Terms of Service

Last updated: 20 August 2026

1. About this agreement

These Terms & Conditions ("Terms") are a legally binding agreement between you and StakeSteps Pty Ltd, trading as StakeSteps ("StakeSteps", "we", "us", "our"), governing your access to and use of the website at https://www.stakesteps.com.au and all related services (together, the "Platform").

By creating an Account, completing a purchase, or otherwise using the Platform, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy, and every other policy referenced in section 24 (Other StakeSteps Policies). If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

2. Nature of the service — please read this section carefully

StakeSteps is a performance-based simulated sports-picking evaluation platform. The following is fundamental to what you are purchasing and using, and is not a mere disclaimer buried in fine print:

- StakeSteps is not a casino, sportsbook, or gambling operator, and does not accept or place wagers of any kind. - We do not facilitate real-money betting, and no wagering activity occurs on our platform. - All activity on a Challenge Account takes place in a virtual simulation environment that mirrors real-world sports data. No real-money trades or bets are placed by you or by us, with any sportsbook, exchange, or other third party. - What you purchase is the right to attempt a simulated performance evaluation ("Challenge") against disclosed rules, using a simulated account balance ("simulated balance"). Your simulated balance can never be withdrawn as such — it exists only to measure your performance against the applicable rules. - Performance Rewards (see section 12), where applicable, are calculated from your activity and results within the simulated evaluation environment, and are not, and are not based on, the outcome of any actual wager, bet, or gambling activity.

3. Definitions

- "Account" — your registered StakeSteps user account. - "Challenge" — a Standard, Pro, or Instant Funded evaluation product you purchase. - "Challenge Account" — the specific simulated account created when you purchase a Challenge, holding a simulated balance and governed by the risk rules in force at the time of your purchase. - "Evaluation Phase" — a Standard or Pro Challenge Account's pre-funded stage(s), during which you must meet disclosed performance criteria to progress. Instant Funded Challenge Accounts have no Evaluation Phase. - "Funded Account" — a Challenge Account that has passed every required Evaluation Phase, or was purchased as Instant Funded. - "Pick" — a single selection, or a combined multi/parlay selection, you place against your Challenge Account's simulated balance. - "Open Exposure" — the total simulated amount currently at risk across your open Picks on a Challenge Account. - "Daily Loss" — the combined realised losses and open-position risk within one account-local day on a Challenge Account, applicable during Evaluation Phases only. - "Maximum Drawdown" — the maximum permitted fall in a Challenge Account's balance from its starting balance (during Evaluation, a static floor) or from its locked trailing benchmark (once Funded). - "Rule Breach" — a violation of a hard risk rule (Daily Loss, Maximum Drawdown, maximum risk per Pick, or maximum Open Exposure) that results in immediate closure of the affected Challenge Account. - "Reward" — the real-money amount we pay you, calculated under our Reward Policy, based on your Funded Account's performance. A Reward is not a withdrawal of your simulated balance — it is a separately calculated profit-share amount. - "Reward Request" — your request for us to assess and pay a Reward. - These Terms should be read together with our Challenge Rules, Funded Account Rules, Reward Policy, Refund Policy, Settlement Policy, Responsible Participation page, Acceptable Use Policy, and Privacy Policy (together, the "Other Policies"), each incorporated by reference.

4. Eligibility

4.1 You must have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract in your jurisdiction. You must be at least 18 years old to register an Account. We collect your date of birth at sign-up and check it against this requirement — registration is rejected where the date of birth provided indicates you are under 18.

4.2 It is your responsibility to ensure your use of the Platform is lawful in your location. We may restrict access to the Platform from a particular jurisdiction at any time.

4.3 You may only register and use one Account. You must not register on behalf of, or share access to your Account with, anyone else.

5. Account registration and security

5.1 You must provide accurate information when registering, and keep it up to date.

5.2 You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Account credentials and for all activity under your Account. Notify us immediately of any unauthorised access.

5.3 We may require identity verification (see section 13, Identity Verification / KYC) at the times described in our Privacy Policy and Reward Policy, and may decline to act on a request until verification is complete.

6. Purchases and Challenges

6.1 We offer Standard, Pro, and Instant Funded Challenges, at the account sizes and prices displayed at checkout. All prices, for both original Challenge purchases and restart purchases, are shown and charged in Australian dollars (AUD).

6.2 Your price and the rules that will govern your Challenge Account are fixed at the moment your order is placed and will not change for that Challenge Account because we later change our prices or rules for new purchases (see section 9).

6.3 Once payment is confirmed, your Challenge Account is provisioned automatically. Provisioning is ordinarily prompt; in rare cases of a technical or payment-processing issue it may be delayed while we resolve it. See our Refund Policy for what happens if this affects you materially.

