1. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old and have the legal capacity to enter into this Agreement.

We do not knowingly accept story submissions directly from anyone under 18 years of age.

2. Your Submission

“Submission” means all content you provide through the Stardust Self story-submission form, including:

• your story and its title;
• written answers, reflections and descriptions;
• suggested categories or topics;
• quotations or supporting information; and
• any corrections, amendments or additional material you later provide.

You should not include surnames, home addresses, private contact details, school names, workplace names or other unnecessary identifying information.

3. Ownership of Your Story

You retain copyright ownership in the original material you create, subject to the licence granted to Stardust Self under this Agreement.

Submitting a story does not give you any ownership, equity, partnership, employment, authorship or financial interest in Stardust Self or LPJ PROJECTS PTY LTD.

4. Licence Granted to Stardust Self

You grant Stardust Self a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, sublicensable and royalty-free licence to:

• review;
• copy;
• edit;
• adapt;
• shorten;
• format;
• anonymise;
• reproduce;
• publish;
• display;
• communicate;
• distribute;
• archive;
• translate; and
• promote

your Submission, in whole or in part, in any current or future media.

This licence includes use through:

• the Stardust Self website;
• community pages and blog posts;
• email newsletters;
• social-media accounts;
• advertisements and promotional campaigns;
• podcasts, videos and audio content;
• downloadable resources;
• courses and workshops;
• books, journals and printed publications;
• collections or compilations of community stories; and
• other educational or commercial Stardust Self materials.

We are not required to obtain further permission from you each time we use the Submission in accordance with this Agreement.

5. Editorial Rights

You authorise Stardust Self to edit your Submission for:

• grammar and spelling;
• clarity and readability;
• length and structure;
• tone and formatting;
• privacy and anonymity;
• legal or safety concerns;
• consistency with our editorial style; and
• removal of material that may identify or harm another person.

We may change names, locations, dates, workplaces and other non-essential circumstances to protect privacy.

We will not knowingly change the central meaning of your personal experience in a materially misleading way.

6. Attribution and Privacy

You may choose to have your story published using one of the following:

• Anonymous; or
• First name only.

We will not intentionally publish your surname or email address as part of your story.

Complete anonymity cannot be guaranteed where the events or circumstances described may already be known to other people.

Your email address may be used to:

• verify your Submission;
• ask questions;
• discuss significant edits;
• provide a publication update; or
• address a privacy, legal or safety concern.

Personal information will also be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

7. No Obligation to Publish

Submitting a story does not guarantee publication.

Stardust Self may, at its discretion:

• accept or reject a Submission;
• request clarification or changes;
• delay publication;
• publish only part of a Submission;
• decide where and how it appears;
• remove it from current publication;
• archive it; or
• decline to provide reasons for an editorial decision.

8. Voluntary Submission and No Compensation

You confirm that your Submission is voluntary.

Unless Stardust Self enters into a separate written agreement expressly providing otherwise, you will not receive:

• payment;
• royalties;
• licence fees;
• commissions;
• residuals;
• reimbursement;
• profit sharing;
• advertising revenue;
• equity;
• gifts; or
• any other financial or non-financial compensation.

This applies regardless of:

• how often the Submission is viewed or shared;
• whether Stardust Self earns revenue from related content;
• whether the Submission appears in a paid product;
• whether Stardust Self later becomes profitable; or
• whether the Submission contributes to audience growth or goodwill.

You agree not to claim any interest in Stardust Self’s revenue, profits, ownership, goodwill or business value solely because you submitted a story.

Nothing in this Agreement excludes any right that cannot lawfully be excluded.

9. Removal Requests

You may contact Stardust Self to request review, correction, further anonymisation or removal of a published online story.

We will consider genuine privacy, safety, factual and legal concerns reasonably and in good faith. However, a removal request does not automatically terminate the licence granted under this Agreement.

Where reasonably practicable, we may remove or further anonymise the story from websites or platforms under our direct control.

You acknowledge that we may be unable to retrieve or remove material that has already been:

• printed;
• sold;
• lawfully distributed;
• downloaded;
• quoted;
• shared by third parties;
• included in an existing publication;
• stored in backups or archives;
• indexed or cached by search engines; or
• incorporated into content already produced or released.

Stardust Self may retain an archival or evidentiary copy where reasonably necessary for legal, compliance, recordkeeping or dispute-management purposes.

10. Your Promises and Warranties

By submitting your story, you promise that:

1. the Submission is based on your own experience and is written by you, except for material you have clearly identified and have permission to use;
2. you have authority to grant the rights contained in this Agreement;
3. the Submission does not knowingly infringe copyright, privacy, confidentiality, publicity or other legal rights;
4. you have not knowingly included false or misleading allegations;
5. the Submission does not unlawfully defame another person or organisation;
6. you have removed unnecessary identifying information;
7. you have not impersonated another person;
8. the Submission does not contain unlawful threats, harassment, hate content or encouragement of harm;
9. you will not submit confidential legal, medical, counselling, employment or business records without authority; and
10. accepting this Agreement does not breach another contract or obligation.

