Coaching

Coaching Agreement & Professional Standards

Next Era Life Design Queensland, Australia Coach: Faizah Baldonado, Life Coach & Life Design Strategist Effective date: 11 September 2026 Last updated: 11 September 2026

The Next Era™ is operated by Next Era Life Design, based in Queensland, Australia.

This Coaching Agreement & Professional Standards applies when you purchase or participate in a coaching service provided by Faizah Baldonado, Life Coach & Life Design Strategist, through Next Era Life Design.

Coaching works best when there is clarity about what we are entering into together. This agreement outlines the nature of coaching, our respective responsibilities, confidentiality, professional boundaries and the standards that apply to our coaching relationship.

The specific details of your coaching engagement, including the service, duration, format, investment and any offer-specific inclusions, will be provided on the relevant offer or checkout page.

Please read this agreement before purchasing or beginning a coaching engagement.

1. The nature of coaching

Coaching is a collaborative, client-led process designed to increase awareness, clarity, capacity and self-leadership in service of meaningful personal and/or professional goals.

As your coach, I may support you by asking questions, reflecting observations, helping you explore different perspectives, and offering appropriate tools or strategies that support your thinking and movement towards what matters to you.

You remain responsible for your choices, decisions and actions throughout the coaching process.

Coaching is future-focused and growth-oriented. It is not a process in which I make decisions for you or tell you how you should live your life.

2. Coaching is not therapy or professional advice

Coaching is not therapy, counselling, psychological treatment, crisis intervention or a substitute for medical, mental health, legal, financial or other appropriately qualified professional advice.

I do not diagnose or treat mental health or medical conditions through coaching.

If something arises that appears to fall outside the appropriate scope of our coaching relationship, I may raise this with you and suggest that another form of professional support may be more appropriate.

You remain responsible for deciding whether and when to seek other professional support.

3. Our coaching relationship

The coaching relationship is collaborative. We each have responsibilities that help create a clear, respectful and useful coaching environment.

As your coach, I commit to

  • Treating you with respect and professionalism
  • Creating space for honest exploration without imposing my own decisions upon you
  • Maintaining appropriate professional boundaries
  • Being clear about the scope of our coaching relationship
  • Communicating openly if I believe another form of support may be more appropriate
  • Managing conflicts of interest appropriately
  • Maintaining confidentiality within the limits described in this agreement
  • Representing my qualifications, experience and professional standing accurately
  • Conducting my coaching practice in accordance with the professional and ethical standards that inform my work

As the client, you agree to

  • Participate honestly and openly to the extent that feels appropriate to you
  • Take responsibility for your own decisions, choices and actions
  • Communicate questions, concerns or changes that may affect our coaching relationship
  • Arrive for scheduled sessions on time and ready to participate
  • Make your own decisions about whether suggestions, reflections or strategies discussed during coaching are appropriate for you
  • Seek appropriately qualified professional support where an issue falls outside the scope of coaching

You are always free to question, decline or reconsider something explored during coaching.

4. Confidentiality

Information you share within the coaching relationship will be treated as confidential.

I will not intentionally disclose information from our coaching relationship to another person without your consent, except where disclosure is required by law, pursuant to a valid legal process, or where there is an imminent or likely risk of danger to you or another person.

Where reasonably possible and legally permitted, I will seek to discuss such a situation with you before information is disclosed.

Information may also be handled by technology and service providers reasonably required to operate the coaching service, such as scheduling, payment, communication or record-management platforms. Their handling of information is also subject to applicable privacy arrangements and the Next Era Life Design Privacy Policy.

5. Records, privacy and technology

Next Era Life Design may collect and retain information reasonably required to provide your coaching service, administer bookings and payments, communicate with you and maintain appropriate business records.

This may include information submitted through forms, scheduling systems, emails, coaching preparation materials and other tools used as part of the engagement.

Where digital tools or technology-assisted experiences are used alongside coaching, they support the coaching process but do not replace the professional coaching relationship between you and Faizah.

For example, a Digital Life Audit or other self-reflection tool may help you organise your thinking before coaching. Information generated through such a tool only becomes part of our coaching conversation to the extent that you choose to bring or discuss it within the session.

Personal information is handled in accordance with the Next Era Life Design Privacy Policy.

6. Recording

Coaching sessions are not recorded by default.

If either of us wishes to record a session for a specific purpose, this will only occur after the purpose has been explained and explicit agreement has been obtained.

Where a recording is made, we will also establish how it may be used, stored and deleted.

You are asked not to independently record a coaching session without prior agreement.

7. Session arrangements

The duration, format and number of coaching sessions included in your engagement will be stated on the relevant service or checkout page.

Sessions may be delivered online or through another format expressly agreed between us.

