LIABILITY DISCLAIMER and CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE WORDING

This LIABILITY DISCLAIMER and CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE WORDING is offered for support, guidance and advice only and should not be relied upon in place of professional or expert advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability or suitability with respect to the LIABILITY DISCLAIMER and CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE WORDING. Further, Playground Ideas make no representation that this LIABILITY DISCLAIMER and CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE WORDING adhere to any safety standards in your country and therefore each project/playground built should be assessed on an individual basis in order to ensure compliance with national safety standards in the applicable country.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event will Playground Ideas be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage, loss of profits or loss of opportunity arising out of or in any way connected with the any person acting or refraining from acting in reliance of the LIABILITY DISCLAIMER and CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE WORDING or for failure to comply with the national safety standards in the applicable country, whether based in contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability or otherwise.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. This means if you use or feature this work in any website, publication, presentation etc, you must clearly attribute/ credit the work to www.playgroundideas.org (but not in any way that suggests that PlaygroundIDEAS endorses you or your use of the work). You may not use this work for commercial purposes without explicit permission. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work but you may create and add new work to the PlaygroundIDEAS design library to share. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/.

Child Protection Policy

Our Commitment to Child Safety:

Playground Ideas is committed to the protection of all children from abuse and exploitation. We want children to be safe, happy and empowered. We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers. We are committed to the safety, participation and empowerment of all children and believe that all children have the right to protection from abuse and exploitation, regardless of their gender, race, religious or political beliefs, age, physical or mental health, sexual orientation, family and social background and culture, economic status or criminal background.

We have zero tolerance of child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously and consistently with our robust policies and procedures.

We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety, which we follow rigorously.

We are committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children, the cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and to providing a safe and inclusive environment for children with a disability.

Our organisation is committed to preventing child abuse and identifying risks early and removing or reducing these risks.

Purpose of the Policy:

The purpose of this policy is to protect children from all forms of abuse and exploitation, in all of Playground Ideas’ activities and projects.

The policy sets out general principles, guidelines and obligations to assist all Playground Ideas stakeholders to understand and implement their role and responsibilities in protecting children.

Scope of the policy:

The Policy applies to:

Personnel (paid personnel, volunteers, consultants, contractors) and;
Associates (Global Play Alliance members, donors, board members, partners, visitors)

Guiding Principles:

Zero tolerance of child exploitation and abuse

Playground Ideas has a zero-tolerance approach to child exploitation and abuse. Child exploitation and abuse will attract criminal, civil and disciplinary sanctions.

Risk management approach

Playground Ideas will proactively work to provide safe and protective programs, activities and environments for the children we and our partners engage with as part of our work. We will do this by identifying, mitigating, managing and reducing any risk to children that may be associated with or impacted by the organisational functions, activities and programs of Playground Ideas.

Sharing responsibility for child protection

Child Protection is a shared responsibility. Playground Ideas expects that all personnel and associates will play a role in keeping children safe in Playground Ideas programs and activities.

Recognition of the best interests of the child

All decisions relating to the protection of children will be made based on the principles of the best interest of the child.

Inclusivity

Playground Ideas commits to ensuring that its programs, community consultations and projects with partner organisations, ensures wherever possible that children are included and consulted with, and not discriminated against regardless of gender, race, religious or political beliefs, age, physical or mental health, sexual orientation, family and social background and culture, economic status or criminal background.

Procedural fairness

Playground Ideas will follow and apply procedural fairness to all concerned when responding to reports or allegations of child abuse.

Definitions:

A child – any person under the age of 18 years

Child Protection – is the term used to describe the responsibilities and activities undertaken to prevent or stop children being abused or maltreated.

Child Abuse – abuse happens to male and female children of all ages, ethnicity and social backgrounds, abilities, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and political persuasion. Child abuse includes physical, sexual, emotional, neglect, bullying, child labour and family violence. Abuse can be inflicted on a child by both men and women, as well as by young people themselves and in some cases; professionals and other adults working with children in a position of trust also abuse children.

Physical abuse – occurs when a person purposefully injures or threatens to injure a child or young person. This may take the form of slapping, punching, shaking, kicking, burning, shoving or grabbing. The injury may take the form of bruises, cuts, burns or fractures.

Emotional abuse – occurs when a child is repeatedly rejected or frightened by threats. This may involve name-calling, being put down or continual coldness from parent or caregiver; to the extent that it affects the child’s physical and emotional growth.

Neglect– is the persistent failure or the deliberate denial to provide the child with clean water, food, shelter, sanitation or supervision or care to the extent that the child’s health and development are placed at risk.

Sexual abuse – Occurs when a child or young person is used by an older or bigger child, adolescent or adult for his or her own sexual stimulation or gratification – regardless of the age of majority or age of consent locally. These can be contact or non-contact acts and includes exposing a child to or involving a child in pornography.

Exploitation – Commercial or other exploitation of a child refers to the use of the child in work or other activities for the benefit of others that are to the detriment of the child’s physical and mental health, education, or moral and social-emotional development. It includes, but is not limited to one or more of the following:

committing or coercing another person to commit an act or acts of abuse against a child
possessing, controlling, producing, distributing, obtaining or transmitting child exploitation material
committing or coercing another person to commit an act or acts of grooming or online grooming
using a minor for profit, labour, sexual gratification, or some other personal or financial advantage

Child Protection Code of Conduct

Playground Ideas has developed a Child Protection Code of Conduct to provide clear guidance to staff, consultants, contractors, volunteers and partners about ways to minimise risk to children and make clear the standards of behaviour and practice required of them at all times when they are in contact with children. These behaviours are not intended to interfere with normal family interactions.

All Playground Ideas personnel and associates are required to read and sign the Child Protection Code of Conduct.

Signed copies of the Code of Conduct will be kept by Playground Ideas in a personnel file and a copy will be provided to the personnel or associate.

Child Safe Recruitment & Selection:

Our organisation has robust human resources and recruitment practices for all personnel. We use child safe recruitment, selection and screening practices that aim to recruit the safest and most suitable people to work in our programs.

