THE HUG← Back to site

HUG

Website Disclaimer

Effective July 1 2026 · Version 1.0

This Website Disclaimer (Disclaimer) applies to your access to and use of the website located at thehugapp.com.au (Website), which is operated by The Hug App Pty Ltd (ACN 690 031 102 / ABN 26 690 031 102) (we, us or our).

The Website is the online home of HUG, a family support and carpool matching platform that helps Eligible Adults coordinate child caring requests, shared school and activity transport, and other family support arrangements. This Disclaimer should be read together with our Website Terms of Use, Mobile App Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Acceptable Use Policy, and any other policies or terms that apply to your use of the Platform.

By accessing or using the Website, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to this Disclaimer. If you do not agree, you must not access or use the Website.

In this Disclaimer, you and your refers to you as a visitor or user of the Website.

OPERATIVE PROVISIONS

1. DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION

Definitions

In this Disclaimer, the following definitions apply:

Carpool Feature means the carpool matching functionality made available through the Platform, as further described in our Acceptable Use Policy and Mobile App Terms of Use.
Child means a person under the age of 18 in respect of whom an Eligible Adult uses the Platform to coordinate care, transport, or family support.
Content means all text, images, graphics, logos, audio, video, data, software, listings, profiles, and other material displayed on, or made available through, the Website.
Disclaimer means this Website Disclaimer, as amended from time to time in accordance with clause 9.
Eligible Adult means a person who is at least 18 years of age and who is the parent, guardian, or other adult lawfully responsible for a Child to whom a request for care, transport, or family support relates.
Force Majeure Event has the meaning given in clause 10.3.
Loss means any loss, liability, cost, claim, expense, damage, charge, penalty, outgoing, or payment however arising, whether present, unascertained, immediate, future, or contingent, including reasonable legal costs on a solicitor and own client basis.
Platform means the Website and the HUG mobile application, taken together.
Professional Advice means advice of a medical, psychological, child welfare, educational, legal, financial, insurance, transport regulatory, or other professional nature that requires a qualified and licensed practitioner to provide.
Third Party Content means any content, materials, links, advertisements, or resources provided by third parties and accessible through or linked from the Website.
Website means the website located at thehugapp.com.au, including all pages, subdomains, and content accessible through that address.

Interpretation

In this Disclaimer, unless the context otherwise requires:

  1. headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation;

  2. the singular includes the plural and vice versa;

  3. a reference to a person includes a corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, government body, or other entity;

  4. a reference to a statute, regulation, or other law includes all amendments, consolidations, and replacements;

  5. a reference to writing includes email; and

  6. where a word or expression is given a particular meaning, other parts of speech and grammatical forms of that word or expression have a corresponding meaning.

2. NATURE OF THE HUG SERVICE

  1. HUG is a technology platform that helps Eligible Adults find and connect with other Eligible Adults to coordinate family support, child caring requests, and shared school, activity, or family-related transport. We provide the technology only; we do not provide childcare, education and care, transport, or other family services ourselves.

  2. You acknowledge and agree that:

    1. we are not a childcare service, education and care service, family day care service, school transport provider, transport operator, commercial passenger vehicle service, ride-sourcing service, taxi service, or common carrier;

    2. we are not licensed, registered, or accredited under any childcare, education and care, transport, or passenger vehicle law, and the Platform is not designed to be used as such a service;

    3. any care session, journey, pick-up, drop-off, or other arrangement facilitated through the Platform is a private, voluntary arrangement between the Eligible Adults involved, and any such arrangement takes place at the sole risk of the participants;

    4. we do not employ, engage, or contract with any user, and no user is authorised to act on our behalf; and

    5. we do not verify or confirm the identity, character, background, qualifications, working with children check status, driver licence, vehicle registration, insurance, or fitness of any user, and we do not pre-screen or vet users beyond the limited account checks described in our Acceptable Use Policy and Privacy Policy.

  3. You are solely responsible for assessing the suitability of any other user, any vehicle, and any proposed arrangement before agreeing to it, and for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of any Child in your care. We strongly encourage you to take appropriate steps before any arrangement, including meeting the other Eligible Adult in person, sighting their driver licence and working with children check (where relevant), confirming the registration and insurance status of any vehicle, and verifying any other matter you consider material.