6.4 You may hold a maximum of 5 active Challenge Accounts at any time, pooled across all Challenge products and account sizes (not 5 per product). An "active" Challenge Account, for this purpose, is one with a status of Active or Payment Review, together with any pending purchase you have not yet completed. This limit is enforced automatically at the time of purchase; if you are already at the limit, a new purchase (including a restart purchase) will be declined until an existing Challenge Account closes (through failure, expiry, passing, or otherwise) or you complete or cancel a pending purchase.

7. Simulated accounts, Picks, and the rules that govern them

7.1 A Challenge Account's balance is entirely simulated. No real money is ever placed at risk on any Pick, and no Pick ever constitutes, or results in, a real-world wager with any third party.

7.2 Each Challenge Account is subject to disclosed rules covering, at minimum: minimum and maximum risk per Pick, maximum Open Exposure, Daily Loss limits (Evaluation Phases only), Maximum Drawdown, minimum settled Picks, minimum active days, a profit target (Evaluation Phases only), and a consistency requirement. The current rules for your Challenge Account are disclosed at the point of purchase and in our Challenge Rules and Funded Account Rules pages, and do not change after your purchase except as described in section 9.

7.3 A Pick that would breach the applicable minimum/maximum risk-per-Pick or maximum Open Exposure rule is rejected automatically before it is placed.

7.4 A Rule Breach (a Daily Loss, Maximum Drawdown, or, where breached retroactively via a correction under section 11, another hard rule) results in immediate closure of the affected Challenge Account. Any other Challenge Accounts you hold are not affected.

8. Evaluation, funding, and account progression

8.1 To progress a Standard or Pro Challenge Account through its Evaluation Phase(s), you must, within the applicable phase expiry period, reach the profit target while also meeting the minimum settled Picks, minimum active days, and consistency requirements, without triggering a Rule Breach.

8.2 An Instant Funded Challenge Account begins as a Funded Account immediately upon purchase and has no Evaluation Phase.

8.3 Once a Challenge Account becomes a Funded Account, it is governed by our Funded Account Rules (trailing Maximum Drawdown, risk-per-Pick, and Open Exposure limits, and no Daily Loss limit).

8.4 If your Evaluation Phase expires without meeting the progression criteria, or your Challenge Account experiences a Rule Breach, the Challenge Account closes. You may be eligible to purchase a restart under our then-current Restart terms (see our Refund Policy and Challenge Rules for current restart pricing and conditions) — a restart provisions a new Challenge Account and does not reopen or reset the closed one.

9. Changes to rules, pricing, products, and features

9.1 New purchases. We may change our products, prices, features, and the rules that will apply to new Challenge Accounts at any time, effective for purchases made after the change. This does not affect a Challenge Account you have already purchased (see clause 6.2).

9.2 Existing Challenge Accounts. We will not change the rules governing an existing Challenge Account except where reasonably necessary for: compliance with law or regulation; preventing or responding to fraud, abuse, or exploitation; security; correcting a genuine technical error; a change forced by a third-party data or service provider; maintaining the integrity or continued operation of the Platform; or another material and unforeseen circumstance. Where reasonably practicable, we will give you advance notice of such a change and the reason for it.

9.3 Emergency measures. Where we reasonably consider it necessary to protect the security or integrity of the Platform, or to respond to active exploitation, fraud, a security vulnerability, a data-provider failure or error, a settlement incident, or a legal or regulatory requirement, we may take immediate protective measures — including suspending affected functionality, pausing affected markets, or voiding or correcting affected simulated activity — without prior notice. We will act reasonably and proportionately, and will restore normal operation as soon as it is safe and practicable to do so.

10. Sports, markets, and real-world data

10.1 Sports and racing markets available on the Platform, and the specific bet types offered for each, may change from time to time and are as displayed in the Platform at the relevant time.

10.2 We source real-world sporting data (fixtures, odds, and results) from third-party data providers. We do not control, and are not responsible for, the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of that third-party data, though we take reasonable steps to use reputable providers and to correct genuine errors (see section 11).

10.3 A maximum of six legs may be combined into a single multi/parlay Pick, at combined decimal odds under 10.00. Racing selections cannot be combined with any other selection.

11. Settlement, technical errors, and corrections

11.1 Picks are settled automatically once the relevant event concludes, based on official results from our data provider(s). Where an event is cancelled, the affected Pick (or affected leg of a multi Pick) is voided and has no effect on your Open Exposure or balance. A postponed event remains pending until it reaches a final result or is cancelled.

11.2 We may, acting reasonably, void, resettle, or correct simulated activity affected by: incorrect or stale odds; incorrect, duplicate, or missing fixture data; a data-provider outage or error; an erroneous event status; an incorrect or duplicate settlement; a system bug or display error; or an obvious calculation, balance, or pricing error. A correction never alters your original settlement record — we record a correcting entry alongside it, so your account history remains fully auditable, and, other than fixing the specific error, does not retroactively rewrite legitimate historical performance that was not itself the product of the error.

