Your IT & Tech Mates
Safeguarding

Vulnerable Persons Safeguarding Policy

How we aim to support customers experiencing vulnerability, digital exclusion, scam exposure or reliance on others.

Effective date: 14 May 2026

AI and automated information disclaimer: Quick Help responses, AI-assisted suggestions, automated intake classifications, initial estimates, technician-preparation notes and summaries are general guidance only. They may be incomplete, inaccurate, outdated or unsuitable for your device, account, data, network, repair, scam, cyber-safety, website, email, hosting or software situation. They are not a final diagnosis, official quote, professional certification, safety assurance, legal/tax/financial advice, cyber-forensics report, guaranteed repair instruction or a substitute for team review. A Your IT & Tech Mates team must review and confirm the issue, scope, price, quote, invoice, warranty position and next steps before anything is treated as final.

1. Our commitment

We aim to provide patient, respectful and fair support. We do not pressure vulnerable persons to buy services they do not need. We encourage trusted support people to be involved where appropriate.

2. Who may be vulnerable?

A person may be vulnerable due to age, disability, cognitive impairment, grief, stress, domestic/family violence, financial hardship, language barriers, digital exclusion, scam victimisation, isolation, illness, reliance on another person or limited technology confidence.

3. Consent and authority

4. Scam and cyber safety

If a customer appears affected by scam, coercion, account compromise or urgent cyber risk, we may recommend safety steps such as contacting their bank, securing accounts, reporting to Scamwatch/ReportCyber, and involving a trusted support person.

5. Financial and service safeguards

6. NDIS, aged care and government funding

We do not claim to be an NDIS registered provider, aged care provider, care-service provider, NDIS-approved provider or government-endorsed provider unless expressly and lawfully stated in writing. Customers, support workers, carers and organisations using funding must confirm their own eligibility, authority, consent and claim process.

7. Privacy and sensitive information

We collect only information needed to assist. We avoid collecting unnecessary sensitive information and do not request PINs, passwords, TFNs, MFA codes or banking codes through public forms.

8. Complaints

Concerns can be raised by the customer, a trusted support person or an authorised representative by contacting [email protected] or 0452 323 571.

Provider referrals and pickup services

Provider staff must not pressure or unduly influence residents, families, parents, students, staff, clients or vulnerable persons to make a referral, approve a quote or use our services. Provider referral incentives should be disclosed where relevant, and organisation service credit is preferred over personal staff payout.

For aged care, school, disability, community or provider pickup services, only the information reasonably needed to identify the device/order should be collected. Medical details, care-plan details, unnecessary student-sensitive details, device passcodes and banking information should not be submitted through public or customer-facing forms.

Campus, school, seniors and neighbourhood safeguards

Integrated 18 May 2026 Master Guidance and Directory Terms

Campus Help, Neighbourhood Help and Ambassador Network pathways may involve students, seniors, carers, vulnerable persons, school communities, families, NDIS-adjacent requests, home visits or other contexts where extra care is required.

NDIS, aged care and support-organisation technology requests

Your IT & Tech Mates and Quick Help are not NDIS registered providers, aged care providers, health providers, personal care providers, support coordinators, plan managers, transport providers, crisis services or care-service providers unless expressly and lawfully stated in writing.

Our role is limited to IT and technology help, device support, home technology support, repair, pickup/return coordination and related customer-service support. Where a request comes from an NDIS service provider, aged care service provider, support worker, carer, family member or organisation, we may assist that organisation and its client, resident, participant or customer with technology needs only, subject to consent, authority, privacy, safety and provider suitability checks.

We do not provide disability supports, aged care services, health services, personal care, therapy, plan management, support coordination, care advice, emergency support or government-funded care services. The person or organisation requesting support remains responsible for confirming funding eligibility, authority to request the work, consent, care-service obligations and any NDIS, aged care, workplace, privacy or safeguarding requirements that apply to them.

Senior, support-organisation, accessibility and assisted-booking technology support

Our guided intake may provide dedicated pathways for seniors, clients or participants supported by NDIS service providers, people with accessibility needs, carers, family members, support workers and people requesting help for someone else. We may ask who should be contacted first, whether a support person should be copied, whether consent has been confirmed, whether patient step-by-step support is preferred and whether accessibility or home-visit notes are needed.

