official rules
The Australian STEM Video Game Challenge (the Challenge) is administered by The
Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd (ABN 19 004 398 145) (ACER). The
Challenge aims to engage school students in science, technology, engineering andmath (STEM), by challenging them to design original video games.
Agreeing to these Rules: By checking the tick box on the registration page andregistering to enter the Challenge the Mentor and Applicant(s) agree to abide bythese Rules.
1

Eligibility
The Challenge is open to:• individuals; or• teams consisting of between two (2)2to four (4) individuals. Teams must notexceed four (4) members (Team).

Applicants
All Applicants must:• have a nominated adult [18+] to be the• Registrant:— may, to be considered in theChallenge, submit an original video
game and Game Design Document
in accordance with the requirements
for Submissions set out below in theseRules (Submission); and— agrees, if its Submission is successful

in the Challenge, to its games being
displayed for public viewing at:

contact person between the Challenge
administration team and the Applicant(Mentor);~residents;~• be Australian citizens or Australian• be enrolled in Year 3–12 in a school

located in Australia or are homeschooled in Australia in 2023–24; and• have their parents’/legal guardians’

3permission to participate in theChallenge;

Entry
Applicants may enter the Challenge byhaving the Applicant’s Mentor:• between 6 October and 11:59pm (AEST)

22 July, 2024;• in accordance with these Rules;• complete an online application forregistration at https://stemgames.
awardsplatform.com/; and• collect and hold the parent/guardians’

permission to participate. By entering
Mentors and Registrants agree to supply
these permissions to ACER if requested

4 Registration
Once the Applicant’s application forregistration has been accepted, the:• Mentor will receive confirmation fromACER by email of such acceptance andthat the Applicant is now registered with
the Challenge (Registrant); andPAX (Penny Arcade Expo)
Melbourne held in October of eachyear; orat other Science and Technology
museums within 12 months of thesubmission closing date.

5 Challenge Submissions
Submissions must:• be only one per Registrant in any oneyear;• be submitted by uploading via https://stemgames.awardsplatform.com/ (Site)in accordance with the instructions on
the Site between 9:00am (AEST) 8 Julyand 11:59pm (AEST) 22 July, 2024 (and nolater);• be made in strict accordance with theseRules. Any Submissions not made in strict
accordance with these Rules will not be
considered;• be in the English language;• in the form of a playable game madeusing GODOT Engine, Scratch, Unreal
Engine or another platform (GameEngine) which judges can play without
needing a paid subscription or license.

• not contain any intellectual property,including footage, images, artwork,
programming or sounds that are notcreated by the Registrant unless suchcontent is included as part of the GameEngine or is free for public use;• be solely the Registrant’s original work

Two. Games will be judged based on theweighted criteria of the Game Judging
rubric. The GDD will be judged based on
the weighted criteria of the GDD judging
rubric. Up to five (5) of the highest scoring
Submissions in each Category will go
through to the final round of judging,
Phase Three.

and must not be created in collaborationwith any other individual or entity notregistered as part of the Challenge
competition or part of the Registrant’s
Team; and• be ‘G’ rated, and comply with theAustralian STEM Video Game Challenge
classification guidelines located in theClassifications Guidelines and Technical
Specifications document on www.
stemgames.org.au;• Phase Three: a panel of judges will review

and independently score all games andGDD’s. Once again the entries will be
judged based on the weighted criteria of
the Game and GDD judging rubrics.

• use only the features available in the freetier of the Game Engine or features thatare made available specifically for use in
the Challenge as specified;• not be altered in any way aftersubmission. To do so will result in
immediate disqualification.

• be accompanied by a written Game

Design Document (GDD):— detailing the overall creative process

and design goals for the game;— submittedinPortableDocumentFormat(PDF). An editable GDD outline
is provided for entrants. It is notcompulsory for Registrants to use thisspecific document, it is however— advisable to follow its headings andstructure as they align with the scoring
rubrics.

6 Security and release
Each Registrant must retain a copy of theirSubmission. ACER provides no guarantee
or warranty as to the confidentiality or
security of any Submission. Each Registrant
specifically RELEASES ACER from any
claims or liability relating to breach ofconfidentiality or any loss or damage to theRegistrant’s Submission.
7

Winning Submissions
A prize will be awarded for each Submission
judged to be the best in its CategoryAwarding of prizes will occur in three phases
as follows:• Phase One: judges will review theSubmissions to identify those that arecomplete with a playable, operational
game and completed GDD. Submissions
that appear to be complete and to satisfy
the entry requirements, will automaticallybe included in Phase Two of the judging.

• Phase Two: judges will review and score

all games and GDD’s included in Phase

The decision of the judges at each phase ofjudging is both final and confidential, andno correspondence will be entered into.

8 Prizes
Prizes will be decided at the offices of ACER
19 Prospect Hill Road Camberwell Victoriaby the 6 September 2024. The decision
as to prizes will be in ACER’s absolute andsole discretion and will be final with nocorrespondence entered into.
Prizes will consist of a productfrom our sponsors, wheresuch a sponsor is present andenteredintoanagreementwiththeAustralian
STEM Video Game Challenge.
Mentors of winning Submissions will beadvised personally via email and phone
and will have their name, school and state/
territory of residence published on the STEMGames website.
Should any winning Registrant not claim
the relevant prize in accordance with theabove, the relevant prizes shall be deemedunclaimed and forfeit. Such forfeited prizes
or their equivalent monetary value will be
retained by ACER for allocation to anotherRegistrant determined in accordance withthese Rules.
9Disqualification
ACER may, in its sole discretion refuse,disqualify any and all Applicants orRegistrants from, and prohibit further
participation, in the Challenge, if they act
in violation of these Rules or in any way, inconnection with the Challenge, engages inmisconduct. What constitutes misconduct
being in the sole discretion of ACER.

