Dental Shift
Legal

Terms of Service

These terms (the "Terms") form a legally binding agreement between you and VERTEQ PTY LTD (ABN 27 657 435 615), trading as Dental Shift ("Dental Shift", "we", "us", "our"), governing your access to and use of dentalshift.io and any associated apps, APIs, communications and services (together, the "Platform"). By creating an account, posting a shift, accepting a booking or otherwise using the Platform, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Terms. Last updated 5 May 2026.

1. Definitions

  • "Clinic" — a registered Australian dental practice (or its authorised representative) that uses the Platform to engage Professionals.
  • "Professional" — an independent dental practitioner, hygienist, oral health therapist, dental assistant, receptionist or practice manager who offers services through the Platform.
  • "Shift" — a period of work posted by a Clinic, including role, scope, date, hours, location and rate.
  • "Booking" — a Shift that has been accepted and confirmed by both a Clinic and a Professional.
  • "Timesheet" — the digital record of hours actually worked, submitted by the Professional and reviewed by the Clinic.
  • "Authorization" — the pre-authorised hold or direct-debit mandate placed on the Clinic's payment method when a Booking is confirmed.
  • "Payout" — the transfer of funds from Dental Shift to the Professional's connected Stripe account after a Timesheet is approved.
  • "Platform Fee" — the fee Dental Shift charges, disclosed at booking, inclusive of GST where applicable.
  • "Mandate" — a Direct Debit Request authorising us (via Stripe) to debit a Clinic's nominated bank account under the BECS scheme.
  • "AHPRA" — the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

2. The Platform — what we do and what we don't

Dental Shift is a two-sided marketplace that introduces Clinics to Professionals and provides the supporting infrastructure for credentials, scheduling, payments and dispute resolution. We are not a labour-hire firm, not an employer or principal of any Professional, and we do not provide dental, medical or clinical services. Each Booking creates a direct contract for services between the Clinic and the Professional. We are not a party to that contract and do not supervise or direct clinical work. References on the Platform to "your worker", "your clinic" or similar are descriptive only and do not create any agency, partnership, joint venture, franchise or employment relationship between any of the parties.

3. Eligibility & account registration

  • All users must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter binding contracts in Australia.
  • Professionals must hold current, unrestricted AHPRA registration in their declared profession (or, for non-AHPRA roles such as dental assistants and receptionists, the qualifications declared on their profile).
  • Professionals must hold current professional indemnity insurance that meets or exceeds the Dental Board of Australia's registration standard, and must maintain that cover for the duration of every Booking.
  • Clinics must be registered Australian businesses with a valid ABN, must be entitled to operate as a dental practice in their State or Territory, and must hold appropriate public liability and (where applicable) workers' compensation insurance.
  • We may verify your identity, AHPRA registration, ABN, qualifications, references, working-with-children check, vaccination status and right-to-work in Australia at any time, including via third-party providers.
  • You must keep your account information accurate and up to date and notify us promptly of any change to your registration, insurance or eligibility.

4. Posting Shifts — Clinic obligations

  • Clinics must accurately describe the role, scope of practice expected, hours, equipment provided, supervision arrangements (where required for hygienists or oral health therapists) and any travel or accommodation arrangements.
  • Pay rate, GST treatment and any travel reimbursement caps must be disclosed before the Shift is accepted.
  • Clinics warrant that the workplace meets all applicable Work Health and Safety obligations and that the Professional will have access to required PPE, infection-control facilities and a safe working environment.
  • Clinics must not post Shifts they do not intend to fill, post the same Shift simultaneously through other channels in a way that creates double-booking risk, or use the Platform to circumvent immigration or labour-law obligations.

5. Accepting Shifts — Professional obligations

  • Professionals must only accept Shifts they are qualified, registered, insured and physically and mentally fit to perform.
  • Professionals must arrive on time, in appropriate professional dress, and comply with the Clinic's reasonable directions, infection-control protocols and patient-safety procedures.
  • Professionals must perform services to the standard expected by AHPRA, the Dental Board of Australia and the relevant code of conduct for their profession.
  • Professionals must comply with mandatory reporting obligations under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.
  • Professionals must not attempt to solicit patients away from the Clinic, remove patient records, or use Clinic systems for any purpose other than the Booking.

