Terms and Conditions

Code of Conduct - The Member Hub

Guidelines for engagement, etiquette and privacy

Purpose:
The Member Hub has been designed as a place where members can connect with the wider speech pathology community. You can seek general support and information from your peers and Speech Pathology Australia staff and find links and information related to a range of professional issues and events.

Thank you for being part of our community. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, the Association has established a Code of Conduct for participation. By participating in this community, you agree to abide by the Code of Conduct as stated in this document. You acknowledge that posts, questions and comments may be moderated by Speech Pathology Australia (SPA) staff. Moderators and/or other SPA National Office staff may also contact you directly to provide additional support and guidance about your post/s.

In order to preserve an environment that encourages professional and fruitful dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in the Member Hub for anyone who violates this Code. Questions about this Code should be directed to our Community Manager via the Contact Us link on this site.

Protocols for posting

· Respect others. Focus on the content of posts and not on the people making them. Please extend the benefit of the doubt when someone's intent is unclear, when a topic is uncomfortable, or if information has been discussed before.

· Use respectful and professional language. All defamatory, abusive, vilifying, profane, threatening, offensive, discriminatory, false or misleading or illegal posts or comments, or comments or posts which might harm the reputation of the Association or the speech pathology profession, are strictly prohibited, and any posts or comments considered by SPA to be so will be removed.

· Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.

· Respect intellectual property and comply with intellectual property laws; post content that you have personally created or have permission to use and have properly attributed to the content creator, or which is otherwise lawful to post.

· When posting items in The Member Hub, indicate if the item is not available for reuse. It is your responsibility to obtain the permission of the owner of any material if you would like to publish, use, reuse or repurpose it.

· A reminder SPA’s Code of Ethics binds each member of Speech Pathology Australia - you  will need to comply with SPA’s  Code of Ethics and the Code of Ethics (advertising) when posting on the Member Hub.

Actions from Speech Pathology Australia

· Speech Pathology Australia reserves the right to edit, modify or delete any post which contravenes this Code or which Speech Pathology Australia otherwise deems (in its absolute discretion) is an inappropriate post. Speech Pathology Australia has the right to immediately suspend or terminate access to any user who does not abide by the Code or in any other

circumstances it deems appropriate, without the requirement to give any reasons. In some cases, Speech Pathology Australia may give a user an opportunity to correct their post or comment, but it is not obligated to do so. SPA staff may refer members to seek information or support in other contexts, including supervision, mentoring, communities of practice, or peer support.

· Members’ posts must comply with applicable laws. Information posted on the discussion groups and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to, amongst other things, copyright, privacy, defamation and competition and consumer laws.

Advertising and promotion

· Respect the purpose of the community and use the community to ask questions and provide constructive comments. The community is provided as a Speech Pathology Australia member benefit and therefore must not be used to promote or advertise external jobs, business opportunities, events, products or services except those that are hosted by Speech Pathology Australia. Any posts that are deemed by the Association to promote or advertise products, jobs, events, surveys or services (including free events) not hosted by the Association, will be removed by the moderators. If you wish to share a survey with Association members then please see SPA's Survey and Distribution form and use SPA’s Career Centre to post job ads.

Seeking support for professional practice

· Questions relating to practice should be of a general nature and not relate to a specific client. Discussion about specific cases carries risks to the client, the professional seeking advice, to those who respond, and to the Association.

· You have a responsibility to ensure the safety and privacy of your clients. It is not appropriate to post information relating to a client’s case, situation or presentation which could identify them on this member community even if you withhold their name, and/or gain consent from the client.

· This forum does not replace a member’s responsibility to exercise their independent professional judgement or to seek advice with the required detail, privacy, and accountability of information. Questions about specific clients, or that require a level of detail to be answered appropriately, should occur in a confidential manner within a professional relationship with a supervisor or colleague with relevant experience.

Group Etiquette

· State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.

· Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate community/ies. This helps ensure all messages receive the best response by eliminating "noise."

· Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals, not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link in every message.

· Do not send administrative messages, such as “remove me from the list,” to the group. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing email addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new email address. Simply change your settings. For more support about posting see The Member Hub Help/FAQs section

Professional and ethical responsibilities

In using The Member Hub and participating in a community, a member must comply with their ethical and professional obligations as a speech pathologist, including their duty to comply with the Association’s Code of Ethics. A member’s failure to comply with their professional and ethical obligations while engaging in The Member Hub could result in a complaint being made against them under the Association’s Ethics Board Procedures.

Legal responsibilities
This site is provided as a service for the members of Speech Pathology Australia. Speech Pathology Australia is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. You agree that your use of the community, whether as a person who posts content or who reads content, is at your own risk and you assume all responsibility and liability which may arise in relation to doing so. By using the community, you agree that you are solely responsible for any claims in respect of anything you post. Speech Pathology Australia disclaims all liability for any injury, claim or loss which may arise as a result of the use of this site, or any material posted on this site. Without limitation, we disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by Speech Pathology Australia or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall Speech Pathology Australia be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.

You acknowledge and agree that SPA may, in its sole discretion, update, vary, or change the terms and conditions of the Code of Conduct at any time and that your continued use of the Member Hub means that you accept the terms and conditions. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner.

By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants Speech Pathology Australia and users of this site the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, comment on and use such information or other material. Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade or to otherwise contravene any law. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers. Privacy Policy You should exercise caution in publishing any personal information on The Member Hub. Any personal information you provide to Speech Pathology Australia through this community/page will be managed by the Association in accordance with its privacy policy and the further details set out below.

Sharing the Personal Information We Collect Through This Site
Any personal information shared through this community, including and similar to your name, address, telephone number and email address will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of our organisation except as noted below.

Our Service Providers
We may share your personal information with companies (including our affiliates) that perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help manage our IT infrastructure. Government and Legal Disclosures We may disclose the personal information we collect through The Member Hub, when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce any rules or agreement that govern your use of The Member Hub or to protect the rights, property or safety of the Association, our users, or others. External Sites We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information. Cookies A "cookie" is a small data text file that is placed in your browser and allows us to recognise you each time you visit this site (personalisation, etc). Cookies themselves do not contain any personal information, and we do not use cookies to collect personal information. Cookies may also be used by 3rd party content providers such as newsfeeds. Remember the Risks Whenever You Use the Internet While we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords or other account information. In addition, other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through our site have separate data and privacy practices independent of us, and therefore we disclaim any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies. For any other information please contact us using the Contact Us page.