Legal

Privacy policy

Privacy

Microburst Software, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) and Victorian councils, responsibly collect and handle personal information. Microburst Software, DEECA and Victorian councils are committed to complying with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.

Collection of information is also governed by the DEECA Privacy Policy and the relevant Council’s privacy policies. These Privacy Policies may change from time to time and changes will take effect from the date of posting on their website. These Privacy policies are available on the DEECA and Council websites or upon request.  

Collecting personal information

Personal information is information about you, from which your identity could reasonably be ascertained.

You can visit and browse this website without disclosing your personal information, other than that which is requested to register on the website. Microburst Software, DEECA and Victorian councils, through the Blue Factor website, do not retrieve or collect personal information, except where that information is freely given, for example:

  • Registering to use Blue Factor
  • Contacting us through this website. 

Microburst Software collect personal information through Blue Factor only when it is necessary for its function or services, including information needed to manage or administer those functions and services.

Information provided in the registration process and when completing a Blue Factor report may be accessed by Microburst Software, DEECA staff or council staff from the municipality in which the project is located.

Microburst Software, DEECA and council staff that access the information on the Blue Factor website collect and handle your personal information in accordance with the privacy principles in the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.

Cookies

A cookie is information that is shared between a web server and a user's browser. Cookies give the server information about a user's identity and website visiting patterns and preferences.

Cookies may be issued when you log into Blue Factor. You can change your internet settings to allow all cookies, notify you when one's issued or not accept them at all. You can also delete cookies at any time. If you have your cookies disabled in your browser, you will still be able to access this website.

If you don't allow our cookies or delete them you will need to re-enter your username and password each time you login to the Blue Factor website. The cookie does not record your login password.

Google Analytics

Our website collects information through Google Analytics.

For statistical and system administration reasons, Google Analytics automatically records some of your computer information such as:

  • the Internet Protocol (IP) number (the IP number is assigned to your computer when you use the internet)
  • the domain name of the account you use to access the internet (eg. "your-university.edu.au" or "your-department.gov.au")
  • the date and time of your visit to the site
  • the pages you accessed and downloaded
  • the address of the last site you visited, and
  • the type of browser you are using, for example, Firefox or Internet Explorer.

This information will only be used for internal statistical purposes, to update and improve our website and occasionally to assist in providing helpdesk support. To the extent that this data could make you identifiable, MAV and CASBE member councils will not attempt to identify individuals from the records the server automatically generates unless that is necessary to investigate a breach of law or regulation. 

Data Quality and Security

Microburst Software, DEECA and Victorian councils will take reasonable steps to protect the personal information they collect through the Blue Factor website.  However, while Microburst Software, DEECA and Victorian councils will strive to protect your personal information, they cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted to them online.

Access

You have a right to access the personal information about you held by public entities. In accordance with the Act, requests for access to data about you held by DEECA or a Council should be made via formal application under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic).

In certain circumstances requests may be dealt with by DEECA or a council without the need to make formal application.

Charges may apply to cover the cost of accessing and providing this information to you.

Requests for access should be sent to DEECA or council via the contact details listed at the bottom of this Privacy Statement.

Contact us

Any questions relating to this Privacy Policy or your personal information can be directed to

[email protected]

Last Updated – 5th November 2025

 

Terms and conditions

This document sets out the terms and conditions relating to use of Blue Factor and the terms of use under which you are provided access as a Registered User to Blue Factor (the terms).

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE CONTINUING TO USE THIS WEBSITE.

These terms and conditions are a legal agreement between you (either an individual or a single entity) and Microburst Software for the Blue Factor website including all associated software components, media, printed materials, and "online" or electronic documentation ("Blue Factor").

By viewing or using Blue Factor, you agree to be bound by the terms of these terms and conditions. These terms and conditions represent the entire license agreement concerning Blue Factor between you and Microburst Software, (referred to as "licenser"), and it supersedes any prior proposal, representation, or understanding between the parties. If you do not agree to the terms of this EULA, you must discontinue use of Blue Factor now.
Blue Factor is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. Blue Factor is licensed, not sold.

If you have any questions about these terms and conditions or wish to correct your personal information, please contact us.