6. Independent contractor relationship

Professionals provide services to Clinics as independent contractors. Nothing on the Platform creates an employment, agency or partnership relationship between Dental Shift and any Professional, or between a Clinic and any Professional beyond the scope of the relevant Booking. Professionals are responsible for their own income tax, GST registration (where required), superannuation and personal insurances. Where a Professional is GST-registered, payments are processed under a Recipient-Created Tax Invoice (RCTI) arrangement that the Professional accepts when they first invoice through the Platform. Both parties are responsible for ensuring their working arrangement complies with the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and applicable State or Territory legislation, including any sham-contracting prohibitions.

7. Payments, authorizations & payouts

  • When a Booking is confirmed, Dental Shift places an Authorization on the Clinic's nominated payment method — either a card pre-authorisation or, where the Clinic has a BECS Direct Debit Mandate on file, a debit instruction.
  • Payment is captured (card) or initiated (BECS) when the Clinic approves the Professional's Timesheet for the Booking.
  • BECS direct debits typically settle within 2–3 business days. The Professional's Payout is released once funds have settled.
  • Payouts are sent via Stripe Connect to the Professional's connected bank account and typically appear within 1–2 business days of release.
  • The Platform Fee is shown at the point of booking and is deducted from the Clinic charge before payout to the Professional. GST is applied where applicable and itemised on invoices and receipts.
  • We may place holds on funds where a dispute, fraud signal, chargeback or regulatory query is open until the matter is resolved.
  • If a payment fails, is reversed, charged back or recalled, the Clinic remains liable for the underlying amount and we may pursue recovery, suspend the account, and/or retry the debit through the Mandate.

8. Cancellations, no-shows & late changes

  • A Clinic that cancels a Booking 24 hours or more before the Shift start incurs no fee.
  • A Clinic that cancels within 24 hours of the Shift start is charged 50% of the agreed Booking value, of which the Professional receives the worker share.
  • A Professional that cancels within 24 hours of the Shift start, or fails to attend (a no-show), forfeits payment for that Booking, may incur a no-show flag and may be removed from the Platform after repeated incidents.
  • Where a Professional cancels at short notice, we will use reasonable efforts to source a replacement; the Clinic remains free to source its own replacement and notify us.
  • Either party may dispute a cancellation or no-show charge (see clause 9). Genuine emergencies, severe weather, public health directions or other force-majeure events will be considered in good faith.

9. Disputes & complaints

If you have a concern about a Booking, payment, cancellation, conduct or any other matter, raise it with us at hello@dentalshift.io within five (5) business days of the event. We aim to acknowledge complaints within two business days and to issue a written outcome within ten business days. Where a complaint relates to clinical conduct, patient safety or AHPRA-reportable matters, we may notify the relevant regulator and you remain responsible for any independent reporting obligations you have. See our complaints policy at /legal/complaints for more detail.

10. Reviews & ratings

  • Reviews must be honest, factual, based on direct experience of a completed Booking, and must not contain abusive, discriminatory, defamatory or patient-identifying content.
  • We may remove reviews that breach these Terms or that we reasonably believe are inauthentic, retaliatory or commercially incentivised.
  • Reviewed parties may submit a written right-of-reply, which we may publish alongside the review at our discretion.

11. Acceptable use

  • You must not scrape, crawl, mirror or systematically extract data from the Platform.
  • You must not circumvent or attempt to circumvent the Platform's payment, fee or matching mechanisms — including by arranging off-platform payments for engagements introduced via the Platform.
  • Following an introduction made via the Platform, you must not engage that party off-platform for the same or substantially similar role for a period of six (6) months without our written consent. Where this clause is breached, an introduction fee equal to four weeks of the agreed Shift rate becomes payable to Dental Shift.
  • You must not impersonate another person, share account credentials, harvest credentials, attempt to access another user's account or attack the Platform's security.
  • You must not use the Platform for any unlawful purpose or in any way that infringes the rights of any third party.

12. Confidentiality & patient information

Professionals will, in the course of a Booking, encounter information about the Clinic's patients and business. Professionals must treat all such information as confidential, must access patient information only to the extent necessary for the engagement, must not copy, remove or retain patient records, and must comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles, and any State or Territory health-records legislation (including the HRIP Act in NSW, the Health Records Act in Victoria and equivalent regimes). The Clinic remains the data controller / APP entity for its patient records. Dental Shift does not collect, store or process patient clinical records.

