1.1 The Competition owner is the City of Melbourne (CoM) (90-120 Swanston Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia)

2.1 The title of the Competition is the City of Melbourne Open Innovation Competition is ‘zero-carbon and climate technology’.

2.2 Submitters must demonstrate the merit of their proposal against the Competition evaluation criteria.

3.1 The Competition is open to residents of all countries aged 18 years or over, except the Judging Panel, employees of CoM and anyone otherwise connected with organising (including mentors and partners) or judging the Competition.

4.1 Registration is necessary to enter this Competition. The registration period begins 18 March 2024 and ends 28 April 2024 (11.59pm AEST).

4.2 Registration is via online submission at the registration and submission portal, Participate Melbourne.

4.3 Submissions received by non-registered applicants or outside the registration and submission portal will not be considered.

4.4 By submitting, submitters agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

4.5 By submitting, submitters hereby warrant that all information contained in their submissions is true, accurate and complete in every respect. CoM reserves the right to verify any information contained in each submission and the eligibility of submitters to enter the Competition.

4.6 The closing date for submissions will be 28 April 2024 (11.59pm AEST). After this date and time, no further submissions to the Competition will be considered.

5.1 The Competition submissions will be assessed by an independent panel being the Judging Panel (the Panel).

5.2 CoM’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the Competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

5.3 CoM reserves the right to amend the criteria used to assess submissions.

5.4 Assessment will be undertaken in two stages: Stage one will determine the Competition finalists – the number of which is at the discretion of the Panel.

5.5 Stage Two of the assessment process will involve pitching of the selected submissions to the Panel at a pitch event held in June 2024.

6.1 The finalists and the winner(s) will be notified by email within 30 days of the respective closing dates. If the finalists/winners cannot be contacted or does not respond to the Competition host within 7 days of notification, CoM reserves the right to withdraw the opportunity from the finalist(s)/winner(s) and select replacement finalists/winners.

6.2 The Panel may request further information from submitters to support its assessments of submissions.

6.3 Contact will be made as soon as practicable after the announcement dates, with an email to the email address provided through registration.

7.1 The rewards are as stated and no other alternatives will be offered.

7.2 The rewards are not transferable.

7.3 CoM does not accept any responsibility if the winner is not able to take up the opportunity to enter into the post-award phase.

7.4 The cash reward for the competition will be allocated to the top selected submissions as determined by the Panel.

7.5 The Competition partners reserve the right to select the submission/s that receives post-competition support, and to determine the specifics of the support.

8.1 Insofar as is permitted by law, CoM, its agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate the winner or accept any liability for any loss, damage, disappointment, personal injury or death occurring as a result of any submitter entering the Competition, taking up the reward, or as a result of any submitter winning or not winning any reward, except where it is caused by the negligence of CoM, its agents or distributors or that of their employees.

9.1 Neither CoM, nor the Competition partners claim any rights of ownership in any Competition submission and its associated intellectual property.

9.2 Submitters agree that CoM (and any third party authorised by CoM) may use the winning submissions for any promotional purpose (for example, placing it on the CoM/Competition partner websites or media). Submitters confirm that their submissions are original that they own and have the right to license to CoM, the copyright and other intellectual property rights in the submission for the purposes referred to in these terms and conditions. The winner(s) give CoM and Competition partners (and any third party authorised by CoM) irrevocable permission to use, reproduce, publish, display, transmit, copy, amend, store, sell and sub-licence the submission worldwide for such promotional purposes and for the purposes of the Competition.

9.3 The winner(s) agree that CoM may, but is not required to, make the winning submission available on its social media channels and websites and any other media, whether now known or invented in the future, and in connection with any publicity of the Competition.

10.1 The winner(s) of the Competition agree that CoM may use their name, social media account names, image and city or county of residence to announce the winning submission and for any other reasonable and related promotional purposes.

10.2 The winner(s) agree to participate in any reasonable publicity required by CoM.

10.3 By entering the Competition, any personal information provided with Competition submissions may be held and used only by CoM and the Competition Partners or their agents and suppliers to administer the Competition.

10.4 The winner(s) agree to the use of their name and image in any publicity material, as well as their submission. Any personal data relating to the winner(s) or any other submitters will be used solely in accordance with current Australian data protection legislation and will not be disclosed to a third party without the submitter’s prior consent.

11.1 CoM is not responsible for inaccurate Competition details supplied to any submitter by any third party connected with this Competition.

11.2 The Competition and these terms and conditions will be governed by Australian law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Australia.

11.3 In the event of any dispute regarding these terms and conditions, the conduct or results of the Competition, or any other matter relating to a Competition, the decision of CoM shall be final and unchallengeable and no correspondence or discussion shall be entered into, comment issued, or reason given in respect of any decision made by CoM.

11.4 CoM reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel, or amend all or any part of the Competition where it becomes necessary to do so. Any changes to these terms and conditions, or cancellation of the Competition, will be posted on the CoM website. It is the responsibility of submitters to keep themselves informed as to any changes to the terms and conditions.

11.5 CoM reserves the right in its absolute discretion to disqualify any submitter if it has reasonable grounds to believe that a submitter has breached any of these terms and conditions, any applicable law (including copyright law), has otherwise infringed the intellectual property of any other person or has displayed conduct that is contrary to the spirit or intention of the Competition.