Our Commitment

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Electronic communication is essential for sharing club news and information with our members. Our communication will be timely, appropriate and related to club business.

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What We Will Do

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We use a range of electronic tools to communicate with our members.

Ripples Swim club also work in collaboration with Ripples Aquatic Centre squad coaches to communicate to members on their behalf. This policy also covers communication completed on behalf of the coaches and management of Ripples Aquatic Centre.

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Our communication will protect members’ privacy, maintain clear boundaries and ensure that bullying and harassment does not occur.

We have also developed a Social Media Policy to address the particular issues arising from the use of social media.

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We will use our Communication Policy and Social Media Policy in conjunction with the Safe Sport Framework supported by NSW Swimming and Swimming Australia to guide our interactions and address any interaction between members.

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The Safe Sport Framework can be found here: https://www.swimming.org.au/integrity-policies-rules/safe-sport-framework

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Our appointed Webmaster and communications officer is able to provide accountability and control over material published on our club’s website and to provide the same over any related discussion groups or social media websites, such as Facebook, Messenger, Email, Team App, SMS, YouTube or Twitter respectively.

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All communications tools promoted under the Ripples Swim Club Banner to be inclusive of all club members. All tools / sites/ groups to be policed by the Ripples Swim Club committee for appropriate behavior and any behavior outside of inclusive and positive shall be reported to the MPO

(member protection officer) for review.

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Our primary communication tool to our member base will be Team App. All communication relating to Ripples Swim club will be posted on Team App as a primary source of truth. Following this, other forms of communication might follow.

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Website

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• Our website will include current information on competitions, social events, committees, policies, constitution, rules and by-laws.

• No offensive content or photos will be published.

• We will only publish photos and information if consent to do so has been granted.

• We will seek feedback from members to improve the information available on the site.

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SMS & Email

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Committee members, coaches and team managers may choose to use SMS and email to provide information about competition, training, club-sanctioned social events and other club business, however:

• SMS messages should be short and about club/team matters.

• Email communication will be used when more information is required.

• Communication involving children will be directed through their parents.

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Social Media Websites & Chat Groups

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• We treat all social media postings, blogs, status updates and tweets as public ‘comment’.

• Postings (written, photos or videos) will be family-friendly and feature positive club news and events.

• No photos or personal information about our members will be disclosed without consent.

• No statements will be made that are misleading, false or likely to injure a person’s reputation.

• No statements will be made that might bring our club into disrepute.

• Abusive, discriminatory, intimidating or offensive statements will not be tolerated. Offending posts will be removed and those responsible will be blocked from the site.

What We Ask You To Do

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We expect our members to conduct themselves appropriately when using electronic communication to share information with other members or posting material on public websites connected to the club.

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Electronic Communication

• should be restricted to club matters.

• must not offend, intimidate, humiliate or bully another person.

• must not be misleading, false or injure the reputation of another person.

• should respect and maintain the privacy of members.

• must not bring the club into disrepute.

 

 

Coaches and others who work with children and young people must direct electronic communication through the child’s parents.