Our child safe practices include:

Assessing all positions for the level for risk in relation to contact with children;
Conducting at least two verbal referee checks that involve discussing child protection with referees;
Undertaking criminal history checks[1] for each country the individual has lived for 12 months or longer over the past 5 years, and for the individual’s country of citizenship. Playground Ideas will review these checks when personnel have a change in circumstances;
Requiring statutory declarations where criminal history checks are not available;
Requiring applicants to disclose whether they have been charged with child abuse/exploitation offences;
Requiring applicants to read and sign onto the Playground Ideas Child Protection Code of Conduct;
Including questions on child protection during interviews for positions working with children;

Playground Ideas will not permit any person to work or have contact with children if they pose an unacceptable risk to children’s safety or wellbeing.

Playground Ideas employment contracts include a provision for suspension or transfer to other duties of any employee who is under investigation and provisions to dismiss an employee after an investigation

Reporting & Responding to Child Protection Concerns:

It is mandatory for all Playground Ideas personnel and associates to report any witnessed, suspected or alleged incidents of child abuse or any breach of the Child Protection Policy or Child Protection Code of Conduct.

What will happen next?

The Operations and Community Engagement Manager in consultation with the CEO will discuss the allegations and then decide upon the next step. This will involve one or more of the following steps:

Interviewing the person/persons who made the allegations and/or other witnesses to gather more information with which to make a decision about the allegation;
Reporting to local police and or child protection authority when it is suspected or becomes clear that a crime has been committed;
Reporting to local child protection services as necessary;
Referring the child to local support services if necessary;
Handling the concern internally if it is not a criminal matter;
Providing support to all stakeholders (including reporter) as necessary;
No further action taken.

All reports will be handled professionally, confidentially and expediently.

Playground Ideas will treat all concerns raised seriously and ensure that all parties will be treated fairly and the principles of natural justice will be a prime consideration.

Each report will be investigated on a case by case basis. Responses will reflect the nature of the allegation. Not all responses will involve reporting to authorities or termination.

The rights and welfare of the child is of prime importance. Every effort will be made to protect the rights and safety of the child throughout the investigation.

All reports made in good faith will be viewed as being made in the best interests of the child regardless of the outcomes of any investigation. Playground Ideas will ensure that the interests of anyone reporting child abuse in good faith are protected.

Reports involving any suspected or alleged instances of child abuse, exploitation, harm or child protection policy non-compliance by anyone working on a DFAT funded project will be documented in a DFAT Child Incident Notification Form and reported by Playground Ideas to DFAT’s Conduct and Ethics Unit.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is a key principle of reporting and managing child protection concerns. All information regarding a child protection concern must only be shared with the designated individuals listed above. The names of people involved and the details of the report will remain confidential. Information will only be released on a “need to know” basis or when required by law or when a report to police or child protection support services is made.

Disciplinary action

A breach of or failure to comply with the Policy or the Child Protection Code of Conduct will result in:

Implementation of disciplinary procedures which may result in disciplinary action up to and including:

In the case of a paid employee – dismissal of the employee;
In the case of a volunteer – termination of the services of the volunteer;
In the case of a Managing Board Member or a Board Committee Member – removal from office;
In the case of a contractor who is a sole trader – termination of contract;
In the case of personnel employed by a contractor or a subcontractor – a direction to the contractor requiring termination of the services of the person concerned and/or termination of the contract of the contractor or subcontractor;
In the case of a visitor – a direction to leave the relevant activity;
In the case of a partner – up to and including termination of all relations including contractual and partnership agreements with Playground Ideas

Someone under investigation may be transferred to other duties, be suspended, or following an investigation have their employment terminated. In addition, depending on the nature of the allegation, cases may result in legal action; and/or criminal investigation and prosecution.

Disciplinary action will be taken against any person found to:

Have failed to report a child protection concern
Have intentionally made a false allegation

Risk Assessment

Playground Ideas acknowledges that there are a number of potential risks to children in the delivery of our programs. Accordingly, we proactively assess and manage risks to children in order to reduce the risk of harm. This is achieved by examining each activity and program and its potential impact on children. Activities and programs that involve direct work with children are considered a higher risk, and therefore require more stringent child protection procedures.

Playground Ideas conducts a child protection risk assessment on every activity and project involving and affecting children prior to commencement. Mitigation strategies are put in place for any risk identified and these (and any emerging risks) are actively monitored throughout the activity/program cycle.

At times, our programs may include the participation of vulnerable groups of children and youth, including but not limited to, children and youth from disaster affected communities and children and youth living in refugee camps. We commit to designing, implementing and monitoring programs that are informed by a thorough risk assessment of the heightened risks posed to children and youth in these contexts.

Personnel and associates (as relevant) are trained in child protection and risk assessment. They are expected to be continually aware of potential risks to children and youth as well as to be actively minimising opportunities and situations where children and youth can be harmed.

Working with Partners

Playground Ideas determines whether partners are a child safe organisation by including child protection in our partner appraisal process. We commit to strengthening our partner’s ability to protect children and youth in our programs by investing in targeted capacity building, training and awareness raising on child protection.

If a partner does not have their own Child Protection Policy, Code of Conduct or procedures in place that meet the standards set out in the Playground Ideas Child Protection Policy they will be required to sign and abide by the Playground Ideas Child Protection Policy, Code of Conduct and any relevant procedures.

Playground Ideas works with partners to undertake a child protection risk assessment for all programs and activities involving or affecting children and this is monitored throughout the life of the project cycle.

Playground Ideas includes clauses on child protection standards and agreed child protection measures in all partnership agreements and contracts.

Playground Ideas actively monitors the implementation of agreed child protection measures and external compliance obligations with our partners on an ongoing basis via project reports, project visits or annual audits.

Training

Our organisation is committed to regularly training and educating our personnel and associates (as relevant) on child abuse risks. All Playground Ideas personnel will be inducted to this Policy and the Child Protection Code of Conduct. All personnel who have contact with children will undergo an additional child protection briefing and regular refresher training.