11.3 If a correction causes a Challenge Account to newly satisfy (or newly breach) the applicable rules, the ordinary consequences of doing so (progression, funding, or a Rule Breach) apply, exactly as they would have if the corrected outcome had been the original one.

12. Performance Rewards

12.1 Once a Challenge Account is Funded, you may submit a Reward Request at any time, subject to our Reward Policy.

12.2 All Rewards, and the timing of their payment, are at StakeSteps' sole discretion, subject to your Reward Request satisfying every applicable requirement, including: the account rules described in section 7-8; the minimum settled Picks, drawdown, exposure, and consistency requirements applicable to your Challenge Account; completion of identity and payment verification where required; the absence of any suspected or confirmed prohibited conduct; and the requirements of our Reward Policy generally.

12.3 We may investigate a Reward Request, and may withhold approval while a legitimate investigation is ongoing, where we have reasonable grounds relating to suspected or confirmed fraud, abuse, manipulation, collusion, multi-accounting, identity issues, payment issues (including chargebacks), technical exploitation, an erroneous settlement, a data-provider error, a rule violation, unusual activity reasonably warranting review, or a security incident. We may request reasonable supporting evidence from you during such an investigation.

12.4 We may reject, or correct the amount of, a Reward that we determine resulted from prohibited conduct, an obvious technical error, a duplicate credit, an erroneous settlement, fraud, or manipulation.

12.5 The reward split (our share and yours) is disclosed to you before you purchase your Challenge and does not change for a Challenge Account you have already purchased. Our standard reward split gives you 80% of Reward-eligible profit. You may instead select the 100% Reward Split add-on at checkout, for an additional AUD $120, which permanently entitles the resulting Challenge Account to a 100% customer split in place of the standard 80% — this entitlement is fixed for that Challenge Account at the time of purchase and, like the account's other purchase-time terms (clause 6.2), does not change afterward.

13. Identity verification / KYC

13.1 Before your first Reward payment, we will require you to complete an identity verification process, including confirming your name and address match your payout destination details.

13.2 We may require re-verification, or additional supporting information, where we have reasonable grounds to do so.

13.3 We use a third-party identity verification provider for this process — see our Privacy Policy for details of how your information is handled.

14. Prohibited conduct

You must not, and must not attempt to, or assist or permit any other person to:

(a) create or control more than one Account, or share, sell, or transfer access to your Account; (b) provide false, misleading, or fraudulent information at registration, checkout, KYC verification, or at any other point; (c) use a stolen, unauthorised, or fraudulent payment method, or engage in chargeback abuse; (d) collude with another user, or coordinate Picks across Accounts, to manipulate outcomes or circumvent risk rules; (e) exploit a bug, unintended platform behaviour, stale or delayed data, latency, or a settlement-timing gap to gain an advantage not available through ordinary legitimate use; (f) use bots, scripts, or automation to interact with the Platform except where we expressly permit it; (g) attempt to reverse engineer, probe, or interfere with the security, integrity, or normal operation of the Platform, including our simulated-market environment; (h) misuse the KYC or payment-verification process, including to conceal your identity or evade a hold or restriction; (i) falsely represent that you are StakeSteps, are employed by, authorised by, endorsed by, or an agent of StakeSteps, or are officially partnered with StakeSteps, or otherwise use our branding in a way likely to cause confusion about affiliation or endorsement; or (j) engage in conduct that is otherwise inconsistent with the legitimate, intended use of the Platform, including, without limitation, conduct not specifically listed above that has a similar purpose or effect to (a)-(i).

This list is non-exhaustive. A new method of abuse or exploitation is not permitted merely because it is not specifically named above.

15. Investigation, suspension, restriction, and termination

15.1 Where we reasonably consider it necessary — for security, fraud prevention, platform integrity, compliance, user protection, an ongoing investigation, a payment dispute or chargeback, a KYC issue, suspected manipulation, technical exploitation, a legal or regulatory requirement, or another material risk to our business or the Platform — we may, without prior notice where circumstances reasonably require immediate action:

(a) investigate an Account or Challenge Account, including requesting additional information, identity re-verification, or payment verification, and reasonable supporting evidence; (b) place an Account or Challenge Account under review, and restrict or suspend specific functionality (including pick placement, purchases, or Reward Requests) during that review; (c) delay approval of a Reward Request during a legitimate investigation; (d) reject an invalid Reward Request, or correct or reverse a resulting erroneous balance or settlement; (e) cancel a Challenge or Challenge Account obtained through fraud, prohibited conduct, or abuse, and disqualify associated activity; (f) suspend, restrict, or terminate an Account or Challenge Account; and (g) in serious cases, refuse or prevent future registration.