  1. Definitions
  • Blue Factor refers to the Blue Factor website including all data, information, software, calculations, databases and other materials contained within it.
  • Microburst Software refers to Microburst Software Pty Ltd
  • DEECA refers to Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action

 

  1. General conditions

Agreement

In accessing and using the Blue Factor website, you agree that you have read and understood all of the relevant terms including but not limited to the Terms and conditions, General Conditions, Disclaimer, Copyright and Privacy Statement.

Grant of license

Blue Factor is licensed as follows: 

Use of Software

Microburst Software grants you a non-exclusive, revocable, non-sublicensable, limited license to access and use Blue Factor.

Internet charges

You may access Blue Factor on your computer through the use of an internet browser (such as Edge, Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome).

You are wholly responsible for any internet connection fees that you incur.

Area of use
Blue Factor is strictly intended for use on projects only within the service area or area of jurisdiction of specified ‘Authorities’ that have a license agreement with Microburst Software. These may be a government department, water authority, catchment management authority or municipal council.
The user agrees that, to the best of their knowledge, Blue Factor will only be used for projects located within a designated service area. The application of Blue Factor for projects outside the relevant service area may lead to erroneous results and the user is wholly responsible for any such use and its consequences. Where such use is detected, Microburst Software reserve the right to suspend or terminate the user account of any or all users belonging to the corresponding company or organisation.

Where an ‘Authority’ license agreement exists, sub-authorities within the service area may also elect to use Blue Factor for the purpose of assessing Development Application compliance with stormwater requirements. Such use is subject to any additional terms and conditions within a relevant Authority license agreement and those contained herein.

The specified authority is the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) of the State of Victoria, or as revised.

The designated service area for Blue Factor is: The State of Victoria

New or revised Terms and Conditions

Microburst Software reserve the right to update these terms and conditions at any time without notice.

However, where practical, you will be notified of any significant changes and given the opportunity to accept the new terms and conditions. When this occurs, your right to access and use the Tool or the Service under the existing terms will terminate immediately upon notice of the new Terms and Conditions of Use for Registered Users (the terms). You will be given an opportunity to review and accept the new terms. If you accept, and if the log-on identity registered to you is accepted, you will be able to continue using the Tool and the Service subject to the conditions of the new terms. If you decline to accept the new terms, or if you cannot comply with the conditions of the new terms for any reason, you will no longer be permitted to access the Tool or Service.

Governing law

Your access to and use of Blue Factor is governed by the law of the State of Victoria and the Commonwealth of Australia, and you agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in those locations.

Service availability

It is impossible for Microburst Software and DEECA to ensure that the services are provided to you at all times or at any specific times or will be able to operate at all times error-free. After hours provision of services are influenced by availability of related computer systems. Microburst Software and DEECA make no warranties in regard to the availability of services but all reasonable efforts will be made to provide the best possible service to you.

  1. Copyright

All title, including but not limited to copyrights, in and to Blue Factor and any copies thereof are owned by Microburst Software 2025. All rights reserved.

All title and intellectual property rights in and to the content which may be accessed through use of the Blue Factor is the property of Microburst Software or the respective content owner and may be protected by applicable copyright or other intellectual property laws and treaties.

This agreement grants you no rights to use such content other than in accordance with terms of this agreement. All rights not expressly granted are reserved by Microburst Software.

All content on this website viewable after logging in may not be copied, reproduced or used without consent. Please contact us to seek permission to reproduce, alter, store or transmit copyrighted material from this website for any purpose.

Permission is hereby granted to registered users to use a Blue Factor report that can be generated through this website, provided that:

Any reports are unaltered (other than by completing information sought in the input forms). When providing the reports to third parties it is the user's responsibility to ensure that they are up to date at all times

Use of website materials as training data or within any other system or service

The use of any material on this website as training data for a model, artificial intelligence (AI) or any other system is explicitly prohibited, except for the purposes of web search and indexation.

Notwithstanding the above limitations, should any part of this website, associated data or databases be used within any training data for a model, system or service in any form without written permission, the owner of that model, system or service agrees to immediately and without delay assign the greater of $10,000 or ownership of 1% of all shares of the owning parent company to Microburst Software without reservation and to undertake all actions necessary to effect the transfer of funds or shares.

In using material from the website, the owner of the AI system asserts that it has granted permission by an authorised person of the owning parent company for this ownership transfer to be made. Interest shall be payable on any delay in effecting this transfer exceeding 90 days from the date of extraction of information and/or data at 12% per annum compounded daily.