10 Termination
If for any reason the Challenge or any part
thereof is not able to be conducted ACER
may in its sole discretion cancel, terminate,modify or suspend the Challenge, orinvalidate any affected applications orregistrations, subject to the approval of therelevant gaming authorities, if required.

11 Intellectual Property
The intellectual property in any Submission
created by any Registrants remains vested
in the relevant Registrant.
12 License
Registrants grant ACER and its personnel,
contractors and agents an irrevocable,
worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty free,
fully paid up LICENCE (including the rightto sublicense) to use, publish, reproduce,
communicate and broadcast theSubmission and any other material theApplicant supplies ACER for the purposesof the Challenge and the intellectual
property in the same for the purposesof: the Challenge; to conduct of future
Challenges; and for purposes directly or
indirectly related to the Challenge andfuture Challenges.

13 Moral rights consent and waiver
Registrants IRREVOCABLY CONSENT to (orwaive any rights in respect of) ACER or its
agents or licensees performing any act
or making any omission relating to theirSubmission concerning attribution ofauthorship (whether correctly attributed ornot) or its use in connection the Challenge
in any context.
14 Warranties

Registrants WARRANT:• that Registrant has the sole and full rightand authority to accept these terms andconditions and enter into the Challenge
and grant the rights set out in thisAgreement;• the Submission will be made by theRegistrant solely and specifically for
the Challenge or as part of anothereducational activity undertaken within an
educational environment;• the Submission will comply with theseRules;• no part of the Submission is, or will be,actionable for defamation or violate
any right of privacy or publicity of any
person, and the full use of the rights in theSubmission will not violate any rights ofany person, firm or corporation;• that they have obtained all necessary

rights, licences, permissions and consents
in respect of any third party material

included in any Submission to use suchthird party material for the purposesof the Challenge and for ACERand its
personnel, contractors and agents touse, sublicense, publish, reproduce,
communicate and broadcast for thepurposes of the Challenge, conductof future Challenges and purposes
directlyorindirectlyrelatedtosuchanythird
party material on a worldwide, nonexclusive, royalty free, fully paid up andirrevocable basis (consents shall include
moral rights consents (and whereapplicable waivers) for the commission
or omission of any act that mayotherwise constitute an infringement of athird party’s moral rights); and• the Submission is not the subject of any

litigation nor is it threatened by any claim
or litigation.

15 Indemnity
Registrants INDEMNIFY, RELEASE and HOLD
HARMLESS ACER and its related companies,personnel, contractors and agents on acontinuing basis in respect of any loss,expense, cost (on a full indemnity basis) ordamages arising as a result of any claim or
threatened claim by an Registrant or a third
party that its intellectual property rights
or moral rights have been infringed as aresult of any activity or omission of ACER, its
related companies, personnel, contractors,agents and the Applicant in connection
with the Challenge.

16 Limitation of Liability
ACER makes no representations or
warranties as to the quality, suitability or
merchantability of any goods or services
offered as prizes. To the extent permitted bylaw, ACER is not liable for any loss sufferedto person or property by reason of any act
or omission, deliberate or negligent, by ACER
or its employees or agents, in connection
with the arrangement for the supply, or
the supply, of goods and services by any
person to the prize winner and, whereapplicable, to any persons accompanying
the prize winner. This clause does not affectany rights a consumer may have which areunable to be excluded under Australian law.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, any
liability of ACER or its employees or agentsfor breach of any such rights is limited tothe payment of the costs of having the prize
supplied again.

17 Privacy
By entering the Challenge Mentors andRegistrants CONSENT to ACER:• Collecting and recording their personal

information (including sensitive
information such as ethnic origin or
health information) provided by theMentor or Registrant;• publishing the winning Registrant’s name,images, school name and state/territoryof residence in such promotional activity
and materials as ACER may require;• using Mentor’s and Registrant‘s personal

information provided for:— the administration and evaluation ofcurrent and future Challenges;— direct marketing purposes;— disclosing personal information(including sensitive information) to its
contractors, agents and other persons
for the purpose of them assisting ACER
with administration of the current andfuture Challenges.

Should Mentor or Registrant not wish toconsent to the any or all of the above
please contact the STEM Video Game
Challenge Project Director in writing byemail to contact@stemgames.org.au

Each time ACER sends Mentors
or Registrants direct marketing
communication ACER will provide themwith a simple way to ‘opt out’ of receiving
similar communications in the future.
Mentors and Registrants may also inform
ACER that they do not wish to receive any
further communications or change any
personal information ACER may have onrecord by contacting STEM Video Game
Challenge in writing by email to contact@stemgames.org.au

18 Privacy Statement

Any Personal Information Mentors orRegistrants provide is private, confidential
and will be treated according to any
applicable law. Such Personal Informationwill only be used for the purposes specified
in these Rules. Should the Mentor or
Registrant not provide the personal
information required for the Challenge
or give the consents above then any
application for registration or submission
may not be considered for the purposes ofparticipating in the Challenge.

ACER is bound to comply with the Privacy
Act 1988 (Cth) and its ACER Privacy Policy
is locatable at www.acer.edu.au/about/acer-privacy-policy.
ACER will not disclose Mentor’s orRegistrant’s personal information to any
person or organisation located overseas.

The policy sets out the Mentor’s andRegistrant’s rights and processes to:complain about a breach of privacy:
access and have amended their personal
information held by ACER. Mentor’s andRegistrant’s involvement is voluntary andthey are free to withdraw consent at any
time. Should Mentors or Registrants haveany queries please contact STEM Video
Game Project Director in writing by email tocontact@stemgames.org.au