Terms and Conditions

Welcome to the Gumboot Friday platform (''Platform''), operated by the I Am Hope Foundation (''IAHF'') referred to as ''we'', ''our'', or ''us'' in these terms and conditions (''Terms'').  These Terms govern your registration and participation as a mental health practitioner on the Platform.  Individual mental health practitioners are referred to as ''Practitioner'', ''you'' and ''your'' in these Terms.

Practitioners are allocated funding through the Platform to deliver counselling services to young people (''Services'').  This funding comes from money donated to the Gumboot Friday Fund (''GBF Fund'').

For the purposes of these Terms:

• ''Profile'' means your account on the Platform;
• ''Client'' or ''Requester'' means any New Zealand-based individual aged 5 to 25 years who seeks and / or receives funded mental health services through the Platform;
• ''Request'' refers to an electronic message from a Requester which is displayed to a Practitioner within the Platform; and
• ''Session'' means a one-hour counselling intervention between an individual Practitioner and individual Client using established, evidence based therapeutic modalities which is funded by the GBF Fund. For the avoidance of doubt, this does not include sessions below one hour, group sessions, or couples' sessions.

By using the Platform, you agree to these Terms. We may amend these Terms periodically. If we do, we will notify you, via the Platform or by email. By continuing to use the Platform after changes have been made, you will be agreeing to any updates to these Terms.

Who can apply to be a Gumboot Friday Practitioner?

1. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

1.1 To be eligible to be a Practitioner on the Platform, you must:

(a) hold a current and valid practicing certificate with one or more accredited Boards of Registration, such as the New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC), the New Zealand Psychologists Board (NZPB), the Psychotherapists Board of Aotearoa New Zealand (PBANZ), or the Addiction Practitioners' Association Aotearoa New Zealand (Dapaanz) ("Board of Registration");

(b) conduct Sessions in strict compliance with your Board/Boards of Registration’s membership criteria, codes of conduct, and other relevant documentation when receiving funding allocated through the Platform;

(c) maintain a single, non-shared Profile on the Platform under your individual name. For the avoidance of doubt, it is expressly prohibited to share a Profile on the Platform among multiple Practitioners or to operate a Profile under the name of an organisation or practice; and

(d) comply with any further guidelines, protocols or manuals that we may issue from time to time, including (but not limited to) our separate “Practitioner Handbook”. This handbook provides further operational, ethical, and administrative standards for delivering high-quality services on the Platform and should be read in conjunction with these Terms. A copy of this handbook is available here: Download the Practitioner Handbook (v1.0 - PDF)

2. OUR APPROVAL PROCESS

2.1 Your application is subject to IAHF approval. All decisions regarding approval are at our discretion.

2.2 We reserve the right to request clarifications to any information you have uploaded into the Platform at our discretion and at any time.

2.3 We may, at our sole discretion, require you to undergo a Police check or provide the results of a Police vetting process. We will handle any information gathered in accordance with New Zealand law, including the Privacy Act 2020. If you do not comply with our request for a Police check, or the results raise concerns we believe are incompatible with providing safe and appropriate services on the Platform, we may refuse to approve your application or withdraw your ongoing approval.

How many Sessions can be arranged and funded?

3. INITIAL SESSIONS

3.1 When you onboard a Client onto the Platform, we will reserve funding for two initial Sessions for that Client. Funding allocations for initial Sessions expire eight weeks from the date the Client is created in the Platform. It is your responsibility to ensure bookings are made within this timeframe.  

4. ADDITIONAL SESSIONS

4.1 After a Client has had their initial Session(s), you may request additional Sessions, subject to your responsibilities set out below in section 7.

4.2 Approval for additional Sessions will be at our discretion and will consider factors such as necessity and availability of funds.

4.3 Before making a decision, we may request further information from you concerning the Client and proposed additional Sessions.

4.4 Funding allocations for additional Sessions expire eight weeks from the date of approval. It is your responsibility to ensure bookings are made within this timeframe.

What are your responsibilities as a Practitioner?

Our goal is for the Platform to be a safe and reliable space for young people to reach out for help. This means that Practitioners have responsibilities in relation to upholding the integrity of the Platform. We set out your responsibilities in detail below.

5. MAINTAIN PRECISE AND UP-TO-DATE REGISTRATION AND PROFILE INFORMATION

5.1 In order to provide accurate and trusted Services and comply with our requirements, you must:

(a) complete the Platform registration process accurately and truthfully;

(b) maintain an up-to-date Profile with current and accurate details, including information about your:

(i) availability (e.g. you must not set or maintain your status as ''Unavailable'' while continuing to load new Clients onto the Platform);

(ii) location;

(iii) Valid practicing certificates issued by your Board or Boards of Registration;

(iv) qualifications and experience;

(v) profile photo;

(vi) “About Me” and “Working Together” content; and

(vii) payment and billing details.

(c) immediately hide your Profile and cease any further Sessions through the Platform if your qualifying Board of Registration membership is cancelled or expires and notify us of any such invalidation as soon as practicable.

6. MANAGE REQUEST RESPONSES PROMPTLY AND ATTENTIVELY

6.1 To ensure the effective and efficient operation of the Platform and to meet the needs and expectations of both Practitioners and Clients, you must:

(a) respond to Requests through the Platform as quickly as possible, and always within a maximum of two business days;

(b) notify Requesters that they may only receive Sessions from one Practitioner through the Platform (Requesters may contact up to three Practitioners but may only commit to Sessions with one Practitioner);

(c) never pressure or coerce a Requester in the process of offering Sessions. It is imperative to respect the Requester's autonomy and grant them the space and freedom to make an informed choice;

(d) maintain up-to-date Request statuses to indicate the state of contact i.e., ''Replied to'', ''Declined'', ''Unresponsive'', and ''Accepted'';

(e) only update a Request status to Accepted when the date for a Session is agreed to and confirmed by the Requester.