We do not provide medical, therapeutic, disability-support, aged care, personal care, transport, emergency, financial, legal or crisis services. Technology support for a person with disability, an NDIS participant, an aged care resident, a senior or a client of a support organisation is not a promise that we are an NDIS registered provider, aged care provider, health provider, support coordinator, plan manager, care-service provider or emergency responder unless expressly stated in writing.

Safeguards for tutoring, scam/security and home visits

For tutoring-related, student, senior, home-visit, pickup, scam/security or accessibility-sensitive requests, we may require additional review by us, verified provider matching, family/support-worker involvement, guardian involvement where appropriate, evidence handling limits, privacy controls or service refusal. We may pause work where a person appears confused, pressured, at risk, unsafe, exploited or unable to provide informed consent.

Reports about poor conduct or unsafe behaviour

Customers and authorised support people may report poor performance, scam concerns, rude behaviour, inappropriate conduct, no-shows, unsafe behaviour, property concerns, tutoring safety issues or other concerning events. We may investigate, restrict a provider, hide a profile, require further checks, decline a referral reward, remove a review, or recommend that the customer contact police, banks, ReportCyber, Scamwatch, IDCARE, NDIS complaints channels, eSafety or other specialist services where appropriate.

Guided support, seniors, NDIS/accessibility and assisted requests

Requests involving seniors, NDIS participants, accessibility needs, carers, support workers, family members or vulnerable customers may require additional consent, contact, access, safeguarding, provider suitability and escalation checks.

Quick Help is not an emergency, medical, legal, financial, crisis, police or government service. Scam/security and safety guidance may be provided as practical support, but customers should contact their bank, emergency services, police, the relevant regulator or another qualified authority where appropriate.

We may prioritise, pause, restrict, decline or escalate requests where there are concerns about safety, coercion, abuse, privacy, consent, suitability, provider capability or risk to a vulnerable person.

support support request safeguards for seniors, accessibility and help-for-someone-else requests

Where a support support request relates to a senior customer, accessibility need, NDIS-related technology request, aged care client IT request or help-for-someone-else request, we may keep the support request under review by us before assigning it to a provider. We may limit the information shared with providers to what is reasonably needed for the technology-help task.

Customers, carers, family members, support workers and organisations should not send passwords, one-time codes, banking details, identity documents, medical records or care-plan information through general email or support request replies.

Student, guardian and vulnerable-person safeguards

Where a request involves a child, vulnerable person, aged-care setting, disability support context, school/campus program, guardian, carer or safety concern, we may require additional verification, guardian approval, authorised contact checks, provider clearance review, supervision by us, evidence restrictions or refusal of service.

Master guidance, campus programs and customer portal terms

These terms are supplemented by new feature-specific policies for Master/Campus Master identities, Student Guidance Requests, private Guidance Offers, Guidance Packages, My Help dashboard, Provider Store orders, Resolution Centre links, matching/service coordination, payment records and public Master Directory trust cards.

Read these additional policies where relevant: Student Guidance and Master Guidance Offer Terms, Master Directory and Trust Card Terms, Campus Master and Campus Partner Program Terms, Guidance Packages and Follow-up Program Terms, Guidance Payout-Ready Ledger and Margin Policy, Matching, Automation and Work Queue Policy, Customer Portal, My Help and Resolution Centre Terms, and Provider Store Orders and Resolution Centre Terms.

No automatic payouts: Payout, referral, campus partner share and margin figures are payout-ready calculations only unless and until separately approved by our authorised team and processed under the applicable payment terms.
No bidding: Guidance Offers, provider interest and Master assignments are not bids, auctions, counter-bids, lowest-price competitions or public price races.

Cross-linked terms and policy framework

These terms must be read together with the other Your IT & Tech Mates terms, policies, notices, quotes, invoices, service forms and written approvals that apply to the relevant service. Where a specific service term applies to a repair, software job, data recovery attempt, pickup, payment, warranty, referral, ambassador, provider, partner, Quick Help request, website use or customer portal matter, that more specific term applies to that subject matter.

Nothing in any Your IT & Tech Mates term excludes, restricts or modifies any right, remedy, consumer guarantee or protection that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law or any other applicable law.

