The New Zealand terms and conditions cannot be cloned. They are a residential water supply agreement naming a New Zealand company and New Zealand law, and several clauses would be wrong, or unlawful, in Australia. The recommended interim approach is a short Terms page plus simple website-use terms.
Interim Terms page copy (recommended for launch)
Smart Metering Australia's customer terms are provided with each building's service agreement and resident application. For a copy of the terms that apply to your building, contact info@smartmeteringaustralia.com. Website use is subject to the website terms below.
- Content ownership
- No warranty on website information
- Links to other sites
- Governing law: New South Wales
- Published by Smart Metering Australia
Why the New Zealand terms cannot be cloned
- Header block names the wrong entity and contact details.
- Clauses 4.2 and 4.3(a) name the Auckland utility (Water Care). In Australia the supplier is Sydney Water, Urban Utilities, a Victorian retailer and so on.
- Clauses 6.8 to 6.10 allow ceasing or suspending water supply for non-payment, plus a reconnection fee and a bond. Restricting a household's water supply for non-payment is heavily restricted or prohibited in Australian states and an on-seller cannot simply write itself that right. These must be removed and replaced with a lawful debt-recovery clause.
- Clause 7.1 sends disputes to the courts. Customers of Australian on-sellers generally have access to a state energy and water ombudsman (EWON in NSW, EWOV in Victoria, EWOQ in Queensland). The terms should say how disputes are handled and name the relevant body once the lawyer confirms.
- Definitions of BC, Body Corporate Agreement and unit need Australian terms: owners corporation (NSW, VIC), body corporate (QLD), strata scheme, lot.
- There is no Australian Consumer Law reference. Consumer guarantees under the ACL cannot be excluded and the terms should acknowledge them.
- There are no embedded network or energy on-selling terms. Power sub-metering with on-selling in Australia requires terms that meet the AER exempt-seller conditions, which is a separate document.
- Drafting errors in the original: two clauses numbered 5.3, Meter{s), and a definition list running a, b, d with no c.
Parallel legal work
Brief an Australian lawyer to draft (a) resident water and hot water billing terms per state, aligned with the Agent and Principal billing models in the Australian pricing tool and the Queensland position already researched (body corporate engages the supplier with owner agreements), and (b) electricity on-selling terms compliant with the AER exempt-selling framework, when power sub-metering is first sold. Add the residential terms to the site once approved.