All use of eResearch SA facilities is subject to the "General conditions of use" shown below and will be classified as either:

• acceptable research use
• acceptable education use
• acceptable commercial use

It is the responsibility of the user to establish the classification of each of their activities by first consulting with the eResearch SA Helpdesk. 

General conditions of use

eResearch SA acceptable use policy is broadly aligned with and assumes the Acceptable Use policy of Information Technology Services at eResearch SA's host organisation, the University of Adelaide. Users must conform to these conditions.

Unacceptable use includes:

1. any violation of state or federal law
2. installation or de-installation of software or a database without prior written/email approval from the eResearch SA Helpdesk
3. use of communications infrastructure for activities that have not been authorised by eResearch SA
4. sharing passwords or accounts for any reason
5. any anti-social behaviour or harassment

Unacceptable use can, at eResearch SA's discretion, result in immediate suspension of the account for a minimum of 10 days. Repeated unacceptable use will result in a personal ban for a period to be determined by eResearch SA management. In these cases, users have the right of review by the eResearch SA Management Committee.

eResearch SA user services and system management staff reserve the right, without notice, to:

1. assign priority to particular jobs
2. assign computing, storage and communications resources to jobs
3. suspend or delete a job or process
4. monitor jobs, including input and output files
5. collect usage statistics about any accounts
6. enquire about the nature of any jobs or other usage
7. request users to leave eResearch SA venues

Costs incurred to eResearch SA through unauthorised or unacceptable use will be passed onto the user concerned. Damage other than normal wear and tear and theft of eResearch SA property is the responsibility of the user who will be liable for replacement.

Acceptable research use

eResearch SA encourages the acceptable research use of its facilities and services in all ways that are consistent with eResearch SA's mission and with the research objectives of its partner universities. Acceptable use is therefore defined as any use of eResearch SA's facilities and services to directly support legitimate university research and development. There is currently no charge for acceptable research use of eResearch SA facilities.

On behalf of its partner universities, the management of eResearch SA reserves the right to determine what is and what is not 'legitimate' research (subject to appeal through the eResearch SA Management Committee) or what is a reasonable use of eResearch SA facilities and services for research purposes.

Acceptable educational use

The use of eResearch SA facilities for acceptable (non-research) educational and training purposes by any of the three partner universities or other accredited educational institutions is possible and may be negotiated with eResearch SA.

However, as the eResearch SA mission does not include support of non-research activities and as it is not funded to do so, such use will necessarily involve modest charges.

Acceptable commercial use

Modest charges apply for the commercial use of eResearch SA facilities and services. Commercial use includes use by companies and organisations outside eResearch SA's partner universities, as well as use undertaken for commercial clients by researchers at the partner universities. State and Federal government agencies are considered to be a special class of 'commercial' users.

University-based 'commercial' use includes but is not limited to contract research for external agencies, fee-for-service research, research undertaken under the auspices of a CRC or Research Centre substantially funded by external organisations, and research directed at the commercialisation of a product. On behalf of its partner universities, eResearch SA management reserves the right to determine what is 'commercial' research (subject to appeal through the eResearch SA Management Committee).

Note that software on eResearch SA systems, including compilers and other tools, might be subject to educational use conditions. Typically these explicitly forbid using the software for commercial projects. By submitting a job, account holders accept sole and personal responsibility for their legal use of any software installed on eResearch SA systems.

All 'commercial' jobs must be notified to eResearch SA management and must be subject to a written agreement, without which eResearch SA assumes no responsibility and will accept no liability for an account or job. Running 'commercial' jobs without prior permission (generally in the form of a written agreement) from eResearch SA management is considered unacceptable use: the account will be suspended immediately and the account holder will be invoiced at the current full commercial rate.