This page outlines the terms and conditions that apply to the payment card arrangements made between Divine Word Missionaries (ABN 37 349 768 980) (our, us, we) and you. It sets out your rights and responsibilities in relation to the arrangements. It also sets out what our rights and responsibilities are to you. Please read this document thoroughly. For further enquiries or communications regarding your payment or these payment terms, please contact us by phone on 02 9868 2666 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

1. Your rights and responsibilities

1.1 Responsibilities

It is your responsibility to ensure that:

a) you provide current and valid payment card details.

b) on the payment date there are sufficient cleared funds or available credit.

c) you regularly check your account statement that the amounts deducted from your account are correct.

d) you advise us if the payment card is cancelled (for ongoing or regular payments only).

1.2 Enquiries and Changes to payments

If you have a recurring payment arrangement and want to make changes to your payment arrangements, you must contact us at least five (5) business days prior to the next due payment date. These changes may include: deferring the payment; altering the schedule; stopping an individual payment; suspending an automatic payment; change of account details; cancelling an automatic payment completely.

2. Our rights and responsibilities

2.1 Payments

a) You authorise us to make a payment from your payment card if you submit a request for us to make a payment.

b) If you have requested a recurring payment:

i. your payment will occur on the day of the month notified in your request, or such other day allocated by us. If the payment date falls on a non-business day, it will be made from your account on the next business day following the scheduled payment date.

ii. you authorise us to make recurring payments from your payment card as set out in your request until further notice.

iii. No change will be made to the amount or frequency of your contribution without your express consent.

iv. we reserve the right to cancel a recurring payment arrangement if two (2) or more successive payments are declined by your financial institution. We will advise you to arrange an alternative payment method.

2.2 Refund Policy

Divine Word Missionaries may consider all requests for a refund of a donation only where there has been a genuine error. However, we are under no obligation to give refunds for donations and the final decision on refunds will be at the discretion of Divine Word Missionaries. If you believe a genuine error has occurred, please provide details of how you made the donation, the amount, the date and the circumstances so as to justify your request.

If a donation is refunded, the associated tax receipt is no longer valid and should be securely destroyed. Please note it is your responsibility to submit correct receipts to the ATO (Australia Taxation Office).

2.3 Privacy

Information that you provide to us will be kept confidential and may only be used to facilitate processing your request.

3. Contacting Us

3.1 If there is a problem

a) If you believe that a payment has been made incorrectly, please contact us. Alternatively, please contact your financial institution.

b) If we conclude that a payment was incorrectly made we will arrange for your financial institution to correct the payment. We will also notify you in writing of the amount of any adjustment.

c) If we conclude that a payment was made correctly, we will notify you in writing and provide you with reasons.

3.2 Contact between us

a) If you wish to contact us about anything relating to these terms and conditions, please refer to our address and contact details shown in the footer, at the bottom of our website.

b) Where we have to contact you in writing, we may do so by electronic message (if we have your email address or mobile phone number) or by post to the address you have given us.

c) Any notice given by post will be deemed to have been received on the next business day after posting.

Any notice given electronically will be deemed to have been received twenty-four (24) hours after the message was sent unless the person sending the message knows or reasonably ought to suspect that the message was not delivered.

DIRECT DEBIT REQUEST SERVICE AGREEMENT (WHERE APPLICABLE)

This Direct Debit Request Service Agreement sets out the terms and conditions in relation to the direct debit arrangement between you and Divine Word Missionaries (us, we) as under the Direct Debit Request form.

1. Debiting Your Account

1.1. By signing a Direct Debit Request (DDR), you have authorised us to arrange for funds to be debited from your account. You should refer to the Direct Debit Request and this agreement for the terms of the arrangement between us and you.

1.2. We will only arrange for funds to be debited from your account as authorised in the Direct Debit Request.

1.3. If the debit day falls on a day that is not a business day, we may direct your financial institution to debit your account on the following business day.

