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Terms of Service

Draft — not yet in force

This document is awaiting legal review and still contains unresolved placeholders. It does not yet apply. For anything that affects a current booking or account, contact us at hello@mystaypal.com.au.

Last updated: [TBC — publication date] Effective: [TBC — publication date]

These terms are a legal agreement between you and Cape Bridge Pty Ltd (ABN [TBC]) trading as MyStayPal, of [TBC — registered business address], Australia.

They apply when you use any of the following:

  • mystaypal.com.au — our website
  • the MyStayPal platform — the software licensed to property managers and owners
  • the guest, owner and manager portals at portal.mystaypal.com.au
  • mystaypal.com.au/fnq — where you book a stay at a property we manage

These terms are in four parts. Part A applies to everyone. Part B applies if you license our software. Part C applies if you book a stay with us. Part D applies to everyone. Read Part A and Part D, plus whichever of B or C fits you.

By using our website, creating an account, licensing the platform or making a booking, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter a contract. If you are agreeing on behalf of a business, you confirm you are authorised to bind it, and "you" means that business.

Term Meaning
Platform The MyStayPal software, websites and portals
Customer A property manager or owner who licenses the Platform (Part B)
Customer Data Information a Customer or their guests put into the Platform
Guest Someone who books or stays at a property
Managed Property A property we manage ourselves, listed under /fnq
Booking A confirmed reservation at a Managed Property
Content Text, images, listings and other material on the Platform

We do two different things, and it matters which one applies to you.

As a software provider, we license the Platform to property managers and owners so they can run their own businesses. When you deal with one of those businesses — booking one of their properties, for example — your contract is with them, not with us. We provide the software; they provide the accommodation and set their own terms. We are not a party to that arrangement and are not responsible for how they run their business.

As a property manager, Cape Bridge Pty Ltd manages a small number of properties in Far North Queensland, listed under mystaypal.com.au/fnq. We use our own Platform to run that business. For those properties, Part C applies and your contract for the stay is with Cape Bridge Pty Ltd — the same entity that provides the software.

You may use our website for its intended purpose: to learn about our software, browse properties and travel guides, and contact us. We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to do so.

If you create an account:

  • Give us accurate information and keep it current.
  • Keep your credentials secure. You are responsible for what happens under your account.
  • Tell us immediately if you suspect unauthorised access.
  • Do not share your account. One account, one person.
  • We may enable multi-factor authentication, and we recommend you use it.

Owner and manager accounts require our approval before access is granted. We may approve or decline an application at our discretion.

We may suspend or terminate an account that breaches these terms, poses a security risk, or has been inactive for an extended period. Where it is reasonable to do so, we will tell you first.

You must not:

  • break any law, or use the Platform for anything unlawful
  • access data, accounts or properties you are not authorised to access
  • attempt to enumerate, guess or brute-force identifiers, codes or records, including door codes, booking references or account identifiers
  • probe, scan or test the security of the Platform without our prior written permission (see Section 8)
  • scrape, crawl or harvest data, or use bots or automated tools against the Platform, except a search engine indexing our public pages
  • upload malicious code, or anything designed to disrupt the Platform
  • impersonate anyone, or misrepresent your affiliation
  • copy, resell, sublicense or reverse-engineer the Platform
  • post content that is false, misleading, defamatory, infringing, obscene or discriminatory
  • submit a fake booking or a fake review, or manipulate the loyalty or referral programs
  • overload or interfere with the Platform's operation

Breaching this section may result in immediate suspension without notice, and we may report unlawful conduct to the authorities.

If you find a security vulnerability, please tell us at security@mystaypal.com.au rather than disclosing it publicly. We will not pursue legal action against anyone who reports a genuine vulnerability in good faith, gives us reasonable time to fix it, and does not access, modify or destroy other people's data in the process.

The Platform, its software, design, branding, photographs, travel guides and written content are owned by us or licensed to us and are protected by copyright and trade mark law. "MyStayPal" and our logos are our trade marks.

Nothing in these terms transfers ownership to you. You may not use our branding without written permission.

10. Content you submit

You keep ownership of anything you submit — reviews, photographs, property descriptions, enquiries.

By submitting it, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use, store, reproduce, adapt and display it for the purpose of operating and promoting the Platform and the properties it lists. This licence continues for material we have already published, and survives the closure of your account for that material.

You confirm that you own the content or have the right to give us this licence, and that it does not infringe anyone's rights. If a photograph shows an identifiable person, you must have their consent.

We may remove content that breaches these terms, and we are not obliged to keep copies.

Reviews must be honest, based on a genuine stay, and your own experience. We do not remove a review simply because it is negative — but we will remove reviews that are fake, defamatory, contain personal information about a third party, or breach Section 7. We do not offer payment or benefits in exchange for a positive review.

