At Dociva, we are committed to providing safe, responsible and accessible online healthcare services. This Fair Use Policy (Policy) explains how users are expected to use the Dociva platform, including medical certificate requests, online consultations, prescription requests, referral requests, support services, accounts, communications and any other services made available through Dociva from time to time.

This Policy is designed to protect patients, medical practitioners, Dociva staff, the integrity of clinical decision-making and the availability of the platform for other users.

While we aim to outline key examples of Unacceptable Use, it is not possible to list every potential misuse. Dociva reserves the right to determine whether a particular use breaches this Policy, our Terms, clinical safety requirements, operational requirements or applicable law. Capitalised terms not defined in this Policy have the same meaning as in our Terms.

Dociva is not an emergency service. If you have chest pain, severe breathing difficulty, signs of a stroke, heavy bleeding, collapse, seizure, sudden swelling of the lips, mouth, throat or tongue, thoughts of self-harm, or any symptom that feels serious or life-threatening, call 000 immediately or attend the nearest emergency department.

What Constitutes Acceptable Use?

Acceptable Use means using Dociva honestly, safely and for legitimate healthcare-related purposes. This includes:

• Providing accurate, complete and truthful information in a timely manner.
• Using Dociva only for genuine healthcare-related requests, including medical certificates, online consultations, prescription requests, referral requests and other services where available.
• Respecting the independent clinical judgement of Australian-registered medical practitioners.
• Understanding that submitting a request does not guarantee that a certificate, prescription, referral, diagnosis, treatment plan or other clinical outcome will be provided.
• Being reasonably available for phone, video or follow-up contact if requested by the doctor or Dociva support team.
• Following any safety-netting advice, urgent care advice, in-person review recommendation or follow-up recommendation provided by a medical practitioner.
• Using documents issued through Dociva honestly and only for their intended purpose.
• Respecting the time, safety and professional boundaries of medical practitioners and Dociva staff.
• Using the platform in a way that does not interfere with the availability, security or proper operation of Dociva.

Clinical Independence

Medical practitioners providing services through Dociva exercise independent clinical judgement. You must not pressure, mislead, threaten, manipulate or attempt to influence a medical practitioner to provide a certificate, prescription, referral, diagnosis, treatment plan or other clinical outcome.

A doctor may approve, decline, limit, defer or escalate a request where they consider it clinically appropriate. The doctor may also request further information, require phone or video contact, recommend in-person care or advise urgent or emergency care.

For any Dociva service, the doctor may require phone or video contact before making a decision if they consider it clinically necessary.

Medical Certificates and Backdating

Dociva does not provide backdated medical certificates. A certificate can only be considered from the date of the clinical assessment and cannot be issued for a date before the assessment took place.

You must not request, pressure, mislead or attempt to obtain a backdated certificate through Dociva. You must also not alter, edit, falsify, misuse or misrepresent any certificate issued through Dociva.

Employers, schools, universities and other organisations may have their own evidence requirements, so acceptance can vary depending on the organisation and circumstances.

Prescription and Medicine Requests

Prescription requests, where available, are subject to clinical review and are not guaranteed. A prescription will only be provided where the doctor considers it clinically appropriate and safe.

You must provide accurate information about your symptoms, medical history, current medicines, allergies, pregnancy or breastfeeding status where relevant, previous adverse reactions and any other information that may affect prescribing safety.

Unacceptable use includes attempting to obtain medicines by deception, omission, repeated requests, multiple accounts, pressure on practitioners, or “drug-shopping” behaviour.

Referral Requests

Referral requests, where available, are subject to clinical review and are not guaranteed. A referral will only be provided where the doctor considers it clinically appropriate.

You must not use Dociva to obtain referrals through false, misleading, incomplete or exaggerated information. A referral also does not guarantee that a specialist, clinic, imaging provider, pathology provider or other third party will accept the referral or provide a particular outcome.

What Constitutes Unacceptable Use?

