Our Community Guidelines

1. Our ‘house rules’

To keep things as safe, fun and supportive as possible for everyone, it’s important to follow our ‘house rules’.

As a peer support forum, our focus is on the mental wellbeing of young people. With this in mind, please avoid giving or seeking advice about:

• medication
• diagnostic labels (i.e. asking for, or suggesting that a community member may have, a specific psychological or medical diagnosis)
• names of specific health professionals
• physical health concerns
• legal situations
• specific financial concerns

Yeah

• be kind and have fun
• be respectful
• stay anonymous

Nah

• call people names
• attack others verbally
• behave abusively
• discriminate against anyone, online or offline
• spam, troll or post commercial or research material
• post illegal, sexual, graphic or violent content
• promote religious beliefs (but it’s okay to share your personal experiences with faith)
• include any identifying information about yourself or anyone else by:
• using real names
• sharing locations
• posting identifying photos (e.g. selfies)
• requesting contact details of another member, online or offline

If you see a post that worries you, please use the ‘report’ button or email us at forums@reachout.com.

2. How to post safely

Our Online Community is a safe space for members to share their experiences and to talk about tough times. So, it’s really important to be mindful of others, particularly if you’re discussing distressing topics such as self-harm, suicide, trauma, substance use and eating disorders.

Before posting, it can be helpful to take a moment to reflect on what you need from the community, how your post might impact others, and whether it’s the best place for the support you’re looking for

If we’re concerned about a post you’ve made, we may email you to make sure you’re safe. You’ll need to respond to these safety-check emails to keep using the community. If you’ve let us know you’ve taken steps to stay safe, but we’re still concerned, we may email you to check in again and/or remove your post.

How to post about distressing topics safely

Yeah

• add a ‘TW’ and post in the Heavy feels space
• think about how much you feel comfortable sharing
• let the community know what you’re doing to stay safe, including connecting with crisis supports
• use the spoiler feature to hide content that might be triggering (e.g. content about self-harm, suicidal thoughts, or sexual, physical, emotional or verbal abuse). Check out this post about how to use spoiler features

Nah

• post graphic details
• post when you know it might make you distressed
• post about specific means or intent to harm yourself
• tag others in any posts that might be distressing or triggering for them to see

Here are some examples of when it may NOT be appropriate to post in the community:

How to talk about self-harm or suicide

Yeah

• be sure to clearly tell the community what steps you’re taking to stay safe (including professional support)

Nah

• outline specific methods, intent, or details of suicide and self-harm

For more information, check out our detailed threads on how to talk safely about suicide and how to talk safely about self-harm.

How to talk about our bodies and eating disorders

Yeah

• focus on recovery and support. Check out this thread for tips on how to practise body acceptance, body positivity and body neutrality
• use non-specific language about your body image (e.g. ‘I feel …’ vs. ‘I am …’)
• talk about eating and exercise in a way that supports healthy living

Nah

• use degrading language to talk about bodies
• post specifics about your weight, height, calorie intake or clothing size
• encourage/promote unhealthy or dangerous eating or exercise habits

How to talk about substance use and addiction

We encourage a recovery-focused approach when talking about substance use and addiction.

Yeah

• use person-centred language (e.g. ‘they have an alcohol addiction’ or ‘a person who uses substances’)
• focus on being able to recover from harmful substance use
• ask about ways to manage addiction

Nah

• use derogatory terms (e.g. ‘alcoholic’/‘druggie’)
• promote the use of any substance
• reference specific drugs or alcohol brands

How to talk about unhelpful experiences with services safely

We want to make sure this is an inclusive, caring space for everyone. So, when sharing your experiences of accessing services, it’s important to maintain anonymity and not to discourage others from seeking help.

We understand that you might have negative or unhelpful experiences when accessing support from other services – and you should be able to share your experiences in the community. But to keep this a safe space for everyone, we ask that you not mention these services by name. It can also be a good idea to leave some time between the experience and posting, so that you have time to process what has happened.

Remember: our Online Community is moderated by staff who work to keep everyone safe and supported. So, you don’t have to feel any pressure to respond or to keep engaging with heavy posts from other members – our trained staff can step in and respond.

3. Mandatory reporting

ReachOut Australia is a mandatory reporter. This means that if we become aware that a young person is at risk of harm, we must make a report to Child Protection, emergency services and/or any other relevant authorities.

What do we mean by ‘harm’? ‘Harm’ can mean present danger to yourself and/or others, physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse or psychological abuse. Additionally, we must report if a person under 18 was harmed in the past.

We are legally obligated to report any illegal activity to the police. Young people under 16 aren’t legally able to consent to sexual activity, so we need to make reports about these incidents as well, if we become aware of them.

We want you to be all across this so that you can make informed choices about what you share online with ReachOut. If there is anything about these guidelines you don’t understand, please email us at forums@reachout.com.

4. Helping you to stick to our guidelines

To maintain a safe and supportive community, it’s important to stick to our guidelines. We’re here to help everyone do this. Sometimes, this might mean that ReachOut will:

• move, edit or remove posts (without notice) that don’t meet our guidelines or could be distressing to the community
• request that you choose a new username, or suspend your account, if we suspect your username includes any identifying information
• ask you to seek professional, medical or crisis support away from the Online Community
• put time restrictions, pauses or automatic bans on your account if you keep breaching the guidelines by:
  • spamming/trolling
  • inciting hatred or discrimination
  • bullying
  • posting with commercial interests
  • creating multiple accounts
  • threatening or inciting violence against any person or group

5. Email guidelines

We might email you if:

• we’re concerned about your or someone else’s safety
• your username reflects your real name
• you’ve breached our guidelines
• we think you might benefit from taking a break from the Online Community
• we want to discuss a ‘return to the community’ plan if you’ve taken a break
• you’re leaving the Online Community because:
  • you’re moving to other services due to your age (you’re older than 25)
  • you need to take a break
  • your account is banned

We may email you for other reasons, such as to:

• let you know about research or user testing opportunities
• ask your permission to use your posts as a quote
• provide updates on the ReachOut volunteer program

We can provide guidance if you email us to get help with:

• posting safely
• understanding the guidelines
• taking breaks from the Online Community when you need it

If you need to email us, just remember that the Online Community is a safe place for everyone, and that includes our staff. We have zero tolerance for any form of abusive or aggressive behaviour. Our inbox isn’t monitored 24/7, and we can’t provide individual support via email. We will generally respond to emails within 48 hours during business hours.