13. Insurance & indemnity

  • Each Professional warrants that they hold professional indemnity insurance that complies with the Dental Board of Australia's registration standard for the duration of every Booking.
  • Each Clinic warrants that it holds current public liability insurance and, where required, workers' compensation insurance covering its premises and operations.
  • Each party indemnifies the other (and indemnifies Dental Shift) against losses, claims, damages and expenses (including reasonable legal costs) arising from that party's breach of these Terms, negligence, wilful misconduct, or breach of professional, regulatory or statutory obligations during a Booking.
  • Dental Shift is not a party to the clinical engagement and does not indemnify any party for the clinical outcomes of services delivered by a Professional.

14. Suspension, deactivation & appeals

  • We may suspend or deactivate an account where we reasonably believe a user has breached these Terms, presents a safety, fraud or regulatory risk, has had AHPRA registration suspended or cancelled, or has failed to pay amounts due.
  • Suspension may be immediate where there is risk to patient safety, fraud, or where required by law or regulator.
  • Suspended users may appeal in writing to legal@dentalshift.io within 14 days. We will review and respond within 10 business days.
  • Closing your account does not extinguish liabilities accrued before closure (including unpaid invoices, refunds owing or open disputes).

15. Modifications to the service and fees

We may add, remove or change features of the Platform at any time. We may change the Platform Fee or these Terms by giving you at least 30 days' prior notice (by email or in-app), except where a change is required for legal, security or regulatory reasons in which case the change may take effect immediately. Continued use of the Platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the change. Where a change materially reduces your rights, you may close your account before it takes effect without penalty (subject to settling any amounts owing).

16. Intellectual property & user content licence

All content on dentalshift.io that is not user-supplied (including the Dental Shift name, logos, designs, software, copy and visual identity) is owned by VERTEQ PTY LTD or its licensors and is protected by Australian and international intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, distribute, scrape, frame or reverse-engineer the Platform without our prior written consent. By submitting content to the Platform (including profile information, shift descriptions, reviews and photos) you grant Dental Shift a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, display, reproduce and adapt that content solely for the purpose of operating, marketing and improving the Platform.

17. Beta features

From time to time we may make features available on a "beta", "preview" or "early access" basis. Beta features are provided "as is", may change or be withdrawn at any time, and are excluded from any service-level commitments. Use of a beta feature is at your own risk.

18. Liability & limitation

To the maximum extent permitted by law: (a) Dental Shift is not liable for the acts, omissions, conduct or clinical outcomes of any Clinic or Professional; (b) Dental Shift is not liable for any indirect, special, incidental, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, loss of profit, loss of data, loss of opportunity, loss of goodwill or business interruption; and (c) Dental Shift's total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the Platform is capped at the greater of (i) the total Platform Fees you have paid to Dental Shift in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim and (ii) AUD $1,000. Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any guarantee, right or remedy under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot be excluded by contract.

19. Termination & survival

Either party may terminate their account at any time. Termination does not affect any rights or obligations that accrued before termination. The following clauses survive termination: 6 (independent contractor), 7 (outstanding payments), 11 (acceptable use), 12 (confidentiality), 13 (insurance & indemnity), 16 (intellectual property), 18 (liability), 20 (notices), 21 (governing law) and 22 (business details).

20. Notices

We give notices to you by email to the address on your account, by in-app message, or by posting to the Platform. You give notices to us by email to legal@dentalshift.io. Service of legal process must be delivered to the registered office below.

21. Governing law, jurisdiction & dispute resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia. The parties will first attempt to resolve any dispute through good-faith negotiation, then through mediation administered by the Resolution Institute (resolution.institute) where negotiation fails. If mediation does not resolve the dispute within 60 days, the dispute is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Queensland and the Federal courts of Australia. Nothing in this clause prevents either party from seeking urgent injunctive relief.

22. Business details & contact

  • Legal entity: VERTEQ PTY LTD
  • ABN: 27 657 435 615
  • Trading as: Dental Shift
  • Registered office: 9/204 Alice St, Brisbane QLD 4000
  • Legal contact: legal@dentalshift.io
  • Complaints: hello@dentalshift.io (see /legal/complaints)
  • Privacy contact: privacy@dentalshift.io