Hi everyone,

Late last year, SANE invited forums members to participate in a co-design activity where we asked for feedback on all aspects of the forums.  

One of the key pieces of feedback was that our community guidelines are too complicated, with a perception that these are sometimes inconsistently applied to members' posts by our staff.

Below is a new, simplified version of the guidelines that we are seeking your feedback on here in this thread.  Please feel free to ask any questions you have also about why we have certain guidelines, point out anything that is unclear, or anything you think we have left out that is important.

This thread will be open for feedback for the next two weeks, and will close at the end of the day on Sunday May 5. 

We will look to upload the revised guidelines, incorporating your feedback, in early June.

Thanks for your time.

UPDATE: Revised version will be posted later today (May 6), and we will leave the thread open for further feedback until Sunday May 19.

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SANE Forums Community Guidelines

1. Who Can Join

If you are aged over 18 and currently living in Australia, then you are welcome to join. We welcome people looking for peer support, connection or belonging, whether you have lived experience of a mental health condition, or care for someone who does.

2. Keeping It Safe

Emergency Help For Suicide, Self-Harm, Family Violence: The forums do not provide crisis or emergency support. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, please contact emergency services and do not post to the forum. If we see such posts appear, we will have to remove them and possibly contact emergency services on your behalf.

No Detailed Descriptions: Please don’t share very detailed posts where you name medications, eating disorder behaviours, self-harm, suicide methods, sexual behaviour, trauma or abuse. Please see our more detailed guide for posting safely about suicide and self-harm and eating disorders.

Supportive Discussion: Do not discourage other members from seeking help, or encourage harmful behaviour.

Avoid Rumination: The forums are a recovery-oriented space. We encourage the sharing of helpful content focused on well-being, recovery, and help seeking behaviours.

Report Posts Of Concern: Please report any posts you see that break these guidelines; our team may not have seen them.

3. Being Respectful

Stay Friendly: Avoid posts that are disrespectful, rude, hurtful or could make someone feel unwelcome.

Fair Discussion: Avoid saying things that name or identify other people, practitioners, services, or refer to breaking the law.

No Pressure: While sharing and supporting are encouraged, do not place pressure on other members to respond to your posts. Everyone participates at their own pace and comfort level.

No Self-Promotion: Please don’t try to sell anything, give professional advice, look for clients or ask people to join in on research.

Fact-Check: If you’re sharing something factual, please let us know in your post where you found the information.

Avoid Repetition: Please don’t repeat the same or similar message across the forums or within threads.

Responding To Emails: We may contact you by email to check in on your safety, explain a decision to edit or remove a post, or discuss your forums activity. Your response to these emails is expected and appreciated.

4. Staying Anonymous

Stay Anonymous: Use a forum name that doesn’t give away who you are offline or on other social media sites. Please stick to using only one forums account.

No Personal Information: Do not share any personal, identifying details such as names, addresses, or places of work or study. Please remember your forum member name and posts may appear in search engine results.

5. Breaking The Guidelines

We will edit or remove posts that break these guidelines, and we will email you to let you know this has happened. We will also explain our decision and, if appropriate, provide advice on how you can re-post safely within the guidelines.

For members who repeatedly break guidelines, then we may take any of the following actions:
• Place limits on the number of posts you can make
• Place limits on when you can use the forums
• Remove your forums access for a period of time
• Remove your forums access permanently