Commencement. Sections 13 and 14 (fees and billing) take effect when we introduce paid plans. We will give existing Customers 30 days' written notice before that happens. Until then the Platform is provided free of charge and Section 15 applies.

We grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the Platform to manage your properties, bookings and guests, for the term of your subscription.

You may not resell or sublicense the Platform, use it to build a competing product, or give access to anyone outside your business without our permission.

  • Fees are as set out on our pricing page or in your order form, in Australian dollars, inclusive of GST.
  • Subscriptions are billed monthly in advance and renew automatically unless cancelled before the renewal date. Annual plans, where offered, are billed yearly in advance.
  • We may change our fees on 30 days' written notice. If you do not accept the change you may cancel before it takes effect, and we will refund any prepaid fees covering the unused period.
  • If payment fails, we will notify you. If it remains unpaid 14 days after that notice we may suspend your access, and we will not delete your Customer Data during a suspension for non-payment.
  • Fees already paid are not refundable except where the Australian Consumer Law requires a remedy, where we change our fees under this Section, or where we terminate without cause under Section 19.

You are responsible for any taxes arising from your use of the Platform, other than tax on our income. If you are registered for GST, you are responsible for your own GST obligations on the bookings you take.

We may offer a free trial or pilot. During it, the Platform is provided "as is" and we may modify or withdraw it at any time. At the end of a trial, your access ends unless you subscribe.

You can export your data at any time — ask us and we will help. We will keep trial data available for 30 days after the trial ends, then delete it.

You own your Customer Data. We do not.

We will:

  • process Customer Data only to provide the Platform to you and as you instruct
  • not sell it, mine it, or use it to market to your guests
  • store it in Australia — our database and file storage run in Sydney
  • take reasonable steps to keep it secure (see our Privacy Policy)
  • give you a copy in a usable format on request
  • keep it available to you for 30 days after your subscription ends, then delete it

You are responsible for the Customer Data you put in. In particular:

  • you must have the right to give us the personal information you upload
  • you must have told your guests how their information will be handled, and have your own privacy policy where the law requires it
  • you must comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) in your dealings with your guests
  • you must not upload sensitive information — health, biometric, or similar — unless we have agreed in writing that the Platform will handle it

Where you are the party responsible for your guests' personal information, you deal with their access, correction and deletion requests. We will help you respond, and we will refer any request we receive directly back to you.

If we suffer loss because Customer Data breached this section, Section 32 applies.

You are solely responsible for your accommodation business, including:

  • the accuracy of your listings, pricing, availability and photographs
  • the condition, safety, cleanliness and legal compliance of your properties
  • holding the licences, registrations, planning approvals and insurance your local council and state require for short-term accommodation
  • your guest terms, house rules, cancellation policy and refunds
  • collecting payment from your guests and paying any levies or taxes
  • your dealings with booking platforms, and complying with their terms

We are not the accommodation supplier for your properties and we are not a party to your guest contracts. We do not vet your properties, verify your listings, or take responsibility for your guests' stays.

We aim to keep the Platform available and to fix problems promptly, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation.

  • Planned maintenance — we will give reasonable notice where we can, and schedule it outside peak periods where practical.
  • Unplanned outages — we will restore service as quickly as we reasonably can. Our hosting, database and authentication providers can experience outages we do not control.
  • Support — email support@mystaypal.com.au. We aim to respond within one business day. This is a target, not a guarantee.
  • Changes — we may add, change or remove features. We will give reasonable notice before removing a feature you materially rely on.
  • No service credits or uptime guarantee apply unless we have agreed one with you in writing.

You may cancel at any time, effective at the end of your current billing period. Fees already paid are not refunded.

We may suspend or terminate immediately if you materially breach these terms, fail to pay after notice, use the Platform unlawfully, or create a security risk.

We may terminate without cause on 60 days' written notice, and will refund any prepaid fees covering the unused period.

On termination: your access ends, and Section 16 governs your data. Any fees owing remain payable. Sections 9, 10, 16, 20 and Part D survive.

Each of us may learn confidential information about the other. Both of us agree to keep it confidential, use it only for the purpose of this agreement, and protect it as carefully as our own. This does not apply to information that is public, already known, independently developed, or required to be disclosed by law.

The Platform may connect to third-party services — booking platforms such as Airbnb or Booking.com, channel managers, or mapping providers. Those services are governed by their own terms, and we do not control them. If a third party changes or withdraws its interface, a feature that depends on it may stop working, and that is not a breach of these terms.

This Part applies to properties listed at mystaypal.com.au/fnq, which Cape Bridge Pty Ltd manages. If you booked through a different operator using our software, their terms apply, not this Part.

