How we rank, verify, and disclose.
We publish how we rank, who pays us, and when each listing was last checked. We rank by suitability. Sponsorship can boost a fit, never invent one. This page is the contract.
Four principles
1. Suitability decides the order. Payment never does.
Listings rank by how well they match what you searched for and where you are looking. Sponsorship can boost a real fit. It cannot fabricate one. Featured-tier listings get a visible badge and a richer photo gallery, not a higher slot.
2. Every listing is cross-checked against an official register.
My Aged Care for aged-care services. NDIS Commission for NDIS providers. ASIC for the legal entity. State retirement-village registers where applicable. We show you the date of the last check and a link to the source record. If we cannot verify a listing, we say so.
3. Editorial and listings never cross the line.
Editorial articles are visually distinct from listings, never in the ranked results, and any commercial relationship is disclosed clearly at the top of the piece in line with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's guidance.
4. We earn from owners, never from outcomes.
We charge owners a flat monthly fee to upgrade the presentation of their listing. We do not take per-enquiry fees, per-call fees, or commission on placements. There is no incentive for us to nudge you towards a particular provider.
How ranking actually works
What changes order
- Text relevance to the search query, scored across the listing's name, alternate names, suburb, and category.
- Distance from the place you are looking at, or the centre of a category page (suburb, council area, state).
- Whether the listing is in the category you asked for, or a sub-category beneath it.
What does NOT change order
- Whether the listing is on a paid tier. Featured listings get presentation upgrades (badge, more photos) but sit in their natural ranked position.
- Whether an ad has been bought for that category or area. Ads are separate, labelled, and never inside the ranked list.
- Whether the listing has paid an enquiry fee. We do not take enquiry fees, so this never enters the model.
How verification works
Every listing carries a verification record showing the register it was checked against and the date of that check. Honest current state at launch:
My Aged Care register
Aged-care listings were checked against the My Aged Care register at launch. Each listing shows the date of its last check on the public page. Automated re-sync is on our build roadmap; until it ships, re-verification is manual and scheduled quarterly.
NDIS Commission register
NDIS provider listings cross-checked against the NDIS Commission register at launch. Same posture as above: manual re-check on a quarterly schedule until automated sync ships.
Australian Business Register (ABR)
ABN status is verified for any listing claimed by an owner during the claim flow. Quarterly re-check thereafter for entity status (active, deregistered).
Community organisation registers
Australian Men’s Sheds Association federation list and state U3A networks were imported at launch. Refresh cadence is currently quarterly, on the same manual cycle.
Where a register lapses or stops publishing data, we mark affected listings as “verification pending” rather than silently presenting stale data as current. When automated re-sync ships, we will update this page with the new cadence and the corresponding maximum staleness window.
How we make money (and what it does not buy)
We have three revenue lines. All three are visible to you on the page where they appear.
Tiered owner subscriptions
Owners can claim their listing for free and upgrade to a paid tier (see pricing) for additional presentation features. Tier upgrades change what the listing shows. They do not change where it sits in the ranked list.
Clearly-labelled advertising
Some pages carry advertising. Every ad is labelled "Sponsored" and visually demarcated from listings, articles, and navigation. Ads are never injected into the ranked list of suitable providers.
Sponsored editorial
A small number of editorial articles are produced in partnership with a sponsor. These articles carry a prominent disclosure banner at the top, naming the sponsor and the commercial relationship. They sit in editorial sections only, never inside verified listings.
What we do not do
- We do not independently audit clinical quality, financial health, or care outcomes at the provider level. The official regulators do that work; we surface their findings where they are public (for example, ACQSC Star Ratings).
- We do not host user reviews on listings at this stage. The fake-review economy is not solved and we will not pretend it is. If and when we add reviews, the methodology will update first.
- We do not accept payment to remove or hide a verified register finding. If a provider is suspended by a regulator, that status shows on the listing regardless of subscription tier.
Who signs off
The editorial team is responsible for this methodology, the verification cadence, and any change to ranking signals. Material changes are published with a date and a changelog entry. We make our work auditable.
Questions, corrections, or a register lookup you think we got wrong: editorial@ourmate.com.au
Changelog
- May 2026. Methodology page first published. Ranking, verification cadence, revenue lines, and limits documented.