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Digital Subscription Terms and Conditions - SMH, AGE & AFR

Updated August 31th, 2016

  1. About Digital Subscriptions

    1. A digital subscription provides you with unlimited access to The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age or The Australian Financial Review websites, mobile and/or tablet editions.
    2. In order to create or activate your digital subscription, you will be required to create and/or link your subscription to a Fairfax Digital Membership account. The login details associated with your digital membership and/or digital subscription including username and password must not be shared with any other person. Your login details may be used up to a maximum of six concurrent sessions.
    3. If any misuse of your login details is detected or suspected by Fairfax (including the concurrent use of your login details and/or the use of your login details on more than the maximum allowable concurrent sessions), your subscription may be terminated and you will not be eligible for a refund. For more details visit Conditions.
    4. For digital subscriptions that include a newspaper home delivery component, Fairfax’s home delivery terms and conditions also apply. They can be viewed at The Age Home Delivery Terms or SMH Home Delivery Terms or The Australian Financial Review Home Delivery Terms.
    5. For more information, FAQ or to contact Fairfax Subscriber Services:

  2. Processing and Payment

    1. Fairfax will process your digital subscription purchase as promptly as possible. Your payment details must be verified before your subscription can be activated.
    2. If your initial payment authorisation is revoked, your subscription will be terminated. We reserve the right to reject any subscription order at any time.
    3. Digital subscriptions renew automatically unless you cancel according to our cancellation policy (see clause 11 below). Payment for digital subscriptions will be direct debited from your provided credit or debit account or from your nominated PayPal account.
    4. It is your responsibility to provide valid payment details, and ensure that your payment details are up to date. You can manage these online through http://www.smh.com.au/myaccount or http://www.theage.com.au/myaccount or http://afr.com/myaccount.
    5. If your credit card expires or your payment method is otherwise invalid, your subscription may automatically be cancelled and unlimited access revoked.
    6. Unless specified otherwise in the Cancellation policy, all charges are non-refundable.
    7. If for some unforeseen reason your complete access to our services is unavailable for a continuous period of more than 24 hours you may be eligible for a credit of a pro-rated amount for the period of the service outage. For avoidance of doubt if you are unable to access our services due to problems not related to Fairfax then you are not eligible for a refund or credit of any nature.
    8. A 0.9% fee will be added to your monthly or annual subscription cost if you pay by MasterCard, Visa, or American Express card.

  3. Pricing

    1. When you purchase a digital subscription, you agree to pay the price stated at the time of your order. You also agree to the billing frequency specified at the time of your order.
    2. Any discount eligibility is determined at the time of order. Discounts cannot be applied retrospectively. All prices are in Australian Dollars (AUD).
    3. Fairfax reserves the right to change the prices and fees at any time. We will provide you with 14 days' notice if the regular rate of a digital subscription changes from what was stated at the time of your order.
    4. Price changes will take effect from your next billing date after the notice period. If You do not wish to continue your Digital Subscription at the revised price, you may cancel your subscription before the end of your current direct debit pay cycle. See clause 11.

  4. Third party fees and charges

    1. If you have purchased your digital subscription through a third party (not directly through Fairfax), these Digital Subscription Terms and Conditions of Sale may not apply to you. Fairfax is not liable to you for any claims related to purchases made through third parties. Please contact the third party directly to address these claims.
    2. When you use your digital subscription, you may incur other additional changes, such as telecommunications fees, data fees or service provider fees. You are responsible for paying any additional charges.

  5. Promotions

    1. Fairfax may at times offer special promotions and offers. The specific terms and conditions of each offer will be stated at the time of the promotion and will apply in addition to these Digital Subscription Terms and Conditions. In the event of any inconsistency between the terms and conditions of a special offer and these Digital Subscription Terms and Conditions, these Digital Subscription Terms and Conditions will apply.
    2. You may be required to provide your payment details when you sign up for a promotion. If this is a direct debit offer, your subscription will be automatically renewed after your initial payment at the standard subscription rate unless you cancel.
    3. From time to time Fairfax offers promotional items with its digital & bundle subscriptions. From time to time and at its discretion, Fairfax will communicate with its subscribers about the availability of such items and how to redeem them.
    4. From time to time Fairfax offers promotional pricing that will apply for the the term agreed when accepting that promotional offer. Pricing will automatically resume at your standard subscription rate unless you cancel.

  6. Software products

    1. When you purchase a digital subscription that includes The Age or SMH for iPad apps, your purchase and terms of use will also be subject to the Apple Terms of Service, available at Apple Terms and Conditions.
    2. When you purchase a digital subscription that includes The Age or The SMH App for Android, your purchase and terms of use will also be subscriber to the Google Play Terms of Service, available at Google Play Terms.