A booking is confirmed when we send you a written confirmation. Until then, your request is an enquiry only, and rates and availability may change.

Please check your confirmation carefully and tell us straight away if anything is wrong.

The maximum number of guests is stated in your confirmation and in the listing. Exceeding it without our written approval is a breach of these terms. This is an insurance and safety requirement, not an arbitrary rule — if it happens we will ask you to correct it, and if you do not, we may end the stay under Section 27.

The booking is for short-term holiday accommodation. It is not a residential tenancy, and residential tenancy legislation does not apply.

  • Rates are in Australian dollars and include GST.
  • A 25% deposit is payable to confirm your booking. The balance is due 30 days before check-in. For bookings made less than 30 days before check-in, the full amount is payable at the time of booking.
  • A security bond may apply. If one does, the amount is stated in your booking confirmation. Section 28 explains how it is handled and returned.
  • Payment methods are set out in your booking confirmation. We do not process card payments through this website.
  • If you booked through Airbnb, Booking.com or another platform, that platform's payment and cancellation terms apply to the money side of your booking, and they override Sections 23 and 24 where they conflict.

If you cancel:

When you cancel What happens
More than 30 days before check-in Full refund of everything you have paid
7 to 30 days before check-in 50% refund of the total booking value
Less than 7 days before check-in, or no-show No refund

Your security bond is always refunded in full when you cancel.

Cancellations must be in writing. The date we receive your written notice is the date that counts.

If we cancel. We will only cancel your booking where we have to — for example if the property is damaged, unsafe, or genuinely unavailable. If that happens we will offer you comparable alternative accommodation where we can, or refund everything you have paid in full. Beyond that refund, our liability is limited as set out in Section 30.

Changes. Ask us and we will do what we can, subject to availability and any rate difference. We will not charge you a fee simply for asking.

Travel insurance. We strongly recommend it. It covers the things a cancellation policy cannot — illness, flight disruption, and weather that does not make the property unavailable but does spoil the trip.

  • Check-in and check-out times are in your confirmation. We will do our best to accommodate a different time if you ask in advance.
  • We will send you a door access code before arrival, along with access instructions.
  • Your door code is personal to your stay. Do not share it, post it, or photograph it publicly. Tell us immediately if you think it has been compromised. If a code is shared and someone gains unauthorised access to the property, you may be responsible for the consequences.
  • Codes are deactivated after check-out.

You agree to:

  • treat the property, its contents and its neighbours with respect
  • comply with the house rules, including any noise restrictions, and with the rules of the building or complex
  • not hold parties, functions or events without our prior written approval
  • not smoke indoors
  • not bring pets unless the listing allows it and we have approved it
  • keep the property secure, and lock up when you go out
  • tell us promptly about any damage, fault or hazard
  • not sublet, or let anyone stay who is not on the booking

Far North Queensland conditions. Weather in the tropics is part of the experience and occasionally part of the problem. Cyclones, extreme heat, flooding, marine stingers and beach closures happen, and so do council directions and power interruptions. These are outside our control, and Section 31 applies. Please follow official advice and any instructions we give during your stay.

We may end your stay and ask you to leave only where it is reasonably necessary — specifically if you or your guests:

  • create a serious risk to safety, or to the property
  • cause a serious or persistent nuisance to neighbours
  • hold an unapproved party or event, or
  • materially exceed the guest limit after we have asked you to correct it

Where we can, we will warn you first and give you a reasonable chance to fix the problem. If we do end the stay, we will refund the unused nights unless your conduct caused us loss that exceeds that amount, in which case Section 28 applies. Nothing in this Section limits your rights under Section 29.

You are responsible for damage or loss caused by you or your guests beyond fair wear and tear.

We may charge you the reasonable cost of:

  • repairing or replacing damaged or missing items
  • additional cleaning beyond normal turnover, including smoke or pet odour removal
  • lost keys or remotes, and re-keying where necessary
  • losses caused by an unapproved event, or by exceeding the guest limit

We will always tell you what the charge is for and give you evidence of the actual cost before we apply it. We do not charge fixed penalties, and we do not charge more than what it actually costs us to put right.

Where a security bond has been taken, we may apply it against a charge under this Section and will return the balance to you after check-out. If we intend to apply any part of it, we will tell you what for and provide evidence of the cost first.

We operate a loyalty program and a refer-a-friend program. Both are a benefit we offer voluntarily, not a contractual entitlement.