All media or others visiting Playground Ideas facilitated programs in the field will be expected to undergo a child protection briefing prior to their visit.

Playground Ideas maintains a register of all persons who have been trained.

Marketing & Communications

Playground Ideas makes every effort to ensure the way we represent children in our marketing materials and media is done in a way that keeps them safe and upholds their rights and personal dignity

Using children’s images and personal information can help us to share their stories. However, we understand that this needs to be done with care so as not to place children at risk of harm. Accordingly, we have developed a set of guidelines to help to ensure that our research, marketing and communications activities do not place children at risk. See Annex C.

Policy Review:

This Child Protection Policy will be reviewed every 3 years unless required earlier. The review will be undertaken by the Operations Manager.

[1] In general, to pass this type of check a criminal history check of the person must not reveal any relevant offences (e.g. serious sexual, violent or drug offences) or adverse professional conduct reports.

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Terms of Use

General Website Terms and Conditions

1. Terms of Usage

Playground Ideas (“we”, “us” or “ours”) controls and operates the website available at www.playgroundideas.org (“Website”).

These terms and conditions are the terms and conditions of an agreement between the person accessing and/or using the Website and any content contained therein (“you” or “your”) and us.

2. Terms

Your access to and use of the Website (and resources contained therein) is conditional upon your acceptance and compliance with the terms, conditions, notices, policies and disclaimers contained in this document and elsewhere on the Website (known collectively as “Terms of Use”).

Your use of, and/or access to, the Website constitutes your agreement to the Terms of Use. If you do not agree to the Terms of Use please do not use the Website.

These Terms of Use constitute a binding agreement between you and Playground Ideas and are deemed to be accepted by you upon your use of the Website. These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between you and Playground Ideas regarding the use of the Website.

The Terms of Use also govern goods and services advertised or promoted on the Website by any person, company or association affiliated with Playground Ideas (“Affiliate”). The identity of an Affiliate whose goods and services are advertised or promoted on the Website will be published on the Website.

We reserve the right to amend these Terms of Use at any time. Since you are bound by these Terms of Use, you should periodically refer to them in this document and elsewhere on the Website. The revised terms will take effect when they are posted. If you access the Website after changes have been published, you agree to be bound by all changes, whether or not you are aware of the changes.

Playground Ideas does not financially support, in anyway, projects carried out in sanctioned countries or regions either directly or indirectly. Projects submitted to the Playground Ideas website that are either directly or indirectly related to sanctioned countries will not be accepted. Playground Ideas reserves the right to review and change the sanctioned list of countries in at any time. Playground Ideas reserves the right to delete projects in countries that become sanctioned at anytime.

The list of sanctioned countries is as follows: Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad , Democratic Republic of Congo, Region of Crimea, Cuba, Eritrea, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Republic of Sudan, Syria, Yemen.

3. Disclaimer of Warranties

Except where expressly stated, Playground Ideas make no representations about the currency, accuracy, suitability or reliability of any content and functionality including without limitation any designs, products, data, information, material, images (moving or still), sound, graphics, software, hyperlinks, logos and trademarks, services and any other material contained in, provided as a result of in connection with your use, of the Website (“Material”). The Material is provided “as is” and without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied including without limitation implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for any particular purpose.

Any Material made available through the Website whether it be on the Website, as an email, or any other transmission is provided as general information only and should not be relied upon in place of professional or expert advice.

We, including our Board Members, employees, officers, agents and contractors and their employees, officers, partners, agents and contractors do not warrant that the function of, or access to, the Website will be uninterrupted or error free, that any defects will be corrected or that any Website or server which stores and transmits any Material will be free of viruses or any other harmful components. We accept no responsibility for or liability in respect of such interruption, errors, defects, viruses or harmful components.

You as the user will assume the entire cost of any verification, repair, maintenance or correction of any relevant content which is required.

4. Links to Other Websites

The Website may include hyperlinks to websites maintained or controlled by others. Playground Ideas is not responsible for and does not routinely screen, approve, review or endorse the contents of or use of any of the products or services that may be offered at these websites. In addition, participants in Playground Ideas forums may include hyperlinks to websites maintained or controlled by others. Playground Ideas is not responsible for and does not routinely screen, approve, review or endorse the contents of or use of any products or services that may be offered at these websites.

5. Limitation of Liability

To the full extent permitted by law, any terms, conditions or warranties in relation to the Website and any Material are hereby excluded. In so far as liability pursuant to legislation may not be excluded, such liability is limited, at our discretion, to the resupply of any service again or payment of the cost of having the service performed again, or the replacement or repair of goods or payment of the cost of having the goods replaced or repaired, as the case may be.

To the full extent permitted by law, we and each other person involved in the preparation of information available on the Website shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage howsoever caused whether under statute, in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise (including without limitation any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage, loss of profits, loss of data or loss of opportunity) whatsoever connected with, or arising as a result of any person acting or refraining from acting in reliance of the Material, accessing or using the Website or any associated website links, or as a result of or in connection with any breach by you or anyone acting on your behalf of any of the terms of the Terms of Use.

6. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify us including our Board Members, employees, officers, agents and contractors and our related bodies corporate and their employees, officers, partners, agents and contractors (“Indemnified”) and continue to keep the Indemnified indemnified from and against any actions, proceedings, claims, demands, costs (on a full indemnity basis including, without limitation, reasonable legal and accounting fees) brought or made against the Indemnified by any person arising in connection with your direct or indirect use of the Website or reliance on the Content or both, or resulting from, or alleged to result from, your use of the Website or reliance on the Content or both, or a breach of your representations and warranties in these Terms of Use, or your violation of any of these Terms of Use and from and against any damage, loss (whether personal or property, and whether direct or consequential, including without limitation consequential financial loss), cost or expense suffered or incurred by any Indemnified as a direct or indirect consequence thereof. This indemnity also extends to actions, suits, claims, demands, liabilities, costs, expenses, loss and damage (including legal costs and fees on a full indemnity basis) arising directly or indirectly from the use of playground equipment constructed in reliance on any of the Content on the Website.