3. CARPOOL MATCHING IS NOT A COMMERCIAL TRANSPORT SERVICE

  1. Where the Platform is used to coordinate shared school, activity, or family-related transport (the Carpool Feature), the Carpool Feature is offered as a non-commercial, cost-sharing tool only. The Carpool Feature is not, and is not intended to be, a commercial passenger vehicle service, ride-sourcing service, taxi service, hire car service, or community transport service.

  2. You acknowledge and agree that:

    1. we do not own or operate any vehicle, do not directly arrange or supply transport, and do not charge or collect any fare for any journey;

    2. any cost-sharing arrangement between Eligible Adults in relation to fuel, tolls, parking, or other out-of-pocket expenses is intended to remain incidental and non-commercial in nature, and the parties to such an arrangement are responsible for ensuring that the arrangement does not amount to a commercial transport service in their jurisdiction;

    3. use of the Carpool Feature may be subject to additional state or territory laws (including laws relating to commercial passenger vehicles, point-to-point transport, the carriage of children, and child restraints in vehicles), and each Eligible Adult is responsible for complying with those laws as they apply to them; and

    4. we make no representation or warranty as to the regulatory characterisation of any journey or arrangement under transport, road safety, or insurance laws.

4. CHILD SAFETY AND USER RESPONSIBILITY

  1. The Platform is designed to support Eligible Adults in coordinating arrangements that may involve Children. The Platform is not a substitute for the personal judgment and supervision that an Eligible Adult is required to exercise in respect of a Child.

  2. You acknowledge and agree that:

    1. you are solely responsible for the supervision, care, and safety of any Child for whom you are an Eligible Adult, before, during, and after any arrangement facilitated through the Platform;

    2. we do not arrange supervision of Children, accompany Children during journeys or care sessions, or take custody of any Child at any time;

    3. any Child handover, pick-up, drop-off, or other in-person contact between users takes place outside our control and at the sole risk of the participants; and

    4. if you have any safety concern about another user, vehicle, or arrangement involving a Child, you should not proceed with that arrangement and should report your concern to us using the in-app reporting function or by contacting us at the address in clause 11. Where the circumstances warrant, you should also contact emergency services on 000, your local police, or a relevant child protection authority.

  3. We respect the obligations of users (including drivers transporting Children) under applicable working with children check, child protection, and reportable conduct laws. The fact that a user has an Account does not, of itself, mean that the user has been screened or cleared for contact with Children.

5.ACCURACY, CURRENCY AND COMPLETENESS

  1. While we take reasonable care to ensure that the Content on the Website is accurate at the time of publication, we make no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, currency, completeness, reliability, or suitability of any Content for any particular purpose. This applies in particular to user-generated profiles, listings, and arrangements, the accuracy of which is the responsibility of the relevant user.

  2. Content on the Website may be updated, amended, or removed at any time without notice. We do not undertake any obligation to update or correct Content to reflect subsequent changes in law, practice, technology, or circumstance (including changes to working with children check schemes, transport regulation, or child safety guidance).

  3. Any Content provided on the Website is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute Professional Advice. You should not rely on any Content as a substitute for obtaining appropriate Professional Advice from a qualified practitioner.

6. THIRD PARTY CONTENT AND EXTERNAL LINKS

  1. The Website may contain Third Party Content or links to third party websites, resources, or services that are not owned or controlled by us, including payment processors, app stores, mapping providers, identity verification services, government child safety resources, and emergency services. The inclusion of any Third Party Content or link does not imply our endorsement, sponsorship, or recommendation, or any association with the relevant third party.

  2. We have no control over, and accept no responsibility for, the content, accuracy, availability, privacy practices, or security of any Third Party Content or third party websites. Your access to and use of Third Party Content or third party websites is entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of the relevant third party.

  3. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we exclude all liability for any Loss arising out of or in connection with your access to or use of, or reliance on, any Third Party Content or third party websites.

7. NO WARRANTIES

  1. The Website and all Content are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all representations, warranties, and conditions of any kind, whether express, implied, statutory, or otherwise, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement.

  2. Without limiting clause 7.1, we do not warrant or represent that:

    1. the Website or the Platform will be available at all times, or that access will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free;

    2. defects or errors in the Website or the Platform will be corrected;

    3. the Website, the servers that make it available, or any files transmitted from or through the Website are free from viruses, malware, or other harmful components;

    4. any user, vehicle, arrangement, or service facilitated through the Platform is safe, suitable, lawful, or appropriate for you, your family, or any Child in your care; or

    5. the use of the Platform will produce any particular outcome.

8. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

  1. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we exclude all liability (whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence), under statute, or otherwise) for any Loss arising out of or in connection with your access to or use of, or inability to access or use, the Website or the Platform, including any Loss arising from:

    1. any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in any Content;

    2. any reliance placed on any Content;

    3. the acts or omissions of any user, including any conduct of a Driver, Passenger, caregiver, or other user before, during, or after a care session, journey, pick-up, or drop-off;

    4. any injury, death, abuse, loss, damage, or other harm suffered by you, by a Child, or by any other person in connection with an arrangement facilitated through the Platform;

    5. any interruption, suspension, or discontinuation of the Website or the Platform;

    6. any viruses, malware, or other harmful components transmitted through the Website;

    7. any unauthorised access to, or use of, our servers or any personal information stored on them; or

    8. any Third Party Content or third party website accessed through or linked from the Website.

  2. To the extent that our liability cannot be excluded by law, our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising out of or in connection with the Website or this Disclaimer is limited, at our option, to the resupply of the relevant Content or the payment of AUD $100.

  3. Nothing in this Disclaimer excludes, restricts, or modifies any consumer guarantee, right, or remedy conferred on you by the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)) or any other applicable law that cannot be excluded, restricted, or modified by agreement.

9. CHANGES TO THIS DISCLAIMER

  1. We reserve the right to amend, modify, or replace this Disclaimer at any time at our sole discretion. Any changes will be effective immediately upon posting the updated Disclaimer on the Website.

  2. It is your responsibility to review this Disclaimer periodically. Your continued use of the Website after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Disclaimer.

  3. Where the changes are material, we will use reasonable endeavours to provide notice by posting a prominent notice on the Website or by other appropriate means.

10. FORCE MAJEURE

  1. We are not liable for any failure or delay in making the Website available or performing any obligation in connection with this Disclaimer to the extent that the failure or delay is caused directly by a Force Majeure Event, provided that:

    1. we use reasonable endeavours to minimise the impact of the Force Majeure Event and to resume normal service as soon as practicable; and

    2. the failure or delay is not attributable to our negligence, wilful misconduct, or failure to take reasonable precautions.

  2. If a Force Majeure Event prevents us from making the Website available for a continuous period of more than 60 days, we may discontinue the Website (in whole or in part) without liability to you.

  3. For the purposes of this Disclaimer, Force Majeure Event means any event or circumstance beyond our reasonable control, including:

    1. acts of God, flood, earthquake, storm, cyclone, or other natural disaster;

    2. epidemic, pandemic, or public health emergency declared by a government authority;

    3. war, invasion, acts of terrorism, riot, or civil unrest;

    4. government action, law, regulation, order, or embargo;

    5. failure of third party infrastructure, including telecommunications, power networks, or cloud computing services; and

    6. cyberattack, distributed denial of service attack, or other malicious interference with digital infrastructure.

  4. For the avoidance of doubt, a Force Majeure Event does not include financial difficulty or inability to pay.

11. GENERAL

  1. Governing Law: this Disclaimer is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Victoria, Australia. You irrevocably submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria and any courts entitled to hear appeals from those courts.

  2. Severability: If any provision of this Disclaimer is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision will be severed from this Disclaimer and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

  3. Waiver: A failure or delay by us in exercising any right, power, or remedy under this Disclaimer does not operate as a waiver of that right, power, or remedy. A single or partial exercise of any right, power, or remedy does not preclude any other or further exercise of that right or any other right, power, or remedy.

  4. Entire Agreement: this Disclaimer, together with our Website Terms of Use and Mobile App Terms of Use and Acceptable Use Policy and Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement between you and us in relation to your access to and use of the Website and supersede all prior agreements, representations, and understandings.

  5. Assignment: You may not assign or transfer any of your rights or obligations under this Disclaimer without our prior written consent. We may assign or transfer our rights and obligations under this Disclaimer to any third party without your consent.

  6. Contact: The Hug App Pty Ltd can be contacted at wegotyou@thehugapp.com.au or by writing to Level 10, 369 Royal Parade, Parkville VIC 3052.