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AAT Social Media User Policy

1. Scope

  1. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) uses social media to communicate with our stakeholders and the public about our services and activities. 
  2. This policy applies to anyone who uses official AAT social media accounts. Other policies, legislation and guidance may also apply. 
  3. The Australian Public Service Commission has published separate guidance for Australian Public Service employees and agencies using other social media platforms and online forums. 

2. How we use social media

  1. The information provided on social media is general in nature and can change over time. While the information published on our social media accounts is accurate at the time of publication, we suggest you check how current and relevant the information is for your purposes. 

  2. We cannot provide legal advice or answer questions relating to individual situations or applications using our social media accounts. If you need to contact us about your specific circumstances, please do so via the contact us page. 

  3. By linking to content, reposting or acknowledging the source of a social media post, we are not endorsing that content or source. We are simply sharing information we believe may be relevant to people interested in the AAT. 

  4. We do not automatically follow any account that follows our accounts. Following an account does not imply the AAT endorses the agency/individual or their social media posts. 

  5. Comments and content posted by users of our social media pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policy of the AAT. 

  6. We monitor our social media accounts from 8.30 am to 5.00 pm AEST, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays in NSW. 

3. Our expectations of those who engage with us on social media

  1. We expect you to post comments that are both relevant to the AAT’s operations and respectful to the community as a whole. 
  2. We reserve the right to remove any comments that do not comply with this user policy and to block anyone who is breaching it repeatedly. 
  3. We will not tolerate and will immediately seek to hide and/or remove comments or images posted by others that: 
    • reveal personal information that relates to a matter before the AAT or unreasonably intrudes on the privacy of others 

    • can potentially affect national security or damage the reputation of the AAT or the Australian Government 

    • do not relate to our operations 

    • are abusive, harassing, stalking, threatening or attacking others 

    • are defamatory, offensive, obscene, vulgar or depict violence 

    • use language that is hateful, targets race or ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, nationality or political beliefs 

    • are fraudulent, deceptive, misleading or unlawful 

    • are trolling or deliberately disrupting discussion 

    • are a violation of any intellectual property rights 

    • are spam 

    • are commercial solicitation or solicitation of donations, or 

    • include link-baiting (i.e. embedding a link in your post to draw traffic to your own page or website). 

  4. By accessing our social media pages, you agree to comply with the terms and conditions of that social media platform and our individual page. By participating on our social media pages, you are taken to have agreed to this policy. 

  5. You participate at your own risk, taking personal responsibility for your comments. What you post can be viewed by the public, can remain online indefinitely and can be found through search engines and online archives. 

  6. We will report any users who significantly or repeatedly breach the user policy of the relevant social media platform to that platform. 

  7. Social media posts, images, videos, comments and instant/direct messages that are created or received as part of Australian Government business are Commonwealth records. Any communication from you on our social media pages will generate a Commonwealth record.  

4. Feedback

  1. If you have any feedback about the AAT’s social media accounts, please send us a direct message or an email to [email protected]. 
  2. If you have feedback for other government agencies, including those who we follow or share on social media, you should send your feedback to them directly. We will not routinely contact other agencies to share your comments about them.