7. Security

If you sign up to be a registered user of the Website, you will receive or establish an account which may include login details such as username and password (“Account”). You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of your Account. You should not reveal your Account information to anyone or use anyone else’s Account.

You are entirely responsible for all activities that occur on or through your Account, and you agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorised use of your Account or any other breach of security. We shall not jointly or severally be responsible for any losses arising out of the unauthorised use of your Account.

You shall not access or attempt to access an Account that you are not authorised to access.

You agree not to modify any software used or provided in or in connection with the Content or the Website (“Software”) in any manner or form, or to use modified versions of the Software, for any purposes including obtaining unauthorised access to the Website.

8. Contributing Content

You understand that the Website includes comments and/or other communication tools designed to enable member-to-member or member-to-site interactivity for personal, recreational and informational purposes related to the mission and purpose of Playground Ideas.

It is a condition of you using the Website and as a part of the Terms of Use that you further agree to the following:

• You are legally responsible for all content including without limitation any information, material, images (moving and still), graphics, sound, software, hyperlinks, data, logos and trademarks that you submit to the Website (“Information”);
• You warrant that you have all the necessary or required licenses, rights (including without limitation copyright, privacy, moral or intellectual property rights), consents and permissions to submit or post Information on the Website and that all Information is true and accurate at the time of submission/posting, is not illegal, threatening, discriminatory, harassing, abusive, offensive, defamatory, racially or sexually vilifying, obscene, pornographic or indecent, invasive of the privacy of another person or in contempt of any court or parliament, does not contain any computer virus and is consistent with the mission and purpose of Playground Ideas;
• You consent to us doing all things to any Information you submit for the Website, including modifying or altering such material, and without attribution of authorship, or by bearing false authorship or by modifying or altering the material even if such modification may otherwise constitute derogatory treatment of the material;
• We reserve the right to refuse access to any person or to edit, block or delete Information submitted or posted on the Website by any person for any reason without notice, and we may terminate or restrict your access or use of part or all of the Website. Reservation of this right does not mean that the Information is endorsed by Playground Ideas;
• You grant us a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, unrestricted world-wide licence to use, copy, sub-licence, re-distribute, reproduce, adapt, transmit, translate, edit, reformate, create derivative works from, publish and/or broadcast, publicly perform and display in any media whether now known or in the future created, any Information posted on or submitted by you to the Website, and you warrant and represent that you own or have the necessary or required licenses, rights, consents and permissions to grant such licence and the displaying, publishing or submission of your Information does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights, or any other rights of any person;
• You further grant us the non-exclusive right to seek to enjoin and/or obtain damages from any third party from the unauthorised use or reproduction of your Information, as well as the right to attribute your Posted Materials to you;
• You agree to pay for all royalties, fees and any other monies owing any person by reason of any Information displayed, published or posted by you to the Website; and
• You agree that, if a third party claims that your Information is unlawful, you will bear the burden of establishing that the material complies with all applicable laws.

Playground Ideas does not routinely screen or monitor content posted to the Website. If you have questions/concerns about content you see posted in Playground Ideas forums, please contact us through the contact form (https://playgroundideas.org/contact-us/) on the Website.

9. Copyright and Intellectual Property Rights

All content and functionality including without limitation any designs, products, data, information, material, images (moving and still), sound, graphics, software, hyperlinks, and all trade names, trade marks, service marks and other product and service names and logos in the Website (“Content”) is protected by Australian and International law, including without limitation Copyright and Trade Mark law.

We reserve all intellectual property rights in and to the Website and in and to the Content or use both or any of them under licence or applicable law.

Further, Content is protected under a Creative Commons Licence, details of which are provided at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/legalcode.

When you access the Website, you agree as follows:

• You may save a local copy of or print Content from the Website for your own personal information and to inform others about it, but you may not charge any fee for any use and all commercial use or exploitation of the Website or any Content is expressly prohibited;
• Any copyright notice or mark appearing on any Content must be included on any copy you make;
• You must keep all Content intact and in the same form as presented on the Website;
• You may not modify or adapt it without our prior written permission;
• You must not copy, reproduce, republish or otherwise make available any Content on the Internet or any means including by other publicly accessible media (including without limitation newspaper, journals, television or radio) without our prior written consent;
• You must not use the Website or any of the Content for any purpose which is unlawful, prohibited under these Terms of Use, which violates any of our rights or those of any other owner of any rights in the Content or in a manner that disparages or discredits us and/or our licensors; and
• To use the Content only as is allowed by the Creative Commons Licence.

We expressly prohibit use of the Content in any manner other than as expressly licensed in these Terms of Use.

Further activities you must not engage in include:

• Making a copy, modification, adaptation or reselling or redistributing any material on this Website;
• Making any commercial use of material on this Website, unless such use is authorised in writing by us;
• Making any form of representation, including linking or framing, that could mislead or deceive a person into believing that the material is from a source other than the Website; and
• Accessing or using of the Website by any means that is contrary to our commercial interests (including without limitation to facilitate a means of encouraging users of the Website to use another website offering services similar to those on the Website).

We reserve the right to undertake any legal action we deem necessary to protect our intellectual property rights. We also reserve the right to take legal action on parties who have misinformed, mislead, abused or misused any or all of the Content.

10. User code of conduct

In addition to the obligations detailed above with regard to Content, you further agree to the following code of conduct:

• You will not otherwise engage in, or encourage others to engage in, illegal or abusive conduct or activities in conjunction with the use of the Website. You also agree not to submit false or harassing reports or complaints to Playground Ideas about other users;
• You will not impersonate any person or organisation, including without limitation, the personnel of Playground Ideas, and will not access or attempt to access the account of a third party;
• You will not to use the Website for organized partisan, religious or political activities; and
• You will not post any content that contains business solicitation of any type, including advertising a product or service, offering a product or service for sale or gift, directing readers to a location for more information about a product or service, or any other form of commercial solicitation.