(f) reassign the Request to its appropriate status within 24 hours if you have incorrectly changed its status to ''Accepted''.

7. EXERCISE PRUDENCE WITH CLIENT SESSIONS AND ADDITIONAL SESSION REQUESTS

7.1 To ensure the long-term viability of the GBF Fund, you must:

(a) add all Sessions to the Platform prior to their scheduled date.  It is prohibited to make retroactive entries;

(b) enter Client details accurately, including the Client's legal name and valid contact information;

(c) never advertise your access to the GBF Fund or otherwise solicit new Clients with the premature intention for them to utilise the GBF Fund;

(d) proactively seek out and secure alternative forms of financial aid, such as other funding providers, or payment by Client or Client’s caregivers providing no financial hardship would result from paying for services. It is important that Practitioners remember that GBF Fund resources are limited and aimed at supporting those in greatest need;

(e) only request additional Sessions (beyond the initial two Sessions allocated to new Clients) if you are satisfied that there are justifiable circumstances. To be satisfied of this, you must have considered the urgency of the Client’s need and the availability of alternative funding options;

(f) not upload known prior recipients of funded Sessions from the GBF Fund as new Clients.  It is strictly prohibited to do so without our written approval;

(g) ensure that each Client is registered on the Platform under their account only once, prohibiting the duplication of Client records under any practitioner's account for the purpose of accessing additional GBF Fund resources;

(h) promptly report to us if you believe another Practitioner may be failing to uphold any of their responsibilities under these Terms.

8. INVOICING PROTOCOL

8.1 We will make payments for completed Sessions to you on a fortnightly cycle, based on the rate which is approved by us.

8.2 Approved rates apply to Sessions booked after we have given approval for the rate.  For the avoidance of doubt, any delays in rate approval will not justify claims by you for payment based on subsequently approved rates.

8.3 To comply with procedures that protect the financial integrity of the GBF Fund, you:

(a) must update Session statuses to “Completed”, “Cancelled”, or “No Show” within 24 hours after that Session;

(b) acknowledge that the accuracy of all data entered into the system, including rates, taxes, and other invoicing details, rests solely with you. We are not liable for any inaccuracies in invoices that arise from incorrect data provided by you;

(c) ensure that invoiced sessions do not overlap and that the number of sessions in a single day does not exceed the guidance set by the Board of Registration for professional practice, or in the absence of such guidance, a maximum of 7 sessions per day;

(d) under no circumstance claim funds from us or the Client for:

(i) any Session that has not transpired or is yet to take place;

(ii) any Session which was cancelled or not attended; or

(iii) any therapy service that falls outside the scope of “Session” as explicitly defined at the beginning of these Terms, including any administrative, processing, or ancillary fees that are not expressly authorised under these Terms.

(e) must immediately notify us if you fail to comply with clause 8.3(c) and / or receive payment due to this failure.

Governance and Reserved Rights

9. PLATFORM INTEGRITY AND CONDUCT

9.1 We reserve the rights to take appropriate steps at our total discretion if we reasonably form the view that a Practitioner is not complying with these Terms, acting fraudulently, committing professional misconduct, misusing or exploiting the fund and its resources, or is otherwise at risk of bringing us or the Platform into disrepute.

9.2 Our first course of action will always be to reach out and resolve our concerns with Practitioners in good faith. However, we may also take the following steps of:

(a) denying funding for future Sessions and halting bookings;

(b) terminating or restricting a Practitioner's access to the Platform;

(c) requesting pertinent information, conduct session audits, establish non-intrusive contact with Clients for verification and general feedback purposes, and/or liaise with a Practitioner's Board of Registration (while maintaining client confidentiality);

(d) where necessary, temporarily withhold payments until our concerns regarding the Practitioner are resolved; and / or

(e) in serious cases, taking further action such as pursuing legal means to recover monies we believe have been improperly paid to Practitioners in violation of these Terms, and/or damages resulting from violation of these.

10. RELATIONSHIP CLARIFICATION

10.1 Registration on the Platform does not constitute a supplier agreement, contracting agreement, or any form of employment relationship with IAHF.

11. INFORMATION SAFEGUARDING

11.1 All non-public information obtained through your association with IAHF (including for example, all information relating to us, our contractual arrangements, and our intellectual property) must be kept confidential.

12. RISK MITIGATION AND COMMUNICATION

12.1 You agree to indemnify us, our officers, directors, employees and contractors from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, losses, or expenses resulting from a breach of any of your obligations under these Terms or the relevant codes and governing documents of your Boards of Registration and other professional bodies, your legal obligations, or any other unlawful conduct on your part.

12.2 You must promptly notify us of any situation that arises which may result in indemnification or could bring us, the Platform, or the Gumboot Friday initiative into disrepute.

13. PLATFORM NOTIFICATIONS

13.1 From time to time, you will receive mandatory notification emails or other electronic messages from us or the Platform. Such messages will include request notifications, administrative reminders, and system announcements. These messages are critical to the Platform's processes and cannot be disabled or marked as spam. You may also be contacted for feedback or to be informed of other changes relating to our services.