Copyright and Terms of use


1. Acknowledgement

These copyright and terms of use have been adapted from a similar document published on the website of Education Services Australia Limited (ESA) and dated 14 March 2014. ACARA acknowledges ESA as the source of these copyright and terms of use.

2. Creative commons licence

© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2010 to present, unless otherwise indicated. The copyright material published on this website is subject to the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and is owned by ACARA or, where indicated, by a party other than ACARA.

ACARA supports and encourages broad use of its material.

Unless indicated otherwise (including in section 3 below), copyright material available on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY) licence (Creative Commons licence).

This licence allows you to:

  • share – copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format; and
  • adapt – remix, transform and build upon the material,

for any purpose, even commercially, provided you attribute ACARA as the source of the copyright material (see section 5 below).

3. Material not available under a Creative Commons licence

The Creative Commons licence does not apply to:

  • any logos, including the ACARA logo, the Australian Curriculum logo, the Australian Government logo and the Education Services Australia Limited logo;
  • other trade mark protected material; and
  • the design of this website.

This material must not be used for any purpose.

In addition, the Creative Commons licence does not apply to material owned by third parties that has been reproduced with their permission. Permission will need to be obtained from third parties to re-use their material.

Some other material on this website may not be licensed under a CC BY licence and can only be used in accordance with the specific terms of use attached to that material. This includes the National Literacy Learning Progressions, which are licensed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence.

There are also other materials on this website that are licensed more restrictively (Excluded Materials). Excluded Materials comprise:

  1. all photographs on this website;
  2. any videos hosted on this website;
  3. all photographs in any reports, or other documents, published on this website; and
  4. all resources used to support teachers as they implement the Australian Curriculum.

You may view, download, display, print, reproduce (such as by making photocopies) and distribute these Excluded Materials in unaltered form only for your personal, non-commercial educational purposes or for the non-commercial educational purposes of your organisation, provided that you make others aware it can only be used for these purposes and attribute ACARA as the source of the Excluded Material in accordance with section 5 below. For the avoidance of doubt, this means that you cannot edit, modify or adapt any of these materials, and you cannot sub-license any of these materials to others. Apart from any uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), and those explicitly granted above, all other rights are reserved by ACARA. If you want to use such material in a manner that is outside this restrictive licence, you must request permission from ACARA by emailing ([email protected]).

Australian Curriculum videos are generally hosted on an external platform, YouTube. This includes (without limitation) illustrations of primary curriculum management and student diversity. The licence terms on this external platform governs your use of this material. For more information about linked material from third party websites see section 8 below.

4. Protocols for Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) rights

In bringing First Peoples’ knowledges into the curriculum, ACARA respects ICIP rights and recognises that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) enshrines the rights of First Peoples to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the intellectual property over their heritage, knowledge and expressions.

Some materials on this website include knowledge and cultural expressions of Australia’s First Peoples, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This knowledge comes from country and its people and has been handed down through the generations. It is Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) that belongs communally to First Peoples, who continue to practice culture. First Peoples have cultural protocols about how their ICIP can be shared and used. Unfortunately, in the past, there has been widespread misappropriation of First Peoples’ knowledges and cultural expression. This has caused offence to First Peoples, and harmed their cultural practices.

The unauthorised use, adaptation and publication of ICIP without the free prior informed consent of First Peoples is a breach of ICIP protocols.

Anyone who wants to use, reproduce, publish or innovate using the knowledge and information in the ICIP materials on this website should comply with their legal and ethical obligations to:

  •  seek the free, prior and informed consent of the First Peoples whose ICIP is being used, particularly if commercialised;
  • share benefits with First Peoples for use of ICIP, and negotiate fair payment terms when using ICIP in a commercial context;
  • attribute the owners of the ICIP; and
  • consult regarding the cultural integrity of your proposed use.

The following standard setting documents should be followed:

For further information see:

5. Attributing ACARA

All ACARA material published on this website and covered by the Creative Commons licence is to be cited as follows:

“© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2010 to present, unless otherwise indicated. This material was downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website (www.australiancurriculum.edu.au) (Website) (accessed [insert date]) and [was][was not] modified. The material is licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Version updates are tracked in the ‘Curriculum version history’ section on the 'About the Australian Curriculum' page (http://australiancurriculum.edu.au/about-the-australian-curriculum/) of the Australian Curriculum website.

