using the Video Relay service you must use Auslan to communicate and ensure that both your hands and face are clearly visible to the NRS interpreter for the duration of the call.
3.3 The Video Relay service operates on a ‘first available’ basis and Video Relay service calls are answered by NRS interpreters in the order they enter the queue. You may not select a specific NRS interpreter for your call.
Downloads
Download a copy of the NRS Terms and Conditions