Social media

We use social media to share information, engage with the community, and promote our policies, programs, and services.

Social media accounts 

Our social media accounts include: 

Acceptable Use Policy

We want to help to keep our social media accounts a safe and welcoming space for everyone.
By interacting with our social media accounts, you agree with these terms of use. 

This policy is in addition to any user policy or terms and conditions imposed by the relevant social media host.

Managing inappropriate behaviour

We reserve the right to remove inappropriate material and comments that don't comply with our policy. This includes comments that: 

  • abuse, harass or threaten others
  • use insulting, provocative or hateful language or images
  • impersonate or falsely represent any other person or organisation
  • incite hatred or discrimination based on any personal characteristic, including race, gender, marital or domestic status, disability, sexuality or age
  • make defamatory or libellous comments
  • discuss topics irrelevant to the post 
  • make unsubstantiated claims against individuals or organisations
  • use material that infringes the intellectual property rights of others
  • make excessive comments on a particular issue
  • make overtly party-political commentary (for example, reference to candidates, fundraisers, support for political parties)
  • promote commercial interests, petitions, or make other unsolicited requests
  • encourage conduct that may constitute a criminal or civil offence or otherwise violate Australian law.
  • identify matters currently the subject of legal proceedings or that would break a court’s non-publication order.

We reserve the right to hide or remove any content that we consider is in breach of our policy and may also block or delete users.

We will report any comments which threatens or discloses the safety or wellbeing of an individual to emergency services as soon as possible. 

Privacy

Google, Meta, X, YouTube and LinkedIn may collect and use any personal information you share on our pages. These social media platforms collect handle personal information in accordance with their own Privacy Policies. 

We encourage you to protect your personal information by not sharing inappropriate personal information such as your:

  • name
  • phone number
  • email
  • residential address
  • images or details of other people without their permission. 

We may collect and handle any personal or sensitive information shared with us on our social media accounts in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Moderation

We monitor our social media accounts during business hours (Monday-Friday 9 am to 5 pm AEST). 

We try to:

  • answer questions or refer to relevant information
  • identify and moderate inappropriate material or comments that breach this policy.

Comments in response to content posted on our social media accounts are the responsibility of the individual who created them. We do not endorse, support or guarantee the truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of content or comments made by members of the public.

We recommend that you:

  • use your own judgement and care to evaluate the accuracy, reliability, completeness and relevance of the content and comments on our social media accounts
  • report any inappropriate content or comment by using the reporting tool on the social media platform.

We do not accept any legal liability whatsoever arising from, or connected to, the failure to moderate content and the use or reliance of information contained in content or comments.

Third party information

Third parties may share information on our social media accounts.

We may also sometimes choose to repost, share or follow social media content or information from third parties such as other departments or organisations. 

Content or comments posted by third parties on our social media accounts does not imply any endorsement, agreement or acceptance by us of the views expressed in that content. 

To the extent permitted by law, we are not responsible or liable for the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of third-party information included or linked to from our social media accounts. 

Intellectual property

You must not use material that infringes the intellectual property rights of others on our social media accounts.

In sharing your own materials, you must:

  • accept full responsibility for intellectual property of your own material, including granting us a royalty-free and irrevocable licence to do any act with your material shared to our social media accounts
  • obtain any necessary permission, authorisation, licence, and consent, or payment of any royalties or other fees for the use of materials owned by others 
  • understand that any materials shared on our social media accounts will not protect you against loss, misuse or alteration by third parties.

Accessibility

We aim to share content on our social media accounts that is accessible and inclusive for all users. 

This includes writing in plain English and providing alt text, captions, and links to alternative formats where available. Learn more about accessibility.

Contact

We welcome constructive comments and discussion on our social media channels. 

If you have an enquiry, question, complaints, feedback or suggestion about our social media account, you can:

  • Print
  • Email

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DSS2728 | Permalink: www.dss.gov.au/node/2728