  7. Managing your Digital Subscription

    1. You can manage your account and personal details online through http://www.smh.com.au/myaccount or http://www.theage.com.au/myaccount or http://www.afr.com/myaccount
    2. You can upgrade or downgrade your subscription package as you need using My Account or contacting our Subscriber Services team.
    3. Upgrades will be billed from your next billing cycle, with access to digital products accessible immediately. If your upgrade option has a print component please allow up to 3 days for your home delivery to be arranged and start with your local newsagent.
    4. Downgrades to a lower subscription package rate will take effect from your next billing cycle. If your current subscription has a print component the home delivery will cease on our commencement of your next billing cycle.
    5. You can change your payment plan from monthly to annual in My Account. Your first annual payment will be charged on your next billing cycle date.

  8. Suspension Policy

    1. Digital subscriptions cannot be suspended under any circumstances. If your package includes a home delivery component, you can suspend the delivery of the newspaper to your address, however the expiry date of your subscription will not be extended and you will not be entitled to any refund in respect of the suspension period. Delivery will not be made during any suspension period notified to Fairfax. Please allow a minimum of 3 working days for the suspension to be processed.

  9. Digital Subscription Gift Packages

    1. Fairfax Digital Subscription gift packages ("Gift Subscriptions") can be purchased by visiting our websites using a valid PayPal account or credit card. Fairfax retains the sole and unfettered discretion to accept or decline Gift Subscription purchase requests based on business requirements without the need to provide reasons.
    2. By acquiring, redeeming or using a Gift Subscription, you agree to these Digital Subscription Terms & Conditions.
    3. Gift Subscriptions must be paid for in advance. Gift Subscriptions are fixed subscription packages with a term of three, six or twelve months commencing on the date of redemption by the gift recipient, and are restricted to the subscription package type chosen by the person who purchases the gift subscription.
    4. Gift purchasers may opt to send a Gift Subscription notice to their chosen gift recipient on a date within three calendar months of the purchase date. Gift Subscriptions must be redeemed within three calendar months of the gift send date. Gift Subscriptions which are not redeemed within this timeframe will be automatically forfeited, and will not be redeemable after such date. The Gift Subscription purchase price is not refundable in any circumstances, including where the Gift Subscription is forfeited in the manner described in this paragraph.
    5. No rights or benefits are conferred or accrue to a gift recipient unless and until the gift recipient redeems the gift and activates the Gift Subscription.
    6. Customers who purchase a Gift Subscription for themselves must pay by Direct Debit using a valid credit card or PayPal account. At the conclusion of the gifting period your subscription will automatically renew onto the standard rate and will be deducted, in advance, on the monthly anniversary of your first payment.
    7. If your Gift Subscription has a home delivery component, you will need to provide your address details on gift redemption. It may take up to 3 days for your address to be validated and arranged with your local newsagent, before your delivery will commence.
    8. Gift Subscriptions are non-refundable to either the gift purchaser or the gift recipient. You can elect to manage or change the details of the name and email address of the recipient of your gift by visiting www.smh.com.au/myaccount or www.theage.com.au/myaccount, provided that such changes cannot be made within the period of 48 hours after the purchase date, nor can they be made after the gift recipient has redeemed the Gift Subscription.
    9. It is your responsibility as a gift purchaser to ensure that the gift recipient's email address, name and details of the gift are correct and within a serviceable area where standard Fairfax home delivery exists, and no refunds will be provided for Gift Subscriptions purchased for out-of-area recipients. Please contact Fairfax Subscriber Services on 13 66 66 for queries about this or other Gift Subscription queries. We will endeavour to advise of delivery issues or non-delivery of the gift via the contact details provided or captured at gift purchase and redemption.

  10. Cancellations

    1. You can cancel your digital subscription at any time by contacting Fairfax Subscriber Services:
      • Visit Support
      • Call us on 13 66 66.
    2. Digital subscriptions are non-refundable.
    3. When you cancel, you cancel only future charges associated with your subscription. You may notify us of your intent to cancel at any time, but the cancellation will become effective at the end of your current billing period. You will continue to have the same access and benefits until the end of your current billing period.
    4. For digital subscriptions that include a newspaper home delivery component, Fairfax's home delivery terms & conditions also apply. Please notify us of cancellation at least 72 hours before your next billing date otherwise we may not be able to stop your next payment being deducted.
    5. If you cancel a standard term subscription, you may be entitled to a pro rata refund for the unused portion of your subscription.