2. Changes by Us

No change will be made to the amount or frequency of your contribution without your express consent.

3. Changes by You

3.1. Subject to 3.2 and 3.3, you may change future payments under a Direct Debit Request by contacting us at any time.

3.2. If you wish to stop or defer a debit payment you must notify us at least fourteen (14) days before the next debit day.

3.3. You may cancel your authority to debit your account at any time by giving us fourteen (14) days notice before the next debit day.

4. Your Obligations

4.1. It is your responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient clear funds available in your account to allow a debit payment to be made in accordance with the Direct Debit Request.

4.2. If there are insufficient funds in your account to meet a direct debit payment:

a) you may be charged a fee and/or interest by your financial institution; and b) you are encouraged to organise for the debit payment to be made by another method or arrange for sufficient clear funds to be in your account by an agreed time so that we can process the debit payment.

4.3. You should check your account statement to verify that the amounts debited from your account are correct.

5. Dispute

5.1. If you believe that there has been an error made in debiting your account, you should notify us directly and confirm that notice in writing with us as soon as possible so that your query can be investigated and resolved promptly.

5.2. If, as a result of our investigations your account has been incorrectly debited, we will respond to your query by arranging for your financial institution to adjust your account. You will be notified in writing of the amount by which your account has been adjusted.

5.3. If, as a result of our investigations your account has not been incorrectly debited, you will be provided with reasons and any evidence for this finding.

5.4. Any queries you may have relating to an error made in debiting your account should be directed to us in the first instance so that we can attempt to resolve the matter between us and you. If we cannot resolve the matter to your satisfaction, you can refer the matter to your financial institution which will obtain details from you relating to the disputed transaction and may lodge a claim on your behalf.

6. Accounts

You should check:

a) with your financial institution whether direct debiting is available from your account as direct debiting is not available on all accounts offered by financial institutions.

b) that the account details you have provided to us are correct by checking them against a recent account statement.

c) with your financial institution before completing the Direct Debit Request if you have any queries about how to complete the Direct Debit Request.

7. Confidentiality

7.1. Any information contained in your Direct Debit Request, including your account details, will be kept strictly confidential. We will keep any such information about you secure and ensure that any of our employees or agents who have access to information about you do not make any unauthorised use, modification, reproduction or disclosure of that information.

7.2. Information will only be disclosed about you:

a) to the extent specifically required by law; or

b) for the purpose of this agreement, including disclosing information in connection with any query or claim.

8. Notice and Contact Details

8.1. If you wish to notify us in writing or contact us by telephone about anything relating to this agreement, please refer to our address and contact details at the bottom of our website.

8.2. Where we have to notify you in writing, we may do so by electronic message (if we have, for example, your email address or mobile phone number) or by post to the address you have given us. Any notice given by post will be deemed to have been received on the next business day after posting. Any notice given electronically will be deemed to have been received twenty-four (24) hours after the message was sent unless the person sending the message knows or reasonably ought to suspect that the message was not delivered.

9. Definitions

Account means the account held at your financial institution from which we are authorised to arrange for funds to be debited. Agreement means this Direct Debit Request Service Agreement between you and us. Debit payment means a particular transaction where debit is made by us in accordance with a Direct Debit Request. Direct Debit Request means the completed Direct Debit Request agreement between you and us We/us means Divine Word Missionaries. (The Debit User) you have authorised a Direct Debit Request. Written notice means written correspondence in accordance with clause 8. You means the donor who has authorised the Direct Debit Request. Your financial institution means the financial institution nominated by you on the Direct Debit Request at which the account is maintained.

Divine Word Missionaries commits to treating any information that is provided to it confidentially and will not provide email or other contact details without the owner’s consent. If you have any concerns about privacy issues, please contact:

Fr Stephan Gerdes SVD
Treasurer – AUS Province
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

P: 02 9868 2666

Use of Information

We will collect and maintain in our database certain personally identifiable information from you only when you provide it to us on a voluntary basis, for example, when you make an inquiry, contact us, subscribe to our newsletter, or register for an event or in any other way.