ACARA does not endorse any product that uses the Australian Curriculum or make any representations as to the quality of such products. Any product that uses material published on this website should not be taken to be affiliated with ACARA or have the sponsorship or approval of ACARA. It is up to each person to make their own assessment of the product, taking into account matters including, but not limited to, the version number and the degree to which the materials align with the content descriptions and achievement standards (where relevant). Where there is a claim of alignment, it is important to check that the materials align with the content descriptions and achievement standards (endorsed by all education Ministers), not the elaborations (examples provided by ACARA).”

The Australian Curriculum Review consultation documents, photographs, videos and other works published as consultation documents is to be cited as follows:

“© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2021 to present, unless otherwise indicated. This material was downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website (Website) (accessed [insert date]). It has not been modified. This material is consultation material only and has not been endorsed by Australia’s nine education ministers.

You are encouraged to check the Australian Curriculum website to ascertain whether this draft material has since been endorsed as Australian Curriculum material.

ACARA does not endorse any product that uses the Australian Curriculum Review consultation material or make any representations as to the quality of such products. Any product that uses this material should not be taken to be affiliated with ACARA or have the sponsorship or approval of ACARA.”

Additional attribution paragraph in relation to platforms (such as websites and apps) that have incorporated parts of the Australian Curriculum onto their platform so as to enable teachers to create their own teaching resources or to enable teachers to search and find resources aligned to parts of the Australian Curriculum:

“It is important to check the frequency with which the platform or app is updated and, if the platform or app allows users to download the Australian Curriculum to their portable device, how often and in what circumstances the user’s device synchronises with the platform.”

6. Australian Curriculum Review consultation - Your grant of licence to ACARA and your moral rights consent

In relation to any written feedback that you provide to ACARA as part of the Australian Curriculum Review consultation (excluding your personal name and any other information that could identify you personally), you/your organisation grants to ACARA a perpetual, irrevocable, world-wide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to:

a. adapt, edit or modify (ACARA does not attribute authorship);

b. communicate to the public on any platform;

c. distribute;

d. publish (making the work public for the first time);

e. reproduce (such as by making photocopies);

f. sub-license; and

g. use,

all your feedback, regardless of how that feedback is provided (for example, through the Australian Curriculum website or by submitting comments using email) for the purposes of:

  • the Australian Curriculum review (including incorporating your organisation’s feedback into reports and referencing your organisation as having provided this feedback); and
  • for other purposes relating to ACARA’s functions under the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Act 2008 (Cth).

You/your organisation consent to the performance of any of the following classes or types of acts or omissions by ACARA or any person claiming under or through ACARA (whether occurring before or after the consent is given):

a. using, reproducing or adapting all or any part of your feedback, without attribution or authorship;

b. supplementing your feedback with any other material;

c. using your feedback in a different context to that originally envisaged;

d. releasing your feedback to the public; and

e. incorporating your feedback into any platform (for example, a website or app).

7. No endorsement of products

ACARA does not endorse any product that uses the Australian Curriculum or make any representations as to the quality of such products. Any product that uses material published on this website should not be taken to be affiliated with ACARA or have the sponsorship or approval of ACARA. It is up to each person to make their own assessment of the product, taking into account matters including, but not limited to, the version number and the degree to which the materials align with the content descriptions and achievement standards (where relevant).

8. No licence fees collected by Copyright Agency Limited

ACARA has written to the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) directing CAL not to collect fees on ACARA’s behalf. This means that schools, education bodies and other organisations are not charged fees for copying the materials on this website, unless material is owned by a third party, in which case permission will need to be obtained from the third party to re-use their material.

9. Linked material available on third party websites

The website may contain links to third party websites over which we have no control. Those links are provided for your convenience only and we are not responsible for their use, effect or content. You acknowledge and agree that the terms of use, including licence terms, set out on the third party’s website apply to the use which may be made of the materials on that third party’s website.

