Terms of service

Last updated: 6 July 2026

1. Agreement to these terms

These terms of service ("Terms") are a legally binding agreement between you ("you", "your", or "User") and Search Ventures Pty Ltd (ACN 639906353) ("we", "us", "our", or "Company"), the operator of AUO, the Australian business data API, and the website auo.com.au (the "Service"). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, you do not have permission to use the Service.

You can reach us through the contact page or by post at PO Box 255, Bli Bli, QLD 4560, Australia.

2. What the Service provides

The Service is a read and aggregation API for Australian business and regulatory data. It resolves and enriches entity records, screens against public watchlists, and monitors entities for change, using data drawn entirely from free public Australian government registers. It is delivered over REST, an MCP server, and outbound webhooks, on one bearer token.

2.1 Sources and independence

Data is sourced from free public Australian government registers, including the Australian Business Register (ABR), ASIC, ACNC, ORIC, GLEIF, DFAT, AUSTRAC, and Super Fund Lookup. We are an independent service and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to any of these agencies. We aggregate and deliver publicly available data; we do not originate it.

2.2 What the Service is not

The Service provides data and monitoring, not advice or certification. In particular:

  • It is not full KYB, KYC, or customer due diligence. It is a verification and monitoring layer that sits inside your own compliance process, not a replacement for it. It does not include directors, shareholders, or beneficial ownership, because those are not in the free public record.
  • Screening is possible-match, never a clearance. Screening results are "review" or "no match", never "cleared", "pass", or "fail". A no-match means no match was found as of the date shown against the registers checked; it is not a guarantee that an entity is safe. Every match warrants human review.
  • Bankruptcy signals are petitions, not verdicts. Where a bankruptcy signal is surfaced, it reflects a petition or application filed, which is a distress signal, not adjudicated bankruptcy status.
  • It is not legal, financial, credit, or professional advice. You are responsible for how you use the data and for meeting your own regulatory obligations.

You must not present the Service or its output in a way that misrepresents these limits.

3. Australian Consumer Law

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any consumer guarantee, right, or remedy under the Australian Consumer Law or other consumer protection laws that cannot be excluded by agreement. If any part of these Terms is void or unenforceable under those laws, that part is severed and the rest continues to apply.

4. Accounts and API keys

To use the Service you must be at least 18, provide accurate account information, keep your credentials secure, and take responsibility for all activity under your account. Your API keys and webhook signing secrets authenticate your requests; keep them confidential, do not share or publish them, and regenerate them immediately if they are exposed. We may rotate or invalidate keys for security reasons. One account per individual or legal entity; creating multiple accounts to circumvent allowances is not permitted.

5. Plans, billing, and refunds

Current plans and allowances are shown on the pricing page. A free sandbox is available at no cost; paid tiers unlock live data and higher allowances.

  • Paid subscriptions are billed monthly in advance through Stripe. Prices are in Australian Dollars (AUD) and include GST where applicable.
  • Going over your allowance is a soft cap: you receive a usage notice and an upgrade prompt, and access is not automatically cut off. There is no per-unit overage charge today.
  • You can cancel at any time from the dashboard; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. We do not provide partial-month refunds for cancellations or downgrades.
  • Refunds are limited to major failures as required by the Australian Consumer Law, or where the Service is materially unavailable due to our fault and we fail to remedy it within a reasonable time. No refund is provided for change of mind, non-use, exceeding your allowance, or third-party outages.
  • We may change pricing with 30 days notice by email. Continued use after a change takes effect means you accept the new pricing.

6. Acceptable use

You may use the Service for any lawful purpose, including verification, onboarding, compliance workflows, and integration into your own applications. You must not:

  • Attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, or interfere with the Service, or circumvent authentication or allowance limits.
  • Use the Service for unlawful, fraudulent, or harassing purposes, or in a way that breaches privacy or anti-discrimination law.
  • Misrepresent the source, accuracy, timeliness, or meaning of the data, including presenting a screening no-match as a clearance or a bankruptcy petition as adjudicated bankruptcy.
  • Resell, sublicense, or bulk-redistribute the data except as expressly permitted (see below).

7. Data licences, resale, and attribution

The register data delivered by the Service remains subject to the upstream government licences. Most sources are open and require attribution; some carry additional conditions. In particular, ABR data carries re-disclosure use-conditions and court and notices data can carry suppression orders. Resale, bulk delivery, and enterprise redistribution are only available under a separate written agreement scoped to what each upstream licence permits. Contact us through the contact page before any resale or bulk use. You are responsible for complying with the source licences and any suppression requirements when you use or display the data.

8. Service level agreement

Availability commitments and service credits for paid plans are set out in our Service Level Agreement, which forms part of these Terms for paid subscriptions. The free sandbox is provided on a best-effort basis with no SLA.

9. Intellectual property

The Service, including its API design, software, documentation, website, and branding, remains our property. The underlying register data remains subject to the source agencies' terms. You retain all rights to your own applications and content that integrate with the Service.

10. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, and subject to the Australian Consumer Law, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind. We do not warrant that the data is accurate, complete, or current (it reflects what the source registers publish), or that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability arising out of or relating to the Service is limited to the amount you paid us for the Service in the 12 months before the claim. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential loss, or for loss of profits, data, business, or opportunity, regardless of the legal theory. Nothing in this section limits liability that cannot be limited under the Australian Consumer Law.

11. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Search Ventures Pty Ltd and its officers, employees, and agents from claims, losses, and reasonable legal costs arising from your use of the Service, your breach of these Terms, your breach of a source licence or suppression requirement, or your infringement of a third party's rights.

12. Suspension and termination

You may terminate your account at any time from the dashboard, effective at the end of the current billing period. We may suspend or terminate your account for breach of these Terms, suspected fraud or unlawful activity, non-payment, or use that harms other users or the Service. On termination, access ceases, outstanding fees become due, and your data may be deleted after a reasonable period. Terms that by their nature should survive termination will continue to apply.

13. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia. Before starting court proceedings, the parties will attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute, first by negotiation and then by mediation. Any proceedings will be brought in the courts of Queensland, Australia, and you consent to their jurisdiction.

14. Force majeure

Neither party is liable for any failure or delay caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including source-register outages, internet or infrastructure failures, government action, natural disasters, or public health emergencies.

15. Changes to these terms

We may modify these Terms and will give notice of material changes by email, a dashboard notice, or a website announcement. Continued use of the Service after a change takes effect means you accept the modified Terms.

16. General

These Terms, together with the privacy policy and, for paid plans, the SLA, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them in connection with a business transfer. If a provision is unenforceable, the rest continues in force.

17. Contact

For questions about these Terms, use the contact page, or write to us at:

Search Ventures Pty Ltd
ACN 639906353
PO Box 255, Bli Bli, QLD 4560, Australia