Please attend from an environment where you can participate safely, privately and with minimal distraction wherever reasonably possible.

The scope of an individual session may evolve during the conversation. You remain responsible for deciding what you wish to explore and what you choose to act upon afterwards.

8. Rescheduling, cancellation and attendance

Unless different terms are expressly stated for a particular coaching service, please provide at least 48 hours' notice if you need to reschedule a booked session.

Where adequate notice is provided, we will arrange another available session time.

A missed session or cancellation with less than the required notice may be treated as delivered and may not be eligible for rescheduling or refund, except where otherwise required by applicable law or agreed in exceptional circumstances.

If I need to reschedule a session, you will be offered another available time.

Any offer-specific cancellation or rescheduling conditions shown at the time of purchase will form part of your coaching agreement.

9. Fees and payment

The investment and payment arrangements for each coaching service will be clearly displayed before purchase.

Unless otherwise stated, payment is required before coaching begins.

Purchasing a coaching service does not guarantee a particular personal, professional, financial or other outcome.

Any offer-specific payment, cancellation or refund conditions displayed at checkout form part of the agreement for that engagement.

Nothing in this agreement excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right or remedy you may have under the Australian Consumer Law or any other applicable law that cannot legally be excluded, restricted or modified.

10. Outcomes and personal responsibility

Coaching can support awareness, exploration, decision-making and action, but no particular result can be guaranteed.

Your circumstances, choices, participation and actions are your own.

I cannot make decisions for you, guarantee that a particular course of action will produce a particular result, or assume responsibility for decisions you make as a result of our coaching conversations.

The intention is not for coaching to create dependence upon your coach. It is to strengthen your capacity to think, choose and act for yourself.

11. Boundaries and changes in scope

Either of us may raise a concern about the coaching relationship or discuss whether its scope needs to change.

There may be circumstances where I determine that:

  • An issue is outside my coaching scope or competence
  • Another professional may be better placed to support you
  • A conflict of interest has arisen
  • The coaching relationship is no longer serving its intended purpose
  • Continuing the engagement would not be appropriate

Where appropriate, we can discuss possible next steps or alternative sources of support.

Either the client or coach may end the coaching relationship subject to any applicable service, payment and cancellation terms.

12. Professional and ethical standards

My coaching practice is informed by the professional and ethical standards of the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

These standards include professional integrity, clear agreements, confidentiality, appropriate boundaries, accurate representation of qualifications and a commitment to keeping the client's autonomy and interests central to the coaching relationship.

You can review the current International Coaching Federation Code of Ethics.

13. Concerns about our coaching relationship

If you have a concern about our coaching relationship, I encourage you to raise it with me so that we can discuss it openly where appropriate.

Questions about your coaching service, bookings or this agreement can be submitted through the Next Era Life Design contact page.

14. Your specific coaching engagement

This is the overarching Coaching Agreement & Professional Standards for coaching services provided by Faizah Baldonado, Life Coach & Life Design Strategist, through Next Era Life Design.

The relevant offer and checkout page will identify the specific terms of the coaching service you are purchasing, which may include:

  • The name and nature of the service
  • Session duration and number of sessions
  • Delivery format
  • Investment and payment arrangements
  • Inclusions
  • Booking arrangements
  • Cancellation or rescheduling conditions
  • Any additional terms specific to that engagement

Those details are incorporated into this agreement when you purchase that coaching service.

If an offer-specific term expressly differs from this general agreement, the offer-specific term will apply to that particular engagement, subject to applicable law.

15. Related terms and policies

This Coaching Agreement should be read together with the Next Era Life Design Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, as well as any specific terms presented for the coaching service you purchase.

If there is an inconsistency between this Coaching Agreement and the general Terms of Use in relation to a coaching service, this Coaching Agreement and any applicable offer-specific terms will apply to that coaching engagement, subject to applicable law.

16. Agreement

Before purchasing a coaching service, you may be asked to confirm that you have read and agree to this Coaching Agreement & Professional Standards.

By providing that confirmation and purchasing the coaching service, you acknowledge that:

  • You have had the opportunity to read this agreement before purchasing
  • You understand the nature and scope of coaching
  • You understand the respective responsibilities of coach and client
  • You understand the confidentiality arrangements and their limits
  • You understand the relevant payment, booking, cancellation and rescheduling arrangements
  • You understand that coaching does not guarantee a particular outcome
  • You voluntarily agree to enter the coaching relationship on these terms

If anything in this agreement is unclear, please contact Next Era Life Design before purchasing your coaching service.

Before we work together

Questions about this agreement?

If there is anything you would like clarified before purchasing or beginning a coaching service, you are welcome to get in touch.

It is important that you understand the nature of the coaching relationship and feel comfortable with the terms before we begin.

Start a conversation