It is further agreed that any such model, system or service will be immediately withdrawn from use upon receiving a written request from Microburst Software. Continued use constitutes a breach of this license agreement and the laws of the State of Victoria and the Commonwealth of Australia.

Maintenance of Copyright Notices
You must not remove, alter, deface or destroy any copyright notices or other proprietary marking of Microburst Software on any and all copies of Blue Factor or any associated materials or reports.

  1. Terms of use

Only registered users can access and use the Blue Factor website. Registered users of this site agree to be bound by these Terms of Use and are provided access to Blue Factor on this basis only.

Before you can use Blue Factor, you must read, understand and agree to these Terms and Conditions (the terms). In accessing and using the Blue Factor website, you agree that you have read and understood the terms and other relevant documents including but not limited to General Conditions, Definitions, Copyright, Code of Conduct, Disclaimer and the Privacy Policy.

User eligibility

You may register to use Blue Factor for the purposes of accessing or using the website and to prepare a Blue Factor report only if you are over 18 years old, a corporation, Limited Liability Company, partnership or other legal or business entity registered to trade in an Australian jurisdiction.

Becoming a Registered User

You must register as a user (“Authorised user”) to access and use the Blue Factor website and to prepare a Blue Factor report. When creating or updating a Registered User log-on, you are required to provide certain personal information such as your name, phone number, email address, company and default municipality. You agree that you will supply accurate and complete information when requested, and that you will update that information promptly after it changes. Refer to our Privacy Policy if you have any concerns about providing information.

Username and password

In creating an Account, you will be required to select a unique username and password (collectively, “Login Credentials”), which you will use each time you access the Blue Factor website.

You agree that it is your responsibility to keep these secure. You agree not to share the Login Credentials with anyone other than as expressly authorised by these Terms of Use. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the Login Credentials, and are responsible for all uses of the log-in identity, including payments, whether or not authorised by you.

In the event you become aware of or reasonably suspect any breach of security, including without limitation any loss, theft, or unauthorised disclosure of the Login Credentials, you agree to immediately log-in and change it and to also advise us by using the Contact Us link on the home page. 

To respond to enquiries, Microburst Software, DEECA, Water Authority or Council staff may request that you disclose your username and password. Such disclosure is not a breach of these terms.

User and Project Details

Information entered into the Blue Factor website to prepare a Blue Factor report may be accessed by DEECA and Council officers for the purposes of responding to help requests, for quality control, auditing and compliance checks as well as assessing a Development Application for stormwater compliance.

Ownership of Blue Factor reports

Ownership, interest, copyright or other intellectual property value contained in project files is limited to any interest or rights the user, or any third party, may have in the design of the project, and does not extend to the added value, if any, that the details have as a Blue Factor project file, as a means to calculate ‘STORM’ or ‘Blue Factor’ scores or compliance with planning requirements and objectives or to generate a Blue Factor report.

You agree that ownership of the Blue Factor project files created by you remains with Microburst Software and any right to access, modify, add or amend projects is granted by Microburst Software at its discretion and in accordance with any limitations contained within these Terms of Use.

Discontinuation or modification of the Blue Factor Tool

Microburst Software and/or DEECA may change, modify, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Blue Factor website at any time. You have no interest, monetary or otherwise, in any feature or content contained in the website or associated with your project files. Microburst Software, DEECA and Council may also revise other policies, including without limitation the Best Practice objectives and STORM score assessment methods, at any time.

Notwithstanding that no notice is required, Microburst Software and DEECA will use reasonable endeavours to advise you of changes to the Blue Factor website, but will not be held liable for failure to notify.