Take care when giving out personal information, such as your full name, e-mail address, street address, location, organisation, requirements and/or any other information that may serve to identify you in any way (“Personal Information”) in your profile or postings. You should be aware that disclosure of such information raises safety concerns and may result in solicitations from third parties not authorised by Playground Ideas and other unwanted communications. Playground Ideas disclaims any responsibility or liability arising from your disclosure of such Personal Information, or any other information, in your profile or your postings.

11. Termination

The Terms of Use are effective until terminated by us, and we may terminate this agreement and your access to the Website at any time without notice. In the event of termination, you are no longer authorised to access the Website, but all restrictions imposed on you, licenses granted by you, indemnities given by you and all our disclaimers and limitations of liability set out in the Terms of Use will survive termination.

12. Changes to the Website and the Terms of Use

We reserve the right to change any or all of the Website format and content including without limitation the Terms of Use at anytime without notice. As such, it remains your responsibility to regularly check the Terms of Use and the terms and conditions of the Website.

13. Privacy

By using the Website, you grant us consent to use your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy (https://playgroundideas.org/privacy-policy/) and you acknowledge that our Privacy Policy forms part of these Terms of Use.

We take no responsibility jointly or severally for the privacy and security of the above information after the user has “hyperlinked” to another website.

14. Child Protection Policy and Code of Conduct

By using the Website you acknowledge that our Child Protection Policy and Child Protection Code of Conduct (https://playgroundideas.org/child-protection-policy/) form part of these Terms of Use.

15. General

The Terms of Use are governed and will be construed in accordance with the laws of Victoria, Australia. By agreeing to the Terms of Use you irrevocably and unconditionally accept and submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria.

It is your responsibility to ensure that access to and use of the Website is in accordance with the laws applicable in the jurisdiction from which the Website is being accessed.

These Terms of Use and any rights and licences granted hereunder may not be transferred or assigned by you, but may be assigned by us without restriction.

If any part of these Terms of Use is held to be unenforceable, the unenforceable part is to be given effect to the greatest extent possible and the remainder will remain in full force and effect.

Use of Playground Ideas Resources Terms and Conditions

1. Overview

The Website contains a body of knowledge from a community of designers seeking to improve the lives of children through offering general information on play that is affordable to communities with few resources. Playground Ideas is a hub where people can gain information and ideas to help make their own playground. Play is the tool that children use to learn and experiment to improve their cognitive, emotional, social and physical skills. Experimentation and risk-taking are inherent in play, and injuries can often result. No play-space, formal or informal, can ever be risk or injury free, and if it were, it would not offer a significant challenge for children to learn and develop their skills.

Accordingly, set out below are the specific terms and conditions which govern your use of various resources contained on the Website. You acknowledge that these terms and conditions form part of these Terms of Use.

2. Projects in the US and Canada

Playground Ideas does not offer support for Projects to build or develop playgrounds in the US or Canada. Strict safety guidelines apply in these countries and all designs must comply with these guidelines. If your intention is to build in the US or Canada, please go to www.kaboom.org. Playground Ideas will in no way be involved in or be responsible for any Projects undertaken in these countries.

3. No advice given/no reliance to be placed on information

The designs and safety information on the Website are conceptual in nature and do not take into account your individual circumstances. The designs do not conform to any standard, law or regulation and are a collection of designs from around the world. The information on the Website is indicative only and you should not rely on the information other than in an indicative way. The Website does not provide the information required to construct safe playground equipment. To construct safe playground equipment based on these designs, you may require expert advice from a person who has specialised knowledge, including, for example, knowledge of engineering, playground construction and who can assess appropriately your individual circumstances.

It is your responsibility to obtain all needed information and expert assistance to properly construct safe playground equipment, whatever playground equipment you ultimately decide to construct—this includes constructing the equipment in a way that complies with all applicable laws, standards or other regulations in your location.

Specifically, Playground Ideas accepts no responsibility and offers no advice regarding materials, building style and measurements. Any measurements offered as part of the designs available for inspiration on the Website are indicative only, not prescriptive, and any such measurements are intended to be used as a guide only.

4. Warranties

We do not warrant that:

• playground equipment you construct based wholly or in part on the designs or other content on the Website will be safe, functional, suitable for your purposes or satisfy the applicable laws, regulations or standards in your location;
• by following the steps in the designs (with or without further specific expert advice) you will be able to construct playground equipment identical or similar to that pictured in the designs; or
• the content (designs, information, products or services provided directly or by reference) on the Website is accurate, suitable for your purposes or complies with the required laws, regulations or standards in your location.

5. Your Obligations

Before constructing equipment using the designs on the Website, you must make sure the equipment is safe and will be constructed in a way that complies with the product safety standards/guidelines of your own country relating to playground equipment. You must also consider the unique environmental conditions that may affect your ability to construct safe playground equipment.

6. Use of site

Build a Playground Section (including Handbooks and Guidance Material)

The ‘build a playground’ section may include safety guidance and general information related to the planning, design, construction, use and maintenance of playground equipment. Such guidance is general in nature and is not exhaustive. It is not intended that safety guidance available on the Website will accurately or completely reflect all matters that may be relevant to playground safety or safety-related laws, regulations or standards generally or in your location.

Playground Ideas accepts no responsibility for any loss, direct or indirect, attributable to reliance by Users upon the information found on the Website regarding playground equipment, community engagement, safety or regulatory compliance.

Links to the world’s most common safety standards that may apply to your country can be found here: http://www.playgroundideas.org/global-safety-standards/.

Links to general playground safety guidance (basic safety handbook) can be found here: http://www.playgroundideas.org/build-a-playground/design-manuals/

Playground Ideas provides this documentation as a reference only and does not endorse the content therein, and rather offers such information as a guide alone, and accepts no responsibility for any loss, direct or indirect, which is incurred as a result of a User’s reliance upon the information contained within the Safety Guidelines. The safety information does not include information on local building standards in terms of material type, strength or construction style. You must use local professionals and local building standards when selecting local materials and building styles to ensure your building is safe.

Designs

The Build a Playground Section, contains an array of downloadable playground Designs, the intended use of these designs is to provide ideas for the construction of playground equipment from local, low-cost and recycled materials.

