Membership Terms and Conditions
Stawell Sports and Aquatic Centre is managed by Northern Grampians Shire Council.
Payments
Direct debit payments
Stawell Sports and Aquatic Centre (SSAC) will debit your nominated account for the amount and frequency of payments in advance as agreed on your membership contract, accepted by you via email at the time of activating your membership.
Direct debit dates are pre-arranged for all facility programs. If the nominated day of your debit falls on a public holiday SSAC will debit your account on the next business day. It is your responsibility to ensure funds are available in your account on the date of the direct debit. Bank account debits may take up to three days to be cleared from your account. Credit card debits are live transactions (i.e. they will be honoured or declined the moment that our request is received by your bank), so please ensure funds are available the night prior to the debit.
All transactions have a fee applied by the payment gateway provider, World Pay. This fee will be on top of your agreed debit amount. Below is a list of the fees:
• Transaction Fee - Bank Account (per transaction attempt) - $0.73
• Transaction Fee - Card (per transaction attempt) - $0.36
• Card Merchant Rate - VISA/Mastercard - 1.93%
If you hold multiple memberships at SSAC that are under the same member profile within the membership system, all fees will be debited in one transaction, therefore you will only pay one fee outlined above.
By signing this contract, you are agreeing to pay the instalment amount at the agreed payment frequency until this contract is terminated in accordance with the cancellation clause. It is your responsibility to advise us if the account nominated by you for direct debit drawings is transferred or closed.
Term-based payments
SSAC has a range of pay upfront or fixed-term membership options available. Should you require this option you will be required to pay in full on the day of purchase. If you are having your membership funded via a third-party, such as TAC or WorkCover, you must provide an approval or authority to invoice letter from your fund provider before the membership can commence.
Querying a payment: If you need to query a payment, please call or email us via the details below and we will respond within two business days. If you are not satisfied with our response, please write to the Centre Coordinator who will arrange to meet with you.
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Payment responsibilities: You are responsible for ensuring that your nominated bank account or credit card can accept direct debit payments. If it is not, it is your responsibility to provide SSAC with a new bank account or credit card number. It is your responsibility to ensure that the authorisation given to draw on the nominated account is identical to the account signing instruction held by the financial institution where the account is based. You are responsible for notifying SSAC of any changes to your debit details or contact details by updating them on the member portal or at Stawell Sports and Aquatic Centre reception.
Membership options
SSAC has a range of membership options available for people to select from which are categorised as follows:
• Gold membership: includes all gym, group fitness, and aquatic access plus casual squash, court sports and table tennis usage.
• Silver membership: members choose two sections of the facility (i.e. gym, group fitness, and/or aquatic/stadium).
• Bronze membership: members choose one section of the facility (i.e. gym, group fitness, or aquatic/stadium)
• Teen membership: available to children between the age of 12 to 16 years for the gym only. They receive unaccompanied access to the gym during normal staffed opening hours (when we're around to keep a watch over them) and can access the facility after-hours if accompanied by another member who's over the age of 18.
For members over the age of 75 years and who meet our membership conditions, they can access our:
• Platinum membership: includes all gym, group fitness, and aquatic access plus casual squash, court sports and table tennis usage. This is essentially our gold membership option but specifically for our older patrons so centre staff can ensure appropriate support is available to them.
Member eligibility
You must be at least 12 years old to become a gym or group fitness member.
Ages 12–15: If you are under 16 years old, a parent or guardian must sign your membership agreement and health screen questionnaire. You can then use the cardiovascular equipment or take part in group fitness classes that do not use weights and participate in aquatic classes. ALL members aged 12-15 must have a planning session with SSAC staff and their parent or guardian prior to using health and fitness facilities.
Ages 16–17: If you are aged between 16 to 17 years of age, a parent or guardian must co-sign your agreement and health screen questionnaire. You may then do unsupervised resistance training once a qualified staff member has assessed your health screen questionnaire and written and supervised an initial resistance training program for you.
Bronze Aquatic Memberships are available to anyone who is aged six months of age or older
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When you sign your agreement, you will be required to complete a health screen questionnaire. From this point onwards, and each time you use the centre, you are agreeing that you are not aware of any medical reason you cannot or should not do active or passive exercise. If there is a change to your health condition whilst you are an active member, we request that you notify SSAC immediately and update your health screen questionnaire, so our staff are adequately prepared to support you.
Seeking medical advice: If you answered “Yes” to any of the questions on the health screen questionnaire, you will be required to seek guidance from your doctor or appropriate Allied Health professional prior to undertaking physical activity or exercise.
We may choose to refuse and/or cancel your membership agreement unless:
• Your GP or appropriate Allied Health professional agrees in writing that you are fit to exercise; and
• Proof that you have received medical advice on an appropriate exercise program.
Please help protect our members from contagious diseases or illness by not attending if you have:
• An infection, contagious illness or physical ailment, such as an open cut or sore; or
• Diarrhoea or “gastro” like symptoms; or
• A rash that might be contagious; or
• Any other ailment that might represent a risk however small, to another member or guest at the centre.