Improper use of the Blue Factor website ('the site')

You agree that you will not, under any circumstances:

  • Seek to log in to an account that you have not created unless you are an authorised Microburst Software or DEECA administrator. If you are found to have logged into another individual or organisations accounts without written evidence permission, you and your organisation may be permanently excluded from using Blue Factor.
  • modify or cause to be modified any Blue Factor reports in any way not expressly authorised by Microburst Software or DEECA, attempt to gain unauthorised access to project files registered to other users, or the computer systems or networks connected to the site.
  • Instigate, encourage, sponsor, institute, assist, or become involved in any type of attack, including without limitation denial of service attacks, use automation software, hacks, or any other unauthorised third-party software designed to modify the website, intercept, "mine", or otherwise collect information from or through the website or otherwise attempt to disrupt the site or any other person's use of the site;
  • host, provide or develop matchmaking services for the site, or intercept, emulate or redirect the communication protocols used by Microburst Software, DEECA and Councils in any way, for any purpose, including without limitation unauthorised generation of Blue Factor reports, calculation of Blue Factor scores or calculation of ‘STORM’ scores.

Prohibition on Reverse Engineering, Decompilation, and Disassembly

You may not reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or create derivative works based on the whole or any part of Blue Factor, except and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding this limitation.

You agree that you will not repeatedly run Blue Factor with incremental changes with the intent or for the purpose of extracting or ‘mining’ data from the tool.

Support Services.

Microburst Software and DEECA may provide you with support services related to Blue Factor ("Support Services") but is under no obligation to do so. Any supplemental software code provided to you as part of the Support Services shall be considered part of the Blue Factor and subject to the terms and conditions of this agreement. 

Compliance with Applicable Laws

You must comply with all applicable laws regarding use of Blue Factor.

Rental

You may not rent, lease, loan, merge, adapt, vary or modify Blue Factor.

Assignment

You may not assign or otherwise transfer this license or any of your rights or obligations arising under it, without Microburst Software's prior written consent.

Termination

Without prejudice to any other rights, Microburst Software may terminate this agreement if you fail to comply with the terms and conditions of the agreement. In such event, your access to Blue Factor will be revoked and you must immediately cease all activities authorised by this license agreement. All rights granted to you under this agreement will immediately cease, however, the rights and obligations of the parties which by their nature survive termination or expiration of this license shall remain in full force and effect.  

No warranties

Microburst Software expressly disclaims any warranty for Blue Factor. Blue Factor is provided 'As Is' without any express or implied warranty of any kind, including but not limited to any warranties of merchantability, non-infringement, or fitness of a particular purpose.

Microburst Software does not warrant or assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within Blue Factor.

Microburst Software makes no warranties respecting any harm that may be caused by the transmission of a computer virus, worm, time bomb, logic bomb, or other such computer program.

Microburst Software further expressly disclaims any warranty or representation to Authorized Users or to any third party. The originator of any design checked using Blue Factor remains entirely responsible for the corresponding design and Microburst Software accept no responsibility or liability associated with the above, or any changes that may be made arising out of use of Blue Factor and associated documentation.

Limitations of liability

Blue Factor has been provided for the purpose of information and communication. It is not intended to be, and should not be relied upon as, the ultimate and complete source of information on any particular topic. While we make every effort to ensure that material on this site is accurate and up to date (except where denoted as ‘archival’), this material does in no way constitute the provision of professional or specific advice. You should seek appropriate, independent, professional advice before acting in any of the areas covered. 

By entering Blue Factor, you will be deemed to have released and discharged Microburst Software, DEECA and Victorian councils from all liability in respect of any loss suffered as a result of relying on the information on this site. By entering this site, you will be assuming all risks associated with the use of this site.

Microburst Software shall have no liability with respect to the content of Blue Factor or any part thereof, including but not limited to errors or omissions contained therein, libel, infringements of rights of publicity, privacy, trademark rights, business interruption, personal injury, loss of privacy, moral rights or the disclosure of confidential information.

Microburst Software, DEECA and Victorian councils do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on Blue Factor.

Microburst Software, DEECA and Victorian councils accept no responsibility for information on other websites, even where links have been provided from Blu Factor. It is the responsibility of the user to make their own decisions about the accuracy, currency, reliability and correctness of information contained in linked external websites. Links to external websites do not constitute a recommendation or endorsement of any product, information or service contained on that website.

In no event shall Microburst Software, DEECA or Victorian Councils be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, lost profits, business interruption, or lost information) arising out of 'Authorized Users' use of or inability to use Blue Factor, even if Microburst Software has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

In no event will Microburst Software be liable for loss of data or for indirect, special, incidental, consequential (including lost profit), or other damages based in contract, tort or otherwise.

Information on this website does not necessarily reflect the views of Microburst Software, DEECA or Victorian councils.