  11. Cooling off period for telemarketing

    1. Customers who purchase print or digital subscriptions via the telemarketing channel have the right to cancel their subscription within 10 business days from and including the day after you received these terms and conditions.
    2. If you change your mind and wish to cancel the subscription, you can contact us at support.fairfaxmedia.com.au.

  12. Fairfax right to change digital products

    1. Fairfax reserves the right to modify the content, inclusions, type and availability of any digital product at any time. In the event your subscription package changes, you will be given 14 days notification prior to when you would need to make a decision to cancel and not be affected. Your package change will automatically take place from your next billing cycle.
    2. We reserve the right under special circumstances to enable free access to our subscriber content for a limited period of time. During this time subscribers will not be eligible for a refund.
    3. If any or all of our digital products are temporarily unavailable, you will not automatically be entitled to receive a refund. We reserve the right to issues refunds or credits at our sole discretion. If we issue a refund or credit, we are under no obligation to issue the same or similar refund in the future.

  13. Trial terms

    1. If we grant you access to a free trial subscription and you do not cancel or opt out of the trial prior to the expiry of the term, you will automatically be converted to a paid subscription upon expiry of the term. You may cancel or opt out of the trial online or by calling Financial Review Customer Service on 1800 646 990 or The Age and SMH Customer Service on 13 66 66

  14. Your Privacy

    1. You agree that your name, address, email address, year of birth, postcode, gender and mobile/telephone number will be collected and stored by Fairfax and used for the purpose of managing Your subscription, communicating with You about Your subscription and to notify You of any associated customer offers or benefits or future subscriptions, unless otherwise notified by you.
    2. Information on how we handle your personal information is explained in our Privacy Policy. You can obtain further information on the Fairfax Privacy Policy by visiting Privacy.

  15. Site Licence Products

    1. Site licence products do not include access to any products or features that require a user to log-in using an individual user account, including but not limited to:
      • smartphone or tablet apps from The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald or The Australian Financial Review
      • Newsletters
      • customer loyalty programs of The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald or The Australian Financial Review
      • Markets Data from The Australian Financial Review
      • Promotions from The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald of The Australian Financial Review that require a customer to log-in using their subscription account
      • theage.com.au, smh.com.au or afr.com from outside of the corporate network associated with the relevant corporate account.
    2. Use of site licence products may be monitored by Fairfax from time to time, including to verify that the number of personnel accessing a product does not exceed the number of people licenced for access.

  16. Disclaimers

    1. You agree that any errors made in entering your contact information and order details are your responsibility and Fairfax is not liable for any consequences that may arise as a result of such errors or incorrect information, including but not limited to sending the subscription to the address as notified by you.
    2. To the extent permitted by law, Fairfax is not liable to you for any loss or damage incurred by you in connection with your subscription, whether direct, consequential, special, indirect or other loss or damage. In any event, Fairfax's maximum liability to you is limited to the value of the subscription fees paid within the previous twelve months.

  17. Your Obligations

    1. It is your responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient clear funds available in your account to allow a debit payment to be made in accordance with a direct debit request.
    2. For those with a home delivery component to their subscription, it is your responsibility to notify Fairfax if your newspaper is not being delivered.
    3. It is your responsibility to report to Fairfax if newspaper deliveries continue to be made and/or payments continue to be deducted, if you believe a cancellation should have been processed.
    4. It is your responsibility to check your account statements to verify that the amounts debited from your account are correct and notify Fairfax if you believe you are being billed incorrectly.
    5. Fairfax will not refund past subscription payments if a subscriber has failed to contact Fairfax directly to cancel, or to report unexpected payments or non-delivery.