The designs include a collection of text, pictures, 3-D designs and step-by-step pictorial plans that are to be used in conjunction with each other or an individual item of text, picture, 3-D or step-by-step pictorial plan as specified (“Designs”).

In relation to these designs we note as follows:

• Although we have made every endeavour to make these designs as safe as possible, the designs do not conform to any standard, law or regulation and are a collection of designs from around the world.
• The designs are general in nature and may or may not be suitable for your purposes.
• The concept designs and associated information such as the safety and maintenance guides are intended to be comprehensible to people who have a basic level of knowledge and skill in construction of playground or similar equipment. Before attempting to construct any equipment based on these designs you should assess whether you have the requisite knowledge or skill to engage in the construction, and where appropriate or necessary seek expert and local advice. Specialised knowledge of your local materials, tools and processes may be required to construct safe playground equipment based on this design—for example, engineering knowledge to allow selection of appropriate strength materials for the purposes to which those materials are put, or playground layout expertise to avoid layouts that might cause risk of injury to users would be beneficial.
• The use of recycled and local materials carries inherent risks. Before using these materials in playground construction you should consider the source and properties of the materials (strength, contaminants, toxic chemicals such as lead, splintering risk, etc) and whether they are fit for use in a playground. Improper construction and use of playground equipment may cause death or injury. Playground Ideas accepts no responsibility for any loss, direct or indirect, suffered as a result of a User utilising recycled and/or local materials in construction of playgrounds and playground equipment.
• Unlike buildings, playgrounds undergo significant ‘wear and tear’ and therefore after construction they will need regular checks and maintenance to ensure they are safe and fit for purpose past the opening day into the future. It is your responsibility to ensure these checks are undertaken and Playground Ideas accepts no responsibility for ensuring such checks are undertaken.

3D Drag and Drop Playground Designer Application

The Build a Playground Section, contains a 3D Drag and Drop Playground Designer Application. This application contains a 3D online space where Users can drag and drop in Designs onto a ground plane to create a design for their site.

All of the above conditions and warranties in relation to the Designs apply to the use of the Drag and Drop Designer tool. In addition, it is imperative that Users use this tool in conjunction with the information contained in the handbooks with particular reference to the safety handbook, guidance material, these Terms of Use and any other applicable information contained on the Website. We note, that Users must be cautious in their use of this Application, as there may be ways of combining elements within the application which would contravene safety standards and could pose a hazard to children.

Projects Page

Playground Ideas offers, in good will, the ability for any User to start a playground Project, through which you can add information relating to your Project. This information will be presented to the users of the Website via a specific project page on the Website (“Project Page”).

Projects includes any planned playground Project, specified in terms of goals, method, target population, budget and location, that, on the basis of the Project Agreement, has been or will be placed on the Playground Idea’s Platform (which is the combination of the Website, newsletters, social network profile and back office).

Where applicable or deemed necessary by Playground Ideas, a Project must be governed by an agreement (which contains these Terms of Use) between Playground Ideas and a Project Manager on the basis of which Playground Ideas provides the project with a Project Page (“Project Agreement”).

Users that choose to start a Project agree and accept as follows:

• to thoroughly research the general information noted on the Website and other websites to ensure that the playground is structurally sound, fits with local safety standards/guidelines and is designed in a way to achieve high play value for children and a good outcome for the community;
• that maintenance of the playground is an essential facet in ensuring continued safety of the playground and agree to take responsibility for the provision of such maintenance at any playground built using information from the Website. Information on maintenance is available here (https://playgroundideas.org/How-do-i-do-it);
• a Project is the sole responsibility of the organisation or person that started the Project and Playground Ideas takes no responsibility for the Project in any way;
• the Playground Ideas Platform is for the sole use of quality playground related Projects. Project Pages and information not related to this topic will be removed;
• Playground Ideas does not currently grant funds or receive funds for people outside the organisation to use for any Projects. This may change in the future and Playground Ideas reserves the right to offer this service in the future;
• Playground Ideas allows the solicitation of funds from Project Pages but reserves the right to overrule and cancel provision of funds whereby a Project is deemed unfit or inappropriate to receive these funds; and
• in starting a playground Project you are required to engage the services of a legal or private person who has agreed to these Terms of Use and is responsible for the Project (“Project Manager”) in order to facilitate the undertaking and completion of the Project. Under no circumstances will Playground Ideas act in this capacity.

Volunteers Profiles

The Website contains a section where any user who wishes to volunteer on a Project (“Volunteer”) can advertise their availability and services by uploading a Volunteer profile.

Volunteers can also include a User who commits to a voluntary (unpaid) placement to help with the work of Playground Ideas (“Interns”). Interns work from their own homes and are not covered by the insurance of Playground Ideas and are not employees of Playground Ideas

Playground Ideas does not screen or check for the suitability of persons who apply for Volunteer positions. Volunteers have no contract with nor are they linked to, employed or endorsed by Playground Ideas, and Playground Ideas takes no responsibility for the quality or reputation of any Volunteer. Playground Ideas accepts no liability for any loss, whether direct or indirect, caused by any Volunteer.

Volunteers are required to inform the Project Manager or organisation of their background and experience so the Project Manager may make an informed decision whether or not to engage the Volunteer and upon what terms.

It is the Project Manager and organisations’ complete responsibility to screen and decide on the appropriateness of any Volunteer for their Project based on their policies and needs.

Any User who agrees to or advertises their availability be a Volunteer warrants that they have note been convicted of any crime of violence or abuse of any kind to children. They further agree to be bound by Playground Idea’s Child Protection Policy and Child Protection Code of Conduct.

Directory Section (Play Pages, Play Professionals)

The directory section of the Website is offered in goodwill to any organisation, company or individual whose work is involved in children’s play related topics.

All directory listings must be according to the Website’s Terms of Use and Playground Ideas reserves the right to block or remove content at its discretion.

Global Play Alliance Section

Any registered non-profit organisation may apply to start an organisation page to share information solely related to its playground work. If approved the organisation will be permitted to set up an organisation page on the Website.

We do not warrant that any such organisation or its work is legitimate or that the information contained on its page is correct.

