AAPi Community Forum Rules, Etiquette & Privacy Guidelines
Why We Gather Here
AAPi’s Community Forum is a shared professional space for connection, reflection, learning, and peer support. It helps psychologists navigate professional challenges together in a safe, respectful and constructive environment. By joining and participating in this community, you agree to follow these guidelines. These rules protect the integrity, confidentiality and cultural safety of our shared space. If you need assistance from AAPi directly, please contact our team directly rather than posting in the forum. AAPi reserves the right to moderate, suspend or remove access to preserve a safe and constructive environment for all members.
At a Glance — Quick Rules Summary
✔ You Can:
- Engage in reflective practice, professional discussion and peer support
- Ask questions, share insights, and discuss ethical dilemmas
- Contribute respectfully and with cultural safety
- Share experiences, successes and challenges
- Fully de-identify the client and workplace material before posting
- Post content in the one most relevant community or group
✖ You Cannot:
- Share any identifying client, colleague or workplace information
- Screenshot, copy, forward, or share forum content or digest emails
- Advertise, self-promote, recruit clients, or post job ads or research requests
- Provide or request clinical advice for specific clients
- Post copyrighted or proprietary test material
- Post abusive, offensive, defamatory or illegal content
1. Respect Others
Focus on ideas, not individuals. Engage with curiosity, generosity and professionalism. Assume good faith; there are no “stupid questions,” especially from early-career members. Maintain cultural safety and respect diverse perspectives and lived experiences.
2. Respect the Purpose of the Community
This forum exists for reflective practice, ethical discussion, professional peer support, sharing perspectives, challenges and successes, and asking questions and learning from each other. It is not a place for supervision, clinical advice for specific clients, customer service queries, business promotion or recruitment.
3. Confidentiality, Privacy & Safe Sharing
The AAPi Forum is a confidential professional community.
You must not:
Screenshot posts
Forward or copy daily/weekly digest emails
Share or reproduce posts outside the forum
Share content via social media, messaging apps or email
Quote members externally without explicit permission
Client & Workplace Confidentiality
All posts must be fully de-identified: no names, initials, suburbs, schools, workplaces, unique or recognisable circumstances, or any uploaded client documents, assessments or reports. Posts that risk identification will be removed. Breaches may result in warnings, suspension, or removal from the forum.
4. Views Expressed Do Not Represent AAPi
The views, experiences and opinions shared by members in the forum are their own. They do not represent or reflect AAPi’s official position, policy or endorsement. Members are solely responsible for the content they contribute.
5. Intellectual Property & Test Materials
Do not post test items, scoring instructions, administration content or other proprietary materials. You may describe the general use of tools, but must avoid sharing protected content. Only post materials you created or have permission to share; attribute authorship where appropriate.
6. Posting Guidelines & Good Practice
Post in the most appropriate community to ensure your message reaches the right audience and reduces noise. Use clear subject lines. Keep discussions purposeful and avoid repeated posting on the same topic. Do not post the same post in more than one community. Moderators may redirect threads into interest groups if needed.
7. Prohibited Content & Behaviours
The following are not permitted: defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening or discriminatory content; harassment or culturally unsafe behaviour; illegally sharing copyrighted or confidential material; posts that violate Ahpra’s Code of Conduct or other legal obligations; anti-competitive discussions (such as fee-setting, market allocation or salary coordination); uploading client-related documents or workplace products; and specific clinical advice for an identifiable client.
8. Advertising, Promotions & Research
No advertising or promotion of businesses, services, events or rooms. No job ads. No research recruitment posts. AAPi provides a dedicated space for these: AAPi Marketplace – AAPi members can share research opportunities at no cost via the AAPi marketplace.
9. Moderation Process
When a post has been flagged for moderation, it is temporarily removed from view while the AAPi team reviews it. This is a normal part of keeping the forum safe and supportive.
Posts may be placed in the moderation queue when they:
- Are from a first-time poster
- Contain a watch word that triggers automated checks
- Have been flagged by a community member
Posts may be flagged by members if they:
- Breach community rules
- Present a risk of harm
- Breach confidentiality, the Code of Conduct or the law
Moderation steps:
- The post is temporarily hidden
- AAPi reviews the content
- If no breach is identified, the post will be published
- If a breach is identified, the post is removed
- AAPi may issue reminders, warnings or education to support safe posting
Escalated action may include:
- Written warnings
- Temporary suspension (e.g., 30 days)
- Permanent deactivation of forum access
We aim to process every moderation request as quickly as we can. Our team is small and works standard business hours, so occasional delays are normal. Thank you for your patience. A delay does not necessarily indicate a problem with your post.
This forum is not for complaints about AAPi; please get in touch with AAPi directly for operational matters.
10. Legal Responsibilities
Members must not post defamatory or illegal material, copyrighted material without permission, content encouraging unlawful activity or collusion, or information that could breach privacy laws, test publisher licences or Ahpra standards. AAPi may remove access to ensure compliance with legal requirements.
11. Privacy & Data Use
AAPi follows its Privacy Policy and the Australian Privacy Principles. Personal information is used only to support the functioning of the forum and is not shared externally except with service providers under confidentiality agreements, where required by law, or as part of organisational transitions. Please keep your password and account information secure.
12. Internet Safety
AAPi takes reasonable steps to protect information, but no online environment is entirely risk-free. Members are responsible for ensuring they do not upload sensitive documents or information.
Thank You for Supporting a Safe, Professional Community
AAPi values your contribution. Together, we uphold a space where psychologists can learn, connect, and grow safely, ethically and respectfully.
The Legal Stuff
This site is provided as a service for the members of The Australian Association of Psychologists Incorporated. The Australian Association of Psychologists Incorporated is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by The Australian Association of Psychologists Incorporated or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall The Australian