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Social Media Policy

Purpose

This policy is intended to provide Golf Society of Australia Inc’s (GSA) staff, officers, members and volunteers (GSA personnel) with a framework to guide their use of social media in a manner that is consistent with GSA’s mission and values.

This policy applies to all GSA personnel.  GSA expects GSA personnel to use social media in accordance with this policy.

Definitions

Social media is the collective of online communications channels which may be structured around or in conjunction with community-based input. These channels will generally allow users to participate in an online community which may or may not reflect an offline community through online collaboration, content sharing/viewing, and chat functions.
Social media channels can include but are not limited to:

  • Social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+;
  • Video and photo sharing sites such as YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, and Vimeo;
  • Blogs, including personal and corporate blogs such as WordPress accounts;
  • Comments left on blogs hosted by media outlets e.g. smh.com.au;
  • Micro-blogging sites such as Twitter;
  • Wikis and online collaborations;
  • Forums, discussion boards and groups such as Whirlpool;
  • Online multiplayer gaming platforms such as Fortnite;
  • Instant messaging including SMS, WhatsApp, WeChat and iMessage;
  • Online dating sites such as Tinder, Bumble and RSVP;
  • Podcast and vodcast sites;
  • Geo-spacial tagging such as Foursquare; and
  • Livestreaming sites and apps such as Twitch and Periscope.

Scope

This Policy applies to GSA personnel. This includes, as far as practicable, suppliers, partners and contractors (in this Policy Social Media Users).

The boundaries between a person’s profession, volunteer time and social life can often be blurred.  It is therefore essential that GSA personnel make a clear distinction between what they do in a professional capacity and what they do, think or say in their capacity as GSA personnel.

This Policy should be read in conjunction with GSA’s code of conduct and Statement of Rules.

Guiding principles for social media use

For official and personal users of social media 

Whenever Social Media Users are interacting on social media, in a professional or personal context, the following guiding principles should be considered and applied at all times.

A Social Media User must:

  • Not post content that might otherwise cause damage to the reputation of GSA or bring it into disrepute;
  • Not harass, bully, abuse or intimidate or display any other form of inappropriate behaviour;
  • Not post content that is obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, bullying, discriminatory, offensive, aggressive, abusive, profane, hateful, racist, pornographic, sexist, sexually explicit, that infringes on copyright, constitutes a contempt of court, breaches a Court suppression order, or is otherwise unlawful;
  • Not exploit platforms to seduce, groom or inappropriately engage with Children;
  • Not defame any other person or entity;
  • Not do anything that breaches their terms of employment or membership;
  • Respond to others’ opinions respectfully;
  • Subject to GSA policies and otherwise the consent of GSA, not use any GSA intellectual property or imagery;
  • Respond to others’ opinions respectfully and acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly;
  • Ensure that all information is accurate, not misleading and complies with all relevant laws, policies and terms of use;
  • Only disclose and discuss approved and publicly available information and content (including videos, audio and images);
  • Adhere to terms and use of the relevant social media platform/website, as well as GSA policies;
  • Disclose conflicts of interest to appropriate persons in relevant circumstances where able;
  • Not directly express a political affiliation on an official account or a personal account clearly associated with GSA activities;
  • Not upload information of a confidential nature, especially regarding GSA’s services or GSA personnel;
  • Comply with all relevant laws including but not only privacy and defamation laws and laws relating to use and publication of intellectual property; and
  • Not use GSA IP in relation to any paid or unpaid promotion or endorsement of products or commercial entities including in kind services or gifts; unless in agreement with GSA.

In addition, GSA personnel must:

  • Ensure that comments, posts, and responses from official GSA accounts are true and accurate;
  • Not conduct a private business through GSA’s social media presence;
  • Ensure that comments, posts, and responses from official GSA accounts are true and accurate and link to online references and original source materials directly.

Use of GSA IP on Social Media

When using social media for professional or personal pursuits, all GSA personnel must respect the GSA brand and follow any guidelines in place to ensure GSA’s Intellectual Property and its relationships with sponsor and stakeholders are not compromised and that the organisation is not brought into disrepute.

In specific reference to social media generalised products or services, social media accounts/domain names associated with GSA are to be used to represent these services/products/brands on the relevant sponsorship scale only and the relevant registrations of these accounts.

Use of Photography on Social Media

Photos or video posted by Social Media users must not be offensive, defamatory, discriminatory, threatening, harassing, bullying or otherwise inappropriate. GSA may remove inappropriate content from official GSA channels or request its removal where appropriate.

Social Media Users must comply with copyright laws. Photos and video should only be posted if the user owns the content, has permission to use it, or is otherwise reasonably entitled to share it, with credit given where appropriate.

Photos and video may be taken at GSA events and used for GSA purposes, including records, member communications, the GSA website and social media. GSA should give practical notice of this through event or membership communications where practical. Anyone who does not want their image used, or who later has a concern, should contact the event organiser, Secretary or President and GSA will deal with the request reasonably. Images that prominently feature minors should not be published without parent or guardian consent.

Members may share GSA event photos or videos in a respectful way, provided they do not imply they are speaking for GSA, misuse GSA material, or ignore a reasonable objection from someone shown.

Permissions

GSA may create social media accounts to engage with its members, supporters and general public. Any account which represents GSA must be authorised and approved by GSA.  The account should identify itself as an official account representing GSA.

Personal use of social media when you can be identified as GSA personnel

Personal use can be defined as the use of non-official GSA social media accounts where the person can be identified as GSA personnel.

Personal use is a matter for an individual user, however, individuals will be accountable for the consequences of their actions on social media if such actions contravene this policy and will be disciplined according to the policies and codes of conduct of GSA and their individual employment or volunteer agreements.

Named Affiliations

Accounts (be it a blog, webpage, twitter account, Facebook page etc) that are not official, but are set up by GSA personnel for personal reasons can have an affiliation to the organisation, so long as the following is undertaken:

  • It should not have the affiliation with GSA as the primary identifier; and
  • It should include a prominent disclaimer that the opinions of the user are their own and do not represent those of GSA.

For example, GSA personnel might include a bio similar to this:

“Likes apples and fishing, interested in politics and the news, works for GSA, opinions expressed are my own and not to be taken as an endorsement or representing the views of GSA”. 

Policy Breach

Misuse of social media can have serious consequences for GSA, and consequently that misuse can have serious consequences in terms of disciplinary action for Social Media Users under this policy.

In the event of breach of this policy and/or serious misconduct, disciplinary action may be commenced under GSA’s Statement of Rules (Constitution) and/or other contract(s).

GSA encourages all GSA personnel to report any use of Social Media which is perceived to have breached this policy. If you believe there has been a breach of this policy, please report and submit details of the alleged breach to GSA.

If a person becomes aware of inappropriate or unlawful content, or content that is in breach of this Policy, they should report the circumstances via email to the GSA President or Secretary as listed in the Handbook.

Code of Conduct

The Golf Society of Australia is committed to providing a friendly and safe environment for members, guests and others which is free from harassment, bullying and discrimination.

It is expected that Members show considerate behaviour toward one another, guests and event staff, both in person and via all other forms of communication including email and social media.

Social or competition golf and participation in events should be conducted:

  1. a) In a friendly spirit with respect and consideration shown to players of all standards.
  2. b) In accordance with the etiquette of the game (refer Rules of Golf) and in the spirit of good sportsmanship.

Members should appreciate that any poor behaviour, inappropriate language and adverse comments reflect badly not only on themselves, but also on our Golf Society.

Updated July 2026