Membership suspension
A membership may be suspended for a minimum of two weeks and up to a maximum of 26 weeks each calendar year. All Gold, Silver and Bronze memberships have four weeks’ free suspension. After the four weeks, the suspension fee for all memberships is $0.71 per day, which is paid by direct debit.
A request for suspension can be completed on the member portal or in person at the Stawell Sports and Aquatic Centre reception at least 24 hours prior to the next scheduled debit date in order to take effect.
Please note that suspensions may, at times, end in the middle of a fortnightly debit period and debiting will therefore recommence prior to the suspension end date as there will be active days in that period where payment is required.
Medical suspensions will be accepted upon sighting of a medical certificate covering all requested dates, backdated for a maximum period of one month if requested within the certificate, free of any charges.
Before suspending your membership you must make sure your fees are up to date with no monies owed. If fees are not up to date, direct debits will continue until the outstanding fees have been collected
Suspensions will not be backdated unless it is a medical suspension. Term memberships can be suspended, however the suspension time will extend for the minimum term accordingly.
Membership cancellation
A member may cancel their membership on the member portal or at Stawell Sports and Aquatic Centre reception, provided that all outstanding fees due at the time of cancellation are paid in full.
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Please provide a minimum of 14 days’ notice unless otherwise specified by SSAC. Payments due at the point of cancellation must still be paid in full until you have received confirmation from us that your cancellation has been processed and notification of when payments will cease. If your cancellation comes into effect between direct debit cycles, there may be a pro rata fee deducted instead of the full fortnightly debit fee. No claim for cancellation will be recognised without your receipt of cancellation.
Dishonour payments
Should your payment be dishonoured, you will receive and email and SMS informing you of the dishonour and sending you a link to the member portal where you can make payment.
We will also charge you a failed payment fee of $10 if your payment is not honoured by the bank and is due to your personal error. This will be debited from your account with the next scheduled payment or any outstanding amounts can be paid in person at reception or on the member portal Access to the centre’s facilities will be placed on hold until outstanding amounts are paid in full. In the event of payments being dishonoured on three occasions with an outstanding amount remaining unpaid, your membership will be cancelled. Full payment of outstanding fees is required before re-joining a direct debit membership.
Cooling off period
You have seven days from the date you sign your initial agreement to cancel your membership. To action this, please see the cancellation clause above We will then cancel your agreement and refund all payments made. This is only applicable for new membership agreements and not renewing memberships.
Fee increases and change of terms
SSAC may at any time by providing electronic or written correspondence and giving 30 days’ notice increase the payment amount. If other terms are to change, we will by providing electronic or written correspondence and giving you at least 14 days’ notice of these changes including, but not limited to, new frequency and debit date schedule. If you have any questions on any proposed changes, please contact centre staff.
Membership card
SSAC will provide a membership card or access fob when you join. If you visit the centre without a valid membership card or photo identification, we may refuse you entry if we cannot validate your identity. Upon entry, your membership card must be scanned at customer service or the 24/7 access door.
The card is property of the SSAC, and you cannot lend your card or allow anyone else to use it. If you lose or damage your card, we will replace one card every 12 months for free. We will charge you $5 for any further replacement cards and $30 for fobs.
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Conditions of entry
You must follow SSAC conditions of entry and Code of Conduct. Please read and follow all signs and information provided, especially in the areas of stadium, swimming pool, waterslide, gym access after-hours, fitness on demand and spa. If you don’t understand something, please ask for help.
Your membership entitles you to entry at the times and to the areas specific to your membership. This entitlement assumes that you will enter the centre and behave in a way that is not dangerous or inappropriate. We do not accept and any circumstances:
• Threatening or harassing behaviour; or
• Intentional damage to equipment; or
• Use of illegal and/or performance enhancing drugs; or
• Consumption of alcohol; or
• Unauthorised instruction of other members.
Gym access: You are responsible for using our facilities and equipment correctly including adjusting levels or settings. If you are not sure how to operate any equipment, please ask SSAC staff before you use it. You will be responsible for any damage that you cause through a wilful act or negligence. As a courtesy to other members, we ask that you:
• Use a clean towel when you use equipment (including exercise mats); and
• Keep to the set time limits; and
• Keep phone calls to an absolute minimum; and
• Put equipment away after use.
Aquatic access: In wet areas such as the swimming pool and spa, please take extra care when moving around. Follow all signs and never run, dive or jump. This area of the centre can only be used when the centre is staffed. Please supervise children closely according to our Watch Around Water Policy.
• Children over 10 years old: Parents must use their knowledge of the child’s swimming ability and general development to determine the level of accompaniment required.
• Children under 10 years old: Must be accompanied into the centre by a responsible parent or guardian and must be constantly and actively supervised. The parent or guardian must be positioned to have a clear view of the child with no physical or structural barriers between them and the child/children
• Children under five years old: must be accompanied into the centre by a responsible parent or guardian and must be constantly and actively supervised during recreational play within arm’s reach.
For security reasons, children can only wait in the centre if accompanied by an adult.
Liability
To the extent permitted by law, Stawell Sports and Aquatic Centre and Northern Grampians Shire Council shall not be liable or responsible to you for any direct, indirect or consequential injury, loss or damage whatsoever and however arising. Acknowledging this risk, you agree to use the centre at your own risk.
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