The SANE community guidelines are here to keep people safe on the Forums. It’s a good idea to read them, just so you know what’s okay here and what isn’t.
SANE Forums: an online community
Anyone living in Australia and 18 years or over is welcome to join and contribute to these Forums. This is your space, a place for all of us to give and receive support, share experiences and information, and help each other.
As a community, we highly value everyone’s contributions. Freedom of speech is encouraged, but there are some essential guidelines we set to keep the service safe, respectful and welcoming.
Forum principles
We aim to ensure that the SANE Forums are always:
- safe
- respectful
- anonymous
Safety
In order to ensure the Forums are safe for you and other members, please:
- share helpful content, focussed on wellbeing, recovery and help seeking behaviours
- avoid remarks that could be considered defamatory or that might break the law in any way
- do not publish content that contains graphic or specific details, or any descriptive account, of:
- your or anyone else’s medication or dosages
- eating disorder behaviours
- self-harm methods
- suicide methods
- sexual or physical abuse
- or any other content that others may find distressing or be harmful in any way.
- post information that is true and correct to your best knowledge
- report posts you think are inappropriate or breach these guidelines
- report posts if you’re worried about the immediate safety of the poster.
Respect
We want to ensure everyone who comes to the SANE Forums feels welcome and respected. So please do not publish any content that:
- is obscene or offensive
- is malicious, personally attacking or hostile
- may incite hatred or be seen as discriminatory
- could be seen to be serving yours or somebody else’s commercial interests
- could be interpreted as professional advice such as legal, medical, or financial advice.
All statements outside your personal experience — for example, about statistics, data, studies or medicine — should have trustworthy sources. Please include a link or reference to the source of the data within your post.
Our moderators may remove any content that is unsourced or could be considered harmful or triggering. If this happens to you, a moderator will be in touch to help work things out.
Anonymity
The SANE Forums are anonymous to help members feel they can share personal experiences without worrying about being identified. You should choose a SANE Forums username that is different to usernames you have on other social media services, and can’t identify you. Please do not publish:
- your full name
- your addresses — postal or email
- your usernames on other social media services
- the name of your workplace, uni or school
- any other information by which you could be identified in real life.
What if I meet a moderator or member in real life?
It’s a small world, so it’s possible you could meet someone who tells you they are a member or moderator on the SANE Forums.
It’s worth thinking ahead about what you’ll say if that happens. Here are three options to consider:
Don’t say you’re a SANE Forums member
Even if someone is sharing with you, it’s okay not to share in the same way if you want to keep your membership private.
Say you’re a SANE Forums member, but don’t share your username
You can say you’re a member without revealing your username. This is okay, even if the other member tells you theirs. Saying you’d prefer to keep that private is fine. You may wish to reassure your fellow member that you won’t share their details with anyone. They might assume or try to guess which member you are — again, you don’t have to reveal anything.
Share your username
Before telling anyone your username, think: how comfortable do you feel with that person being able to connect your real-life identity to all your posts, past and present? Would telling them make you feel less safe to share openly on the Forums in future? Share your username only if you’re sure you’ll always feel safe with them knowing.
Privacy
SANE treats your privacy very seriously. For more on what information we collect and what we do and don’t do with it, read our Privacy policy.
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Whatever you choose, don’t publish to the Forums information about meeting other members in real life. There is a risk of identifiable information being shared, so moderators will remove those posts. The only exception to this is if two members knew each other before joining SANE Forums, but even then, keep it general and non-identifying.
What if I breach the guidelines?
It happens! We know it’s almost always unintentional. One of our moderators will contact you via email to let you know which guideline your post doesn’t meet, and explain why that particular guideline exists.
Your post will be taken off the Forums and you’ll be asked to edit it so it meets the guidelines. When you’ve done that, your post can be published again.
We strongly encourage you to edit your post and continue to be part of the conversation.
Banning members is a last resort, reserved for users who repeatedly and intentionally breach these Community Guidelines. In particular, name calling and trolling will not be tolerated.
If you're at risk of being banned, a moderator will tell you. Before making a decision to ban, the moderator will work with you via email to get you back on track. If you choose to ignore the moderators and continue to breach Community Guidelines, you will be notified of being banned via email and your account will be closed.
If you ever have any technical problems editing your post, please email team@saneforums.org
For researchers
If you are an individual or organisation conducting research, please contact team@saneforums.org with an overview of your research project. Please do not post advertisements or requests for participants without the approval of SANE Australia.
Your Feedback
These guidelines are the principles that keep everyone safe and help us all feel supported. They evolve over time, with your input.
Your feedback about the guidelines is encouraged and appreciated. There are two ways to contact us with suggestions:
- email team@saneforums.org
- click the ‘Your feedback’ link at the bottom of all Forum pages.
For more Forums Guides, see:
Please note: SANE Forums are peer-to-peer support services. The information provided is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between a patient and their health care professionals.
They do not provide crisis support or counselling. If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs urgent help call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or in an emergency call 000.