If this website contains links to your website and you have any objection to such linking, please contact ACARA by emailing to ([email protected]).

Similarly, if you have any questions regarding use of material available on or through this website, please contact us by emailing to ([email protected]).

10. Disclaimer

The materials available on this website are made available by ACARA as an information source only.

ACARA has compiled the material on this website in good faith and has endeavoured to ensure that all material is accurate and does not breach any entity’s rights at the time of its inclusion. However, the material may contain unintentional errors and is provided ‘as is’. This particularly applies to all resources used to support teachers as they implement the Australian Curriculum and all videos on external platforms such as YouTube.

You acknowledge and agree that you will make your own enquiries to determine whether information you obtain through the website is current, complete and accurate before using it.

We do not warrant or guarantee:

a          that you will be able to use the website at any time; or

b          that your use of the website will be continuous, uninterrupted, secure or error-free.

We also assume no responsibility, and shall not be liable for, any damages to, or viruses that may infect, your computer equipment or other property as a result of your access to, use of, or browsing in the website or your downloading of any materials, data, text, images, video, or audio from this website.

If ACARA has inadvertently included materials belonging to any other party, please contact ACARA by emailing to ([email protected]).

11. Liability

You acknowledge and agree that your access to, and use of, the website is at your own risk.

To the maximum extent lawful, ACARA:

  1. excludes all warranties, representations, guarantees, conditions, rights, remedies, liabilities and any other terms that may be conferred or implied by statute, general law or custom, except any guarantee or right conferred under any legislation (including the Australian Consumer Law in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)), the exclusion of which would contravene legislation or cause any part of this clause to be void in respect of this website and the material contained on it; and
  2. excludes all responsibility and liability for:
    • any loss or damage, however caused, resulting from your use or inability to use this website or the material; or
    • any incidental, special or consequential damages arising from the use or inability to use the website or the material contained on it.

Where liability cannot be lawfully excluded, the entire liability of ACARA and your exclusive remedy is resupply of the website or the material contained on it.

12. Security

To use the website or certain of its features as intended, you may be required to enable the website to use cookies and grant the website any other permissions and access to your device, as necessary. If you do not grant these permissions and this access, you may be unable to use the website or some of its features.

The website uses the internet to provide services and information. By using the website, you acknowledge and agree to accept all risks associated with using the internet, including the potential exposure to viruses and harmful code which may affect your device.

We do not warrant or guarantee the security of the website. You are solely responsible for the security of your device (including any data stored on your device) and for using appropriate and up-to-date software on your device to detect and manage the threat posed by viruses and other harmful code.

13. Privacy

Where we collect personal information from you through this website, we will collect, use and store your personal information in accordance with these terms of use, ACARA’s Privacy Policy (www.acara.edu.au/privacy.html) and applicable legislation. For more detailed information, refer to Part A of ACARA’s Privacy Policy (Online collection of personal information).

14. Enquiries

Unless the material is made available under a Creative Commons BY licence or relevant terms/conditions of use allow modification or adaption, you must contact ACARA by emailing to ([email protected]) if you:

  • intend to charge others for use or access to ACARA material from this website; or
  • intend to publish a modified version of any ACARA material from this website.

If material indicates (either next to the item or in the ‘Acknowledgements’ section) that it may be owned by a third party, you may need to contact the third party to request permission to reproduce their material.

15. Variation of terms of use

ACARA may change, modify, add or remove any part of these terms of use; change, modify, add to, or remove, any material contained on the website or any other aspect of the website, without notice or liability. It is your responsibility to regularly check these terms of use to ensure you are familiar with their current form. Your continued use of the website constitutes your acceptance of any changes to the terms of use.

16. Other terms

Certain areas and features of this website contain terms and conditions specific to those areas and features. Such terms and conditions are in addition to these terms of use and prevail over these terms of use only to the extent it is not possible to construe these terms of use consistently with such other terms and conditions.

17. Governing law

These terms of use are governed by the laws of New South Wales. You submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales and the courts having appeal from them.

Last updated: April 2021