15.2 The grounds on which we may take action under clause 15.1 include, without limitation: suspected or confirmed fraud; any breach of section 14 (Prohibited Conduct); manipulation; collusion; multi-accounting; account sharing or transfer; identity fraud or falsified documents; provision of false information; payment fraud or chargeback abuse; KYC or risk-control circumvention; unauthorised bots, scripts, or automation; technical exploitation, including of stale data, latency, or settlement timing; bugs or unintended platform behaviour; attempts to manipulate the simulated environment; a security concern or threat to platform integrity; a material compliance or legal risk; and conduct otherwise inconsistent with the legitimate, intended use of the Platform.

15.3 Where legally permissible, and where disclosure could reasonably facilitate circumvention of our security, fraud-detection, or compliance controls, we are not required to disclose the specific internal methods, systems, or signals used to detect or investigate the conduct described in this section.

15.4 We will act reasonably and in good faith in exercising the rights in this section, and, where reasonably practicable and not inconsistent with clause 15.3, will give you an explanation appropriate to the circumstances.

16. Refunds

Challenge purchases are generally final and non-refundable, subject to the specific exceptions described in our Refund Policy — including a Challenge-fee refund benefit available to eligible Standard and Pro Challenge customers who pass their Challenge, become Funded, and successfully receive their first qualifying Reward. Refunds are addressed in full in our separate Refund Policy, incorporated into these Terms by reference. Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any consumer guarantee, right, or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law or other applicable law that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted, or modified.

17. Intellectual property and copyright

17.1 Subject to third-party rights described in clause 17.3 and applicable law, all original content on the Platform — including our website content, written copy, graphics, illustrations, reward certificates, UI/UX designs and visual elements, original branding materials, software and source code, proprietary platform functionality, documentation, educational materials, video and other media, promotional material, and our original presentation of policies and rules — is owned by, or licensed to, StakeSteps and is protected by copyright and other applicable intellectual property laws.

17.2 Except as expressly permitted by these Terms or by law, you must not, without our prior written consent: copy, reproduce, republish, or commercially exploit; distribute, modify, or create derivative works from; scrape, systematically extract, or mirror; frame; or remove any copyright or proprietary notice from, any content described in clause 17.1. Nothing in this clause restricts uses that cannot lawfully be restricted, including any statutory right of reverse engineering for interoperability purposes.

17.3 Third-party material. Sports data, league names, team names, athlete names, and any other third-party marks, logos, or data displayed on the Platform remain the property of their respective owners. We do not claim ownership of any third-party intellectual property, and nothing in these Terms should be read as such a claim.

17.4 Trade marks. "StakeSteps" and our logo are marks we use to identify our business.

17.5 You must not falsely represent an affiliation with StakeSteps or misuse our branding as described in section 14(i). Nothing in this section restricts lawful reviews, criticism, commentary, journalism, comparative discussion, or other uses protected by law.

17.6 © 2026 StakeSteps. All rights reserved.

18. Third-party services

The Platform uses third-party services, including payment processing, identity verification, hosting, and sports-data providers, described in our Privacy Policy. We are not responsible for the acts or omissions of independent third-party providers, though we take reasonable steps to select and monitor reputable providers.

19. Platform availability

We aim to keep the Platform available, but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation. We may suspend access for maintenance, security, or other operational reasons, and will aim to minimise disruption where reasonably practicable.

20. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

20.1 To the maximum extent permitted by law, and subject to clause 20.3, the Platform is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied.

20.2 To the maximum extent permitted by law, and subject to clause 20.3, StakeSteps is not liable for any indirect, consequential, special, or incidental loss or damage arising from your use of the Platform.

20.3 Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any right or remedy, or any guarantee, warranty, term, or condition, implied or imposed by the Australian Consumer Law or any other law, that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted, or modified. Where our liability for a failure to comply with a consumer guarantee cannot be excluded but can be limited, our liability is limited, at our option, to the resupply of the relevant service or the cost of having the service supplied again, to the extent permitted by law.

21. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify StakeSteps against any loss, damage, cost, or expense we reasonably incur arising from your breach of these Terms or your prohibited conduct under section 14, except to the extent caused by our own breach, negligence, or wilful misconduct.

22. Complaints

If you have a complaint, please follow our Complaints Procedure. We aim to provide an initial response within 24-48 hours.

23. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Australia, and you submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Australia.

24. Other StakeSteps Policies

These Terms incorporate by reference our: Privacy Policy; Challenge Rules; Funded Account Rules; Reward Policy; Refund Policy; Settlement Policy; Responsible Participation page; Acceptable Use Policy; and Complaints Procedure, each available at stakesteps.com.au/legal. If there is a direct conflict between these Terms and another policy on a specific point, the more specific policy governs that point.

25. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time as described in section 9. The version in force at any given time is the one published on this page, showing its last-updated date.

26. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to support@stakesteps.com.au, or via our Contact page.