The terms between us.

1. Who this is between

This agreement is between Reachwater, the operator of the Reachwater platform (“Reachwater”, “we”, “us”), and you, the guide who has applied to offer paid advice through the platform (“you”, “the guide”).

It takes effect when you're accepted as a guide and start offering advice, and it continues until you or we end it under section 13.

2. What Reachwater is

Reachwater connects anglers with vetted local fishing guides for paid advice. We sell a guide's judgement, not data and not trips. We're the platform that carries the introduction, the booking, and the payment; the advice itself is yours.

We're not a party to the advice you give, and we don't guide, instruct, or fish on your behalf. Anglers understand they're paying for a professional's judgement, not a guaranteed catch.

3. Becoming a guide

Joining is by application and vetting. We may ask about your guiding experience, the water you know, and your standing in your region. Being vetted is part of what anglers pay for, so we don't accept everyone, and acceptance is at our discretion.

You confirm that the information you give us is accurate, that you hold any licences, permits, or registrations your guiding requires, and that you're entitled to work as an independent guide in your region.

4. What you provide

Guides on Reachwater offer two things:

Trip Plans

A personalised written plan for an angler's water and their dates, plus follow-up questions for seven days after the plan is delivered. You do not write plans from scratch. Reachwater drafts the plan from the angler's brief; your job is to check it and tweak it, so it carries your judgement, minutes not hours. A plan isn't delivered to the angler until you've reviewed and approved it. The judgement in the plan, and its accuracy, is yours.

1:1 video calls

A scheduled video call with an angler, of the length shown at booking. Calls are the angler's time with you: where to fish, what to tie on, when to be there.

You provide advice honestly and to the best of your knowledge. If a water, a season, or a question is outside what you can speak to, say so rather than guess.

5. Your availability and reply windows

You control your availability. You can cap how many spots you take, set your own reply windows, reply between trips, and pause for the season whenever you need to. There are no minimums and no universal service levels imposed on you.

In return, we ask that you honour the windows you set. When you accept a booking or set a reply time, that's the promise the angler is paying against. If something in your life or on the water means you can't deliver, tell us and the angler early, so we can put it right.

6. What you earn, and our fee

You set the rate you earn for each thing you offer, from the floors below. Nothing is deducted from it. Reachwater adds a platform fee on top of your rate, and the angler pays the two together as a single price. Your rate is what you receive. At current floors:

• from $40 per Trip Plan, which the angler pays $60 for
• from $100 per 30-minute call, which the angler pays $120 for, and from $180 per 60-minute call, which the angler pays $200 for

The platform fee is a flat $20 per sale. It is the same amount on a Trip Plan as on a call, the same on a 60-minute call as on a 30-minute one, and the same whatever rate you set — it is a charge per sale, not a share of what you earn, so it does not grow when your rate does. It covers bringing you the angler, drafting the plan you review, running the booking and the payment, and keeping your contact details private. We only earn when you make a sale. Amounts are in Australian dollars.

The angler is shown one price, with the fee included rather than added at checkout. We do not present the fee to anglers as a separate charge.

These prices and this fee are current, not fixed for good. The floors above and the $20 fee are all subject to change. We keep a close eye on the market and on booking volume, and we'll adjust what anglers pay, what you earn, and what we charge as we learn what works. When a change affects your rate or the fee, we tell you before it takes effect and explain the thinking, so you're never surprised by what lands in your account. Section 15 sets out how we make changes.

No commission on your trips. We take no commission on your own guided-day bookings. We don't sit between you and your trip clients and we don't poach them. Advice is a new line of income, not a charge on the guiding you already do.

7. Payment terms

This is the mechanical side of getting paid: how the angler is charged, how the money reaches you, and when.

How the angler is charged

The angler pays the listed price in full when they book, through our payment provider. That price is your rate plus the platform fee. We retain the platform fee and pay your rate through to you in full. Nothing is charged until a booking is confirmed, and we hold the payment until the sale is complete.

When a sale counts as earned

A Trip Plan is earned once you've reviewed and approved it and we've delivered it to the angler. A call is earned once the call has taken place. The seven days of plan follow-up are part of the plan you've already been paid for, not a separate charge.