  • Points are earned when a stay is completed, at the rate published on our rewards page, and are credited to your account.
  • Points have no cash value, cannot be sold or transferred, and are not property.
  • Referrals — when someone you refer signs up through your link and completes a qualifying stay, a discount code is issued. The current discount is 10%, subject to the terms shown on the rewards page at the time.
  • Discount codes have an expiry date, are single-use, apply to direct bookings only, and cannot be combined with other offers unless we say so.
  • Only invite people who would welcome hearing from you. Do not use the referral tool to send bulk or unsolicited messages — doing so breaches Section 7 and may breach the Spam Act 2003 (Cth).
  • We may cancel points or codes obtained through fraud, self-referral, duplicate accounts, or manipulation of the program.
  • We may change or end either program on reasonable notice. We will honour points and codes already earned for a reasonable period after any change.
  • Points and unused codes are forfeited if your account is closed for breach of these terms.

Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any guarantee, right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law or any other law that cannot be excluded. If a provision of these terms would do so, it does not apply to you to that extent.

Where the Australian Consumer Law applies and permits us to limit our liability for a failure to comply with a consumer guarantee, our liability is limited, at our option, to:

  • for goods — replacing them, supplying equivalents, repairing them, or paying the cost of doing so; and
  • for services — supplying the services again, or paying the cost of having them supplied again.

You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure, and to compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage.

Subject always to Section 30:

We provide the Platform "as is". To the extent the law allows, we exclude all warranties, conditions and representations not expressly set out in these terms.

We are not liable for:

  • indirect, consequential, special or incidental loss
  • loss of profit, revenue, goodwill, business opportunity or anticipated savings
  • loss or corruption of data, except where caused by our failure to take reasonable security steps
  • the acts or omissions of a property manager, owner, guest or third-party provider
  • outages or failures of third-party services we depend on
  • events outside our reasonable control (Section 32)

Our total liability to you for all claims arising in connection with these terms is limited to:

  • for Part B Customers — the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose, or $1,000 if you have paid no fees
  • for Part C Guests — the total amount paid for the booking the claim relates to

We reduce our liability to the extent your act, omission or breach caused or contributed to the loss.

Nothing in this section limits liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow us to limit.

Neither of us is liable for failing to perform because of something outside our reasonable control — including natural disaster, cyclone, flood or extreme weather, fire, pandemic, epidemic, government or council direction, war, terrorism, industrial action, utility failure, or the failure of a third-party provider such as our hosting, database or authentication supplier.

If such an event makes a property unavailable for your stay, we will refund everything you have paid for the nights affected.

If the event continues for more than 30 days, either of us may terminate, and we will refund amounts paid for services not provided.

You indemnify us against claims, losses, damages and reasonable legal costs arising from:

  • your breach of these terms or of any law
  • content or data you submitted, including any claim that it infringes someone's rights or was uploaded without the necessary consent
  • for Part B Customers — your operation of your accommodation business, your dealings with your guests, and your handling of personal information
  • for Part C Guests — damage caused by you or the people staying with you

This indemnity is reduced to the extent we caused or contributed to the loss.

Our Privacy Policy at mystaypal.com.au/privacy explains how we handle personal information, and forms part of these terms.

If a dispute arises, talk to us first — most things are resolved with a phone call. Contact us using the details in Section 40 with a description of the issue and what you want.

If we cannot resolve it within 30 days, either of us may refer it to mediation in Queensland before starting court proceedings. This does not prevent either of us seeking urgent injunctive relief, and it does not affect your right to complain to a regulator or to a consumer affairs body.

We may update these terms. The current version is always at mystaypal.com.au/terms with the "last updated" date shown.

  • For material changes affecting Part B Customers, we will give 30 days' written notice. If you do not accept, you may cancel before the change takes effect and we will refund any prepaid fees covering the unused period.
  • For other changes, continuing to use the Platform after we publish them means you accept them.
  • The terms that applied when you made a booking continue to govern that booking. We will not change the rules on a stay you have already paid for.

We will send notices to the email address on your account, and they are taken to be received the day after sending. You send notices to us at the address in Section 40. Keep your email address current — you are responsible for notices sent to an address you have not updated.

These terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia. You submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Queensland and the courts that hear appeals from them.

  • Entire agreement — these terms, the Privacy Policy, and any order form you have signed are the whole agreement between us on this subject.
  • Order of precedence — if a signed order form conflicts with these terms, the order form wins.
  • Severability — if part of these terms is unenforceable, the rest keeps working.
  • No waiver — if we do not enforce something straight away, we have not given up the right to enforce it later.
  • Assignment — you may not transfer your rights without our written consent. We may transfer ours as part of a sale or restructure of our business.
  • No agency — nothing here creates a partnership, employment or agency relationship between us.
  • Third parties — only you and we can enforce these terms.

Cape Bridge Pty Ltd trading as MyStayPal ABN [TBC]