Unacceptable Use includes, but is not limited to:

• Providing false, misleading, incomplete, exaggerated or inconsistent information.
• Withholding relevant clinical information, including symptoms, medical history, medicines, allergies, pregnancy status, mental health risks, substance use, previous adverse reactions or recent medical reviews.
• Attempting to manipulate, pressure, threaten or deceive medical practitioners or Dociva staff.
• Requesting a guaranteed medical certificate, prescription, referral, diagnosis, treatment plan or other clinical outcome.
• Requesting or attempting to obtain a backdated medical certificate.
• Submitting multiple requests for the same or similar issue after being declined, redirected or advised that the request is unsuitable for Dociva.
• Submitting an unusually high volume of requests without a genuine healthcare need.
• Engaging in “doctor-shopping”, “drug-shopping”, “certificate-shopping”, “referral-shopping” or “outcome-shopping”.
• Using multiple accounts, false details or another person's details to avoid restrictions, obtain a different outcome or conceal prior requests.
• Allowing another person to access your account or use your identity.
• Making a request on behalf of another person unless you are legally authorised to do so and the service allows that request.
• Impersonating another person, a practitioner, a Dociva staff member, an employer, a school, a university or another organisation.
• Uploading or sending explicit, offensive, abusive, threatening, discriminatory, harassing or inappropriate content.
• Using abusive, offensive, threatening or inappropriate language in any communication with medical practitioners or Dociva staff.
• Failing to respond to reasonable follow-up requests after a doctor has commenced review.
• Repeatedly cancelling, abandoning or disputing requests in a way that appears abusive, dishonest or disruptive.
• Misusing refund, chargeback, complaint or support processes.
• Editing, altering, falsifying, selling, sharing, misrepresenting or misusing any certificate, prescription, referral, receipt, letter or document issued through Dociva.
• Using Dociva for emergencies, serious symptoms, urgent deterioration or situations requiring immediate in-person care.
• Using the platform for illegal, fraudulent, harmful or unsafe purposes.

Platform, Security and Technical Misuse

You must not misuse the Dociva website, platform, systems, APIs, payment flow, communications, staff systems or support tools.

Unacceptable technical use includes, but is not limited to:

• attempting to bypass security controls, access controls, rate limits, verification steps or eligibility checks;
• using bots, scrapers, automated tools, scripts or other automated methods without written permission from Dociva;
• attempting to gain unauthorised access to accounts, systems, servers, databases, staff portals or practitioner tools;
• introducing malware, harmful code, viruses, trojans, worms or other malicious material;
• testing, scanning or probing systems without written permission from Dociva;
• interfering with platform availability, performance, security, payment processing or service delivery;
• attempting to reverse engineer, copy, scrape or misuse Dociva content, workflows, forms, certificates or platform functionality; or
• using Dociva in a way that creates unreasonable load, operational disruption or security risk.

Support and Communication Misuse

Dociva support channels are intended for genuine service, technical, payment, privacy and account-related assistance.

Unacceptable use of support includes abusive messages, repeated unreasonable demands, threats, harassment, false claims, excessive duplicate enquiries, attempts to pressure staff into changing clinical outcomes, or attempts to bypass doctor review.

Dociva support staff cannot override independent medical practitioner clinical judgement.

Consequences of Breaching This Policy

If Dociva or a medical practitioner reasonably determines that a user has engaged in Unacceptable Use, Dociva may take action to protect patients, practitioners, staff, the platform and service integrity.

Actions may include:

• requesting further information or identity verification;
• delaying, declining, cancelling or limiting a request;
• requiring phone or video contact before further review;
• refusing future requests;
• suspending, restricting or terminating account access;
• withholding, cancelling or refusing access to services where permitted by law;
• declining refunds where practitioner review or platform services have commenced, subject to applicable law;
• notifying relevant third parties, regulators, law enforcement or healthcare bodies where required or permitted by law;
• taking technical, operational or legal steps to protect Dociva and its users.

Refunds and Fair Use

Misuse of Dociva, including providing false or misleading information, failing to respond after practitioner review has commenced, requesting backdated documents, attempting to force a specific outcome, abusing support channels or misusing chargeback processes, may affect refund eligibility.

Refunds are handled in accordance with our Terms of Service, refund policy and applicable law. Nothing in this Policy excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right, remedy or liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted or modified.

Relationship With Other Policies

This Policy should be read together with our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy and any other policy or notice made available by Dociva.

If there is any inconsistency between this Policy and the Terms of Service, the Terms of Service will apply to the extent of the inconsistency.