If you have questions/concerns about an organisation or the information contained on its page, please contact us through the contact form (https://playgroundideas.org/contact-us/) on the Website.

We reserve the right (in our sole discretion), to remove any organisation page that we do not believe to be legitimate or in keeping with Playground Ideas’ objectives. Company Pages

Companies can purchase a range of playground listings on the Website to advertise their company and support Playground Ideas.

Company pages will be posted for one month at a time based on successful reception of the monthly subscription fee.

Playground Ideas reserves the right to remove any company page for any reason it deems appropriate.

Subscriptions are monthly and pro-rata refunds will not be given under any circumstances. The Project Page may be cancelled at any time but removal will only occur at the end of the subscription period.

7. Marketing Material

All marketing material to be used by companies must be signed off by Playground Ideas prior to use. Playground Ideas offers specific badges for different levels and sponsorship and this is the only way in which it is permitted to use the Playground Ideas logo, unless other arrangements have been made and agreed to in writing.

8. Fee for Service

Playground Ideas may be engaged on a Fee for Service basis. Such engagement includes any instance wherein Playground Ideas is hired for payment to undertake any service including but not limited to supporting local staff to design and construct a playground, offering general information on safety, and any other services.

For all instances where Fee for Service is applicable, a commercial contract must be entered into between the entity requiring the service and Playground Ideas and an initial deposit must be paid.

Where Playground Ideas is engaged on a Fee for Service basis, it is the responsibility of the engaging entity to appoint a Project Manager for the Project. Under no circumstances will Playground Ideas act in this capacity for any Project.

9. Donations and Payments

As Playground Ideas is a not-for-profit organisation, all the content and designs contained on the Website are provided for use under a Creative Commons Licence at no cost to Users other than a request for a donation.

Unfortunately, Donations to Playground Ideas cannot be specific and Playground Ideas is not able to guarantee that any such donation will be directed to a specific Project or service.

Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) ltd. (ACN: 003 444 264) is the trustee of the Rotary Australia Overseas Aid Fund (ABN: 213 883 376 554). From The Ground Up Ltd has ‘Deductable Gift Recipient Status’ as a project of RAWCS, for Australian donations.

Playground Ideas accepts no responsibility for any loss, direct or indirect, suffered as a result of utilising PayPal (or any other form of payment) to make payments to Playground Ideas.

10. No offers where illegality arises

Nothing on the Website constitutes an offer to provide goods or services in any place if to do so would contravene the laws of that place.

Privacy Policy

Respecting the wishes of our Website users, volunteers and supporters is very important to Playground Ideas – that’s why our privacy policy is important. We want our friends to be comfortable sharing their names and contact information with us, and to be aware of what we do with their information when it’s entrusted to us.

Terms of Usage

Playground Ideas (“we”, “us” or “our”) controls and operates the website available at http://www.playgroundideas.org/ (“Website”).

Playground Ideas is provided by “From The Ground UP Ltd” and any reference to Playground Ideas on the Website is a reference to From The Ground UP Ltd. (ACN: 152 504 400), which is an Australian registered public company limited by guarantee (not-for-profit). These terms and conditions are the terms and conditions of an agreement between the person accessing and/or using the Website (“Users”, “you” or “your”) and us.

This Privacy Policy applies to any personal information provided in your use of the Website and dealings with us. This Privacy Policy is part of our Website Terms of Use available at: http://www.playgroundideas.org/terms-of-use/.

Any information collected on the Website will only be used for the purposes stated in this Privacy Policy.

Consent

By using the Website Users consent to the collection and use of your personal information in accordance with this Policy.

Registration on the site

Users have the option to register on the Website. Users will be asked to provide at a minimum: name, email address and postal code/zip code. In return for providing this information, Users will gain access to additional resources, as well as the ability to post comments directly to the site.

Playground Ideas does not sell, trade or rent your name or address, including your email address, to others. However, we may use the information we collect about you to assist us and other entities with future projects and in offering other services and products to you. [We also collect information in the form of referrals by site users to third parties.]

Users who log into the portal are not anonymous to us. The information we collect is used to:

* Improve the content of the Websites for your future visits;

* Customise the content and/or layout of our pages for each individual consumer; and

* Notify Users about updates to the Website (if you have asked to be notified of updates or new releases).

Email Communications

Only Users who register, ask for information from us or who donate to Playground Ideas through the Website will receive periodic programmatic or promotional email communications from us.

We also collect the email addresses of those who communicate with us by email in order to reply to their correspondence, to service projects and for marketing purposes.

By providing your email address, you consent to electronically receive communication from us. We may communicate with Users by posting notices on the Website or by e-mail. You agree that all communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

We will provide you with an option to decline any such communication. Alternatively, any User may request at any time that Playground Ideas cease sending email communications to the User by emailing Playground Ideas at Info@playgroundideas.org.

The choice to ‘opt-in’ or ‘opt-out’

When a User writes to Playground Ideas from the Website’s ‘Contact page’, the User may request that his/her email address is not added to our mailing list to ensure that the User does not receive periodic electronic mail from Playground Ideas. Playground Ideas will respond by email only to address the User’s question or comment.

When a User is signed on as a project leader/manager by project administrators using the Website’s Playground Projects page, the User may be contacted via email by the Playground Ideas staff to discuss the project. Building a playground can be complicated and staff may wish to contact you about your project.

Transactions/Donations

Any financial transactions made on the Website are done through secure third party services such as Paypal (these services will be clearly marked) to protect our Users from online theft or fraud. At any time, a User may opt to donate to Playground Ideas or purchase Playground Ideas merchandise offline by telephone or mail.

We may share your data with third parties such as financial bodies and credit card companies in order to process these transactions.

Playground Ideas donor privacy policy

On occasion, Playground Ideas recognises and thanks donors publicly. If you would prefer not to be recognised, or that your gift remain anonymous, please let us know. Your wishes will always be respected.

If you would prefer not to receive fundraising communications from Playground Ideas, please email us at [email protected].