How and when we pay you

We pay your rate to your nominated bank account in Australian dollars, through our payment provider or by direct transfer. Payouts are made on a regular cycle, covering the sales that cleared since the previous payout. We may hold funds for a short clearing period after a sale, to cover possible refunds or disputes before your payout is released.

Your statements and invoices

With each payout we send you a statement of the sales it covers, your rate on each, and the platform fee the angler paid on top. If you're registered for GST, you agree that we may issue a recipient-created tax invoice on your behalf (a buyer-created tax invoice in New Zealand), so you don't have to raise your own, and you agree not to issue a separate tax invoice for the same sale. If you're not registered for GST, we send a plain remittance statement instead. We handle GST and tax in line with the rules that apply to you and to us.

Cancellations and refunds

If a Trip Plan can't be delivered, or you're unable to complete it, the angler is refunded and you don't earn on it. For calls, an angler can reschedule or cancel up to 24 hours before the call; inside that window the call counts as taken. If you need to cancel, we rebook the call or refund the angler, and you don't earn on a call that doesn't happen. You're paid on completed, non-refunded sales.

Reversals

If a sale is later refunded or charged back, we may reverse the related payout or offset it against future earnings. We'll tell you when that happens and why.

8. How you're expected to work

By offering advice through Reachwater, you agree to:

• Give advice honestly and in good faith, from your own knowledge of the water.
• Put safety first, and never advise something you believe puts an angler at unreasonable risk.
• Respect fisheries rules, access rules, and local regulations, and not advise anglers to break them.
• Treat anglers with respect, and keep what they share with you in confidence.
• Not use the platform to move anglers off it to avoid our fee, or to sell them something we haven't agreed to.
• Not misrepresent your experience, your region, or what an angler can expect.

9. Your content and knowledge

Your knowledge is yours. Nothing here transfers ownership of your expertise, your methods, or the spots you keep to yourself.

For the profile, photos, and material you give us to run your listing, you grant Reachwater a non-exclusive licence to display and promote it in connection with the platform and your listing. You confirm you have the right to share anything you upload.

Trip Plans are drafted by Reachwater and finished by you. The delivered plan is licensed to the angler for their own fishing; the judgement within it remains attributable to you.

10. You're independent

You're an independent contractor, not an employee, partner, or agent of Reachwater. This agreement doesn't create an employment relationship, and you're free to guide, teach, and sell advice however else you choose.

You run your own business. That means your own insurance, your own licences and permits, your own tax, and your own decisions about how you fish and what you advise.

11. Anglers' information

When an angler books you, they share details about their trip, and sometimes photos of their water, their rig, or their catch. Use that only to give them advice. Don't share it, publish it, or use it for anything else without their say-so. We handle personal information in line with our privacy policy.

12. Suspension and removal

We may pause or remove your listing if you break this agreement, if anglers are being let down, or if we have a genuine concern about safety, honesty, or the law. Where it's reasonable to, we'll tell you what's wrong and give you a chance to put it right first. Serious matters may mean immediate removal.

13. Leaving

You can stop offering advice at any time, and you can close your guide account by giving us reasonable notice. We can end this agreement on the same terms. Either way, you finish any plans and calls already booked and paid for, and we pay you what you've earned.

Ending this agreement doesn't affect anything that should survive it, such as confidentiality, earned payments, and the limits on liability below.

14. Liability

Fishing advice is a professional's judgement, not a guarantee. Conditions change, fish move, and no honest guide can promise a result. Anglers accept that, and accept the ordinary risks of being on the water.

To the extent the law allows, Reachwater isn't liable for the advice you give or for what an angler does with it, and you're responsible for your own advice and conduct. Nothing in this section limits any rights an angler or a guide has under the Australian Consumer Law, the New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act, or other laws that can't be excluded.

15. Changes to these terms

As Reachwater grows, these terms may change. We'll give you reasonable notice of anything material, and let you know before it takes effect. If you keep offering advice after a change, that's your acceptance of the updated terms. If you don't agree, you can leave under section 13.

16. The law that applies

This agreement is governed by the laws of Australia, and the Australian courts have jurisdiction over any dispute. If you guide in New Zealand, nothing here removes protections you have under New Zealand law.

17. Talk to us

If anything here is unclear, or you want to raise something before you sign on, get in touch with us through the Reachwater website. We'd rather sort it out up front than leave you guessing.