Related terms: Service Terms · Payment & Warranty Terms · Repair, Software & Data Risk Notice · Quick Help Terms · Referral Terms · Ambassador Terms · Provider Partner Terms · Device Pickup Terms · Electronic Consent Policy · Fraud, Scam & Integrity Policy · Booking, Cancellation & No-show Policy · Dispute & Evidence Policy · Privacy Policy.

Fraud, Scam and Integrity Controls

All services, bookings, referrals, ambassador activity, provider arrangements, payment claims, warranty claims, reviews and customer communications are subject to the Fraud, Scam and Integrity Policy. Your IT & Tech Mates may review service notes, booking records, quote records, invoice records, payment records, customer messages, photos, timestamps, referral records, device records and other available evidence when assessing fraud, scam activity, off-platform payment, commission eligibility, disputes, chargebacks, warranty claims or policy breaches.

Prohibited conduct includes fake jobs, self-referrals, referral manipulation, duplicate claims, artificial job splitting, commission farming, misleading reviews, payment bypassing, false identity or qualification claims, pressure selling, harassment, financial exploitation, suspicious account activity, misuse of customer data, and attempts to interfere with systems, records, payment controls or dispute processes.

Anti-scam, fair use and customer protection

All customers, referrers, ambassadors, providers, partners and technicians must act honestly, professionally and safely. You must not misrepresent identity, authority, pricing, qualifications, insurance, licences, experience, verification status, warranty authority, payment authority or relationship with Your IT & Tech Mates.

The following conduct is prohibited: fake referrals, self-referrals, related-party manipulation, fake jobs, fake reviews, duplicate accounts, nominee accounts, circular activity, commission farming, artificial job splitting, manipulating job value or timing, referral link manipulation, bots or automation used to generate rewards, misuse of AI or scraping tools, unauthorised data harvesting, reverse engineering, system interference, evidence tampering, bad-faith chargebacks, false refund claims, harassment, pressure selling, misleading ads, impersonation, brand misuse and attempts to move customers, payments or job records outside approved Your IT & Tech Mates processes.

Extra care is required when services involve seniors, NDIS participants, minors, carers, families, aged-care residents, customers with disability, customers with limited English, schools, care environments, vulnerable persons, sensitive data, account access, CCTV, security systems or business-critical systems. Financial exploitation, coercion, unnecessary password requests, requests for MFA codes, recovery phrases, banking codes, loans, gifts, cash withdrawals or personal financial arrangements are prohibited.

We may pause service, refuse work, restrict access, remove participants, preserve records, request evidence, hold rewards, refuse payouts, cancel rewards, reverse entries, report serious conduct to authorities or take other lawful action where reasonably necessary to protect customers, staff, providers, partners, data, payment integrity, referral integrity, safety or legal compliance.

Your IT & Tech Mates Commission and Referral Model

Total platform commission: 13.5% of the relevant qualifying job value.

Referral reward review: If an eligible referred job is completed and paid, the referral may be reviewed for a 5% manual reward. That 5% is included inside the 13.5% total platform commission; it is not added on top of the customer price.

Payment is manual only and normally after a minimum 14-day hold after customer payment is confirmed, subject to anti-scam, anti-cheating, duplicate, self-referral, refund, payment-clearance, chargeback, dispute, attribution, customer-consent and admin checks.

Referral rewards are not lifetime rewards, recurring rewards, trailing commissions, employment wages, partnership profits, franchise payments or automatic entitlements. Each job is reviewed separately and must meet the applicable Your IT & Tech Mates terms.

Minimum withdrawal balance: Approved referral, ambassador, partner or commission payments are manual only and generally require a minimum approved balance of $50 before withdrawal can be requested, unless Your IT & Tech Mates approves otherwise in writing.

Cash payments, direct technician payments, private bank transfers, side deals, split payments, payment redirection and off-platform or unrecorded payments do not qualify for commission, referral rewards, ambassador rewards, partner fees, lead fees or incentives unless Your IT & Tech Mates expressly approves and records the arrangement in writing.

This clause must be read with the Payment and Commission Integrity Policy, Referral Terms, Referral Policy, Ambassador Network Terms, Provider Partner Terms and Fraud, Scam and Integrity Policy.