Web links

We are not responsible for the collection, use or security of information by companies or organisations outside of Playground Ideas that may be linked to the Website. Users are encouraged to read the privacy policies of websites reached through the use of links from the Website.

Disclaimer

Playground Ideas will not be liable for any disclosure of information collected via the Website to any third party not authorised under this policy which may result from circumstances beyond our control. We take no responsibility for the privacy and security of your personal information after you have “hyperlinked” to another website.

Changes to the Policy

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances we disclose it.

Seeking Access

If we hold personal information about you, we will provide you with access to that personal information in accordance with all applicable legal requirements.

Personal information includes information of a personal nature which either specifically identifies you or from which your identity can reasonably be ascertained.

To seek access to such personal information:

• We requests that you provide a written request to our Privacy Officer (Email: [email protected]). The Privacy Officer may request further information or provide you with a request form to be completed.
• We will respond to your request as soon as practicable (generally no later than within 45 days from the date of your request).
• If permitted under applicable legislation, we may notify you of details of a fee to be paid before we complete your request.
• We will notify you within required timeframes as to whether we hold personal information relating to you and whether we are granting you with access to such information or denying such access (and provide the reasons for doing so).

Amending Personal Information

We will correct personal information relating to you where you establish that it is not accurate, up-to-date or complete.

We will not delete personal information unless we are required or authorised to do so by law.

Complaint Process

What is a privacy complaint?

A privacy complaint relates to any concern that a person may have regarding our privacy practices or our handling of your personal information. This could include matters such as:

• How your personal information is collected or stored;
• How your personal information is used or disclosed; and
• How access is provided to your personal information.

Who may make a complaint?

If you have provided us with personal information or we have collected and hold your personal information, you may make a complaint, have it investigated and dealt with under this policy.

How to make a complaint?

You may contact the Privacy Officer to make a complaint at this email address: [email protected].

Complaints should specify the nature and substance of the complaint and the relevant date.

You will need to provide as much information as possible to assist us in our investigation.

All complaints will be logged on our database.

Complaints resolution procedure:

Once the complaint has been lodged, we will try to resolve the matter in a timely fashion as follows:

• You should receive acknowledgement of receipt of your complaint within 14 days of the date you lodge it.
• We may request further information from you. This will enable us to investigate the complaint and determine an appropriate solution. All details provided will be kept confidential.
• It may be necessary to contact others in order to proceed with the investigation. This may be necessary in order to progress your complaint.
• If your complaint involves the conduct of our employees we will raise the matter with the employee concerned and seek their comment and input in the resolution of the complaint.
• If your complaint is not able to be resolved at a local level it will be referred to our legal advisers. You will be notified if this happens.
• You will be informed of the outcome of the investigation, the action taken to resolve the issue and the changes made to prevent this matter recurring.
• If the Privacy Officer determines, either before or after an investigation, that the complaint is not well-founded, the Privacy Officer will inform the complainant in writing of this decision and the reasons for it.
• If the complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, you are entitled to refer your complaint to the appropriate Privacy Commissioner.
• We will keep a record of your complaint and the outcome.

For comments or enquiries into our privacy policy, please contact Playground Ideas via email: [email protected].

Day 89: Earth Mound Curved

We've written before on the blog about how an earth mound, or hill, is one of the best, cheapest elements to add to a playground. If your site has a natural hill, you're already off to a great start! Try packing in soil around existing landscape to contour and curve the landscape. Hills can be used as gentle traffic barriers, to create running paths, provide a high-point look out, or divide quiet and active play areas.

(Photos: Playground Ideas, Uganda)

(Photos: Playground Ideas, Brazil)

Follow the link to get the step-by-step instructions for a few of our favorite earth mounds you can add to a play site today. (Must create a free user account to see full instructions.)

Got an idea for a playground element? Join our community and submit your designs here.

Day 13: Snowflake

The "Snowflake" is one of our newest designs in the library. It was inspired by another one of our favorites: the"Motorbike."

Brazil – Playground Ideas

While the "Motorbike" is a great imaginary play feature it also makes for a surprisingly comfortable lounge chair.

And we're not the only ones to have discovered the beauty of a good motorbike nap.

peter tsai photography

photo by calebhutchings.com

photo by flickr: kalabird

The "Snowflake" is like a spiral of intersecting motorbike elements. It's a lovely piece that it doesn't prescribe an intended use. Kids may choose to lounge on the tread loops, balance along the bridges, or hop from tire to tire. Its open-ended nature leaves room for endless interpretations.It would also make a fantastic public space installment that both adults and children could use for seating or play…or naps.

Follow the link to get the step-by-step instructions for building your own “Snowflake."(Note: must create a free user account to see full instructions.)

Got an idea for a playground element?Join our community and submit your designs here.

Day 3: Earth Mound Small

Frank is the director of a primary school for 2,000 children in Nairobi, Kenya. The school did not have a playground or a budget to build one. But Frank desperately wanted a stimulating space for the students to play. So when a construction crew at the school had to unearth several loads of soil, he convinced the contractors not to haul it away but instead to dump it in heaps on the school’s play field.

In doing so, they created a free, instant play element. Four thousand little feet quickly packed the soil down into a delightful hilly ridge. Take a look at this little video of how the kids interacted with the space.

Months later, when Frank’s school had raised funds to build a playground, the soil hills became a major feature of the site. A giant slide was built into one mound, and the hills were incorporated into an obstacle course.

We often hear from people who say, “I’ll build a playground as soon as I have $100…$1,000…$10,000…”

Why not start with a hill? Earth mounds are a lovely way to divide active and quiet play areas, create a focal point to a space, or build elements. As Paige Johnson, writer of Play-Scapes said in her London Open for Play talk earlier this year, “hills are the new swings.”

A truckload of dirt is cheap, often even free. It is a great first step to a playground – adding dimension to a space that kids will immediately enjoy interacting with and can be built upon in the future.

Follow the link to get the step-by-step instructions for a few of our favorite earth mounds you can add to a play site today. (Note: must create a free user account to see full instructions.)

Got an idea for a playground element? Join our community and submit your designs here.