Personal opinions and recollections must be presented as personal opinions and recollections, rather than as established findings about another person.

11. Stories Involving Other People

You understand that telling your own story may reveal information about family members, partners, children, employers, clinicians or other people.

Stardust Self may remove, generalise or alter details concerning other people.

We may reject a Submission that:

• identifies a child;
• names or readily identifies an alleged perpetrator;
• alleges criminal conduct;
• discusses active legal proceedings;
• discloses sensitive health information about another person;
• appears retaliatory or malicious; or
• creates an unreasonable privacy or legal risk.

Do not use the submission process to publicly accuse, expose, punish or campaign against another person.

12. Children and Young People

You must not identify anyone under 18 by full name, photograph, address, school, workplace, social-media account or other distinctive information.

Stardust Self may remove or change any detail relating to a child, even if you believe you have permission to include it.

13. Medical and Psychological Content

Community stories describe individual experiences only.

Publication does not mean that Stardust Self:

• confirms the accuracy of any diagnosis;
• endorses any treatment;
• verifies a clinical claim;
• provides medical or psychological advice; or
• guarantees that another person will experience the same outcome.

You must not use your Submission to instruct readers to stop prescribed treatment or disregard professional medical advice.

14. Moral Rights Consent

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you consent to Stardust Self doing acts authorised by this Agreement that might otherwise affect your moral rights, including:

• editing;
• adapting;
• reformatting;
• excerpting;
• combining the Submission with other material;
• publishing it anonymously; and
• using your first name without displaying full authorship details.

This consent does not authorise deliberately derogatory treatment of your Submission.

15. No Confidentiality

Unless Stardust Self expressly agrees otherwise in writing, your Submission is not received in confidence.

Do not submit information that you require us to keep legally or professionally confidential.

Your contact information will be handled under our Privacy Policy, but the story itself is submitted for potential review, editing and publication.

16. Safety and Legal Disclosures

Where a Submission suggests an immediate and serious threat to a person’s safety, suspected abuse of a child or another matter requiring action by law, Stardust Self may disclose relevant information to emergency services, regulators, legal advisers or appropriate authorities.

Stardust Self is not a crisis-response, counselling or emergency-monitoring service, and Submissions may not be reviewed immediately.

17. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify Stardust Self and LPJ PROJECTS PTY LTD against reasonable losses, liabilities, damages and legal costs arising directly from:

• your material breach of this Agreement;
• your infringement of another person’s intellectual-property, privacy or confidentiality rights;
• a knowingly false or unlawful allegation in your Submission; or
• your lack of authority to grant the licence.

This indemnity does not apply to the extent that a loss was caused or contributed to by Stardust Self’s negligence, unlawful conduct or unauthorised material alteration of your Submission.

18. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Stardust Self is not liable for indirect, consequential or special loss arising from the submission, rejection, editing, publication, sharing or removal of a Submission.

Nothing in this Agreement excludes or restricts:

• rights or remedies that cannot legally be excluded;
• liability for fraud or wilful misconduct; or
• any applicable consumer guarantee or statutory protection.

19. International Submissions

The Stardust Self website may be accessed from countries outside Australia.

You acknowledge that laws differ between countries and states. You are responsible for ensuring that your Submission is lawful in the place from which you submit it.

The licence granted under this Agreement is worldwide.

20. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

This Agreement is governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia and applicable Commonwealth laws of Australia.

Subject to any mandatory law that applies otherwise, the parties submit to the courts of Queensland, Australia and courts entitled to hear appeals from them.

Nothing in this section removes any non-waivable right or protection that applies under the law of your place of residence.

21. Severability

If any provision of this Agreement is found to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, it will be read down to the minimum extent necessary.

If it cannot be read down, it will be severed, and the remaining provisions will continue to operate.

22. No Waiver

A failure or delay by Stardust Self in exercising a right under this Agreement does not waive that right.

23. Entire Agreement

This Agreement, together with the Stardust Self Privacy Policy and any terms expressly incorporated into it, contains the entire agreement relating to your Submission.

Any separate promise or variation must be recorded in writing and accepted by Stardust Self.

24. Changes to This Agreement

The version displayed when you submit your story applies to that Submission, unless you later agree to an updated version.

Stardust Self may amend this Agreement for future submissions by publishing an updated version and changing the “Last updated” date.

25. Electronic Acceptance

By ticking the required acceptance checkbox and submitting your story, you:

• confirm that you have had an opportunity to read this Agreement;
• indicate your intention to be legally bound by it;
• consent to the use of electronic records for this transaction; and
• agree that the submission record may be retained as evidence of your acceptance.