  18. Additional terms applicable to ASIC Search Service

    1. This clauses applies to subscribers of The Australian Financial Review with access to the ASIC Search Service.
    2. You agree to us providing your customer details to ASIC as required. ASIC (or its agent) may use your customer information to contact you for the purpose of sending you information that you have requested and for evaluating the ASIC service. Fairfax will not be responsible for the use of your customer information by ASIC.
    3. Fairfax will provide support in relation to the service during standard business hours. Users should direct all service enquiries to Fairfax, and not to ASIC.
    4. You must ensure that your ASIC Search Service username and password remain secure and confidential. You are entirely responsible for all use, activities and charges associated with or arising from any use of your username and password (regardless of whether you authorised such use), including unauthorised use of your or any other credit card. You must notify Fairfax immediately if you become aware of any unauthorised use of your username and password.
    5. You acknowledge and agree the following in relation to the ASIC Search facility available on afr.com:
      • (a) The Search Extracts contained in the ASIC System and ASIC Registers are based on information provided to ASIC by third parties
      • (b) ASIC has not verified the accuracy, currency, reliability or completeness of the Search Extracts and makes no representation or warranty as to their accuracy, currency or reliability
      • (c) ASIC will have no liability to any persons for any inaccuracy, omission, defect or error in the Test Database, ASIC System or ASIC Registers.
    6. Service charges are non-refundable. Fairfax reserves the right to amend the charges for the service, or introduce new charges, from time to time without providing prior notice to you. If you object to any such change, your only remedy is to cease using the service. If you continue to use the service, you will be deemed to have accepted the change.
    7. Unless you notify us otherwise, service charges will be billed automatically to the credit card you provide when registering for the service. You must notify us if your billing details change at any time.
    8. If your subscription is a corporate or enterprise subscription package, you may acquire ASIC Search Services on account. You agree and acknowledge that such acquisitions are the responsibility of the subscriber, who agrees to pay all ASIC Search Service charges invoiced by Fairfax.
    9. Fairfax shall itemise all monthly ASIC Search Service fees incurred by subscribers under corporate or enterprise subscriptions, and shall invoice the subscriber monthly for such fees. Payment terms are as detailed on the invoice.
    10. Unless stated otherwise, charges are quoted GST inclusive. Where GST applies, Fairfax will deduct the GST it incurs from each payment and issue you with a tax invoice.
    11. You may cancel your registration to the ASIC Search Service at any time by calling customer service on 1800 646 990.
    12. Fairfax may immediately cancel your service, without notice or liability (including for any refund or credit to you), if we determine, acting reasonably, that: (i) you have breached any portion of the above terms and conditions or (ii) your use of or access to the service otherwise violates any applicable law or regulation.

  19. Additional terms applicable to subscriptions including access to inkl Premium

    1. Additional terms applicable to subscriptions including access to inkl Premium
    2. This clauses applies to subscribers of The Age and Sydney Morning Herald with included access to inkl as part of a limited time marketing offer.
    3. You are required to create an account with inkl to activate your subscription to this service.
    4. You will be required to provide your personal details, including but not limited to your email address.
    5. Your subscription with inkl is dependent on a continuing subscription with The Age or Sydney Morning Herald.
    6. Cancelling your subscription with The Age or Sydney Morning Herald will result in the cancellation of your subscription with inkl.
    7. This offer is provided at the discretion of Fairfax Media and Fairfax Media reserves the right to discontinue it at any time.

  20. General

    1. You agree that all subscriptions provided, benefits accepted or offers made by Fairfax shall be deemed to be provided in Australia, notwithstanding your location, and the terms of such subscriptions, benefits and offers shall be governed exclusively by New South Wales law, and the Courts of New South Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to determine any such matters that may arise involving or alleged to involve Fairfax.
    2. To the extent applicable, the Fairfax General Conditions of Use also apply to use of the Fairfax Network by subscribers. Please visit Conditions
    3. You acknowledge that these Digital Subscription Terms and Conditions may be modified by Fairfax from time to time, including but not limited to terms relating to fees and charges, cancellation and modifying your subscription.
    4. You will be notified of any changes to these Subscriptions Terms and Conditions by Fairfax on Fairfax's Subscriber Services Support webpage. Please visit Support.
    5. You can also find them on our websites:

  21. Definitions

    In these terms and conditions:

    1. "Fairfax Media", "Fairfax", "we" or "us" means Fairfax Media Publications Pty Limited, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sun-Herald and The Australian Financial Review, and The Age Company Pty Limited, the publisher of The Age.
    2. "Subscriber", "Customer" or "You" means a person who is a subscriber to The Sydney Morning Herald and/or The Sun-Herald or The Age or The Australian Financial Review.
    3. A "Print Subscription" or "Home Delivery Subscription" means a standard fully paid subscription to The Sydney Morning Herald, Sun-Herald or The Age or The Australian Financial Review taken up directly with Fairfax, and for which these terms and conditions apply. A Print/Home Delivery Subscription includes all parts and sections of the publication deemed part of the publication for home delivery in your area; this may change from time to time in accordance with Fairfax's reasonable logistics and operational requirements.
    4. A "Today's Paper Subscription" means a paid subscription to The Sydney Morning Herald or The Age Today's Paper product - formerly the Digital Edition Newspaper Replica.
    5. "All Digital Access" refers to unlimited access to The Sydney Morning Herald/The Age/The Australian Financial Review website, mobile and/or tablet editions.
    6. "Gift Subscription" refers to fixed subscription packages to The Sydney Morning Herald/The Age website, mobile and/or tablet editions with a term of three, six or twelve months commencing on the date of redemption by the gift recipient, and are restricted to the subscription package type chosen by the person who purchases the gift subscription.