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Our Commitment

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Electronic communication such as social media is an essential marketing and communication tool for Ripples Swim Club. Our Club members and committee members are expected to maintain a high standard of behavior whilst communicating with each other, Ripples Aquatic Centre and the General Public

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What We Will Do

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We use a range of social media tools to communicate. Nominated Publicity officers have the delegated authority to initiate and manage any new and existing social media platforms in conjunction with the club president and committee.

Ripples Swim Club also work in collaboration with Ripples Aquatic Centre squad coaches to communicate to members on their behalf. This policy also covers social media posts completed on behalf of the coaches and management of Ripples Aquatic Centre. This policy also covers Social media posts and chats completed by and on behalf of swimmers within the squad teams.

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

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.

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

A publicity officer will be appointed to provide accountability and control over material published on our social media interactions including any related discussion groups or social media websites, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snap Chat, Messenger, Email, Team App, SMS, YouTube or Twitter.

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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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 personal information about our members will be disclosed.

• 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.

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.

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Non-Compliance

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Members may face disciplinary action for sending inappropriate electronic communication or posting online content or comments that harass, offend, intimidate or humiliate another member, as outlined in our member protection policy or code of conduct.

Under certain circumstances, cyber bullying (e.g. bullying that is carried out through an internet service such as email, a chat room, discussion group, instant messaging or website) is a criminal offence that can be reported to the police.

In addition, members who publish false or misleading comments about another person in the public domain (e.g., Facebook) may be liable for defamation.