Information Collected

When you look at our website please be aware that our Internet Service Provider makes a record of your visit and logs information about it. This is the usual practice for an Internet Service Provider. This information may include but is not limited to:

• Your server address
• Your top level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc)
• The date and time of your visit to the site
• The pages you accessed and documents downloaded
• The previous site you have visited
• The type of browser you are using

Donations

Divine Word Missionaries adheres to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). The PCI DSS is a proprietary information security standard for organisations that handle branded credit cards from the major card schemes including Visa and MasterCard.

One of the SVD Australia Province’s newer missions is Myanmar, where Divine Word Missionaries have been working since 2018 at the invitation of Cardinal Charles Bo SDB, the Archbishop of Yangon, to promote the Bible Apostolate.

Since arriving, the SVD have also been involved with parish ministry, helping meet the material needs and education of the people by undertaking social projects, including building houses for the poor and needy, and providing music and computer classes for local children and out-of-school youth. In April 2025, the SVD was given the pastoral care of a newly formed parish.

Introduction to SVD Safeguarding Policies

The Society of the Divine Word, also known as the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD), is an international religious-missionary congregation of men and women with more than 8000 members worldwide. The Australia Province includes Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Myanmar. We are present in the following states of Australia: Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

This document sets out essential policies and procedures to safeguard and protect all children, young people and vulnerable adults, who are under the care of, or who come into contact with, any members of the Divine Word Missionaries, their associates and employees, in the Australia Province.

Commitment to Child Safeguarding

Compliance. The Australia Province of the Society of the Divine Word is resolutely committed to ensuring that all Province members and associated personnel comply with the child safeguarding laws and norms of the States, Territories, Dioceses and Archdioceses wherein we live and work. 

Safeguarding Statement. The Divine Word Missionaries commit to providing a safe environment for all children, young people and vulnerable adults, especially their cultural safety and wellbeing, and proclaim Zero Tolerance for all forms of abuse and neglect, particularly of a sexual and/or physical nature.

We commit to safeguard and protect all persons entrusted to our care in the houses and communities where we live and work, and in the pastoral ministries in which we are involved. This responsibility of care is extended also to our conferes who are retired, receiving medical treatment, or who are living with a disability.

Healing and Redress. The Province resolves to assist in every way possible any persons who have suffered sexual, emotional or physical abuse through the wrongdoing of SVD Province members or personnel.  The Province endorses the National Redress Scheme, and has been accepted as a Participating Institution in the Scheme. 

Purpose and Scope of this Policy

Upholding Article 34 of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, the overall purpose of our safeguarding policy is to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults who come in contact with the members of the Society of the Divine Word (the Divine Word Missionaries), their associates and employees, from harm and abuse of all kinds. This includes physical, mental and sexual abuse whether by intention, omission or neglect.

Our safeguarding policy achieves its purpose through protocols and procedures which ensure compliance with the child safe legislative frameworks of Australian States and Territories, with the National Principles for Child Safe Organizations (2018), and with the Church standards set out by Catholic Professional Standards Limited (2019).

To whom does the policy apply? This safeguarding policy applies to all members of the Society of the Divine Word in the Australia Province, to our employees,  and to those who associate with us in our ministries and activities. The policy applies to students in formation, to SVD overseas visitors whether staying in one of our communities or living externally, and to those who are permanently or temporarily resident in our houses and communities.

Report a Concern:  Contact the Divine Word Missionaries Professional Standards Office on 02 9868 9002 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

E-mail:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Policy Documents

Click here for:  pdf Safeguarding Policy(67 KB)

Click here for:  pdf Policy on the Use of Social Media(68 KB)

Click here for:  pdf Procedures for Reporting a Concern(65 KB)