these terms are the agreement between you and the systems school when you register for one of our short courses, the systems leadership program, or a special event. part one applies to everyone. after that, read the part for what you are registering for.

last updated 12 october 2026.
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part one: for everyone

who you are agreeing with

the systems school is run by seanna davidson as a sole trader, ABN 81 967 925 231. when you register for anything we offer, including the systems leadership program, your agreement is with us.

if you have a question about anything here, email seanna@thesystemsschool.org

registering and paying

walking alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

we believe that we should do whatever we can to walk beside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to lead and self-determine in whatever context they are living and working in. to contribute to this, a free place is available to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participant, on everything we offer. email us to request one. it is completely free, with no booking fee.

financial hardship

we also want to ensure financial accessibility, and that folks can participate regardless of their financial situation. a reduced fee is available to anyone constrained by financial hardship. email us and tell us about your situation, and we'll set up a plan together. what you share stays between you and us.

instalments

where we offer instalments, they spread the full fee over time. the commitment is the same as paying upfront.

if an instalment is missed and your payments run through our payment provider, it tries again automatically after a week. if that doesn't go through, seanna will email you the next day to check in. if we haven't heard from you a week after that, your access to course materials pauses.

on a payment plan we've set up together, there's no automatic retry, so seanna will be in touch as soon as a payment is missed. access pauses about a week later if we haven't heard back.

either way, access returns as soon as you get in touch or the payment is made. an arrangement we agree together at any point replaces this timeline. a pause in access doesn't change what is owed.

transfers

you can transfer your place to someone else up until the course, program or event begins. once it is under way, places can't be transferred. a transferred place keeps the rate it was bought at, including an early bird rate. email us to arrange a transfer.

refunds

when you choose to withdraw and a refund applies, the only thing we keep is the booking and payment fee, about 3%, and we take it once. how long you have to ask for a refund depends on what you have registered for, and is set out in your part below.

please be in touch if there are extenuating circumstances and you can no longer attend.

when an organisation pays

when an organisation pays for your place, the place belongs to you, the person attending. before the start, your organisation can transfer it to a colleague, in the same way as any transfer. once things are under way, if you leave your organisation you keep your place and carry on; time to attend is something to work out with your new employer.

any refund goes to whoever paid. where an organisation is paying by instalments and the person attending leaves, the remaining instalments stay with the organisation, unless the person or their new employer agrees to take them over. if it isn't clear, get in touch and we'll work it out together.

when we change things

if we cancel a course or event, you receive a full refund, with nothing deducted. if we move a date and you can't make the new one, we'll offer you a refund or a transfer, again with nothing deducted. when the change is ours, so is the cost.

materials, use and attribution

our teaching materials are licensed under Creative Commons, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, and the facilitation guides on our website under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. those licences are the formal position. here is what they mean in practice.

what you learn with us, and the activities, are yours to use in your work, paid or unpaid. we ask that you credit the systems school, and the original source where a method comes from someone else. please don't present our materials as your own or sell them as a product. a brief attributed excerpt in paid work is fine, such as a single slide with credit; the body of the slides stays non-commercial. for anything larger, get in touch and we can make an arrangement.

the licences cover our own materials. they don't extend to your Mural login, recordings, other participants' responses, content from other people that we share with you, or knowledge shared by First Nations practitioners.

cultural knowledge

knowledge shared by First Nations practitioners belongs to the people who shared it, and sits outside the licences and the use described above. you may use it only where you have been told you can; otherwise, please ask the person who offered it.

for more on how Indigenous cultural and intellectual property can be respected and protected, see Respecting and Protecting Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property, a guide by Terri Janke and Company for Reconciliation Australia (2025): https://www.reconciliation.org.au/publication/respecting-and-protecting-icip/

Mural, access and confidentiality

our courses run through Mural, a separate platform, where you'll find recordings, slides, activities and space for your reflections. Mural's own terms and privacy practices apply to your login.

you'll have ongoing access to course materials and recordings after the course ends. if we ever need to take them down, we'll tell you a month in advance.

the board is shared by everyone in your group. course materials sit in the middle, and each person has their own section, which the whole group can see, so write with that in mind. you can change or remove anything in your own section at any time, including after the course ends, while access continues. please work only in your own section and the shared activities, and leave other people's sections as they are.

what people say in sessions, and what they write on the board, stays within the group. we don't use, quote or publish your responses, and by registering you agree to treat everyone else's the same way.

recordings

course recordings, and event recordings shared with those registered, are for participants only, and for your own learning.

please don't make your own recordings of sessions. AI note-takers count as recordings, because they send what everyone says to an outside company, so they aren't permitted. if you need notes for access reasons, get in touch and we'll work something out. we can't prevent screenshots, so we ask that any you take are for your own learning, and never include other participants or their responses.

we share slides and recordings, not transcripts.

some special events also have a public version. how that works is set out in part four.

feedback and testimonials

we'll always ask before using your feedback or a testimonial, and whether we can use your name.

part two: short courses

you can ask for a refund up until seven days before the course starts, and we'll refund the fee less the booking and payment fee. inside those seven days, you can transfer your place to someone else up until the course starts, or get in touch if there are extenuating circumstances.

a short course needs enough people to run. if it doesn't reach that, we'll cancel and refund everyone in full.

if a session is missed because the facilitator is unwell, we'll add an extra session to cover it, and the recording will be there for anyone who can't attend.

part three: the systems leadership program

the commitment

the program runs over ten months, and it asks a commitment of everyone in the group. places are limited. the group forms in the first session and feels it when someone leaves, and we plan the year around who is in it. so we ask you to come in ready to stay.

there are ways to test the fit before you commit: an info session, a call with us, and a half-day intro workshop. the program can be uncomfortable at points, and that is part of how it works. if you find yourself unsure partway through, please talk with us before deciding.

the program is co-directed by seanna davidson and Dana Shen.

refunds and withdrawal

more than three weeks before the program starts, you can withdraw and receive a refund, less the booking and payment fee. if you're paying by instalments, the payments you've made are refunded on the same basis, and the remaining ones are cancelled.

within three weeks of the start, we can't offer a refund, though you can transfer your place to someone else up until the program begins.

once the program has begun, if your circumstances change, through illness, financial difficulty or something else, tell us, and we'll work out an arrangement together. that might be a place in the following year's program, adjusted payments, or release from the remaining fees.

paying

the early bird rate is secured by registering by the early bird date, published on the program page. payment plans are available.

part four: special events

refunds and transfers

for an online event, we'll refund the ticket price up until one day before. the booking fee you paid on top isn't returned. after that, the recording is what you receive.

for an in-person event, we'll refund up until seven days before, less the booking and payment fee.

for any event, you can transfer your place to someone else up until it begins, and please be in touch if there are extenuating circumstances and you can no longer attend.

recordings

where an event is recorded, everyone registered receives the recording, with ongoing access. we may take a recording down at any time.

some events also have a public version, which shows the presenters and their slides only, with discussion and questions left out. public recordings are hosted on YouTube and listed on our practice page, https://www.the-systems-school.org/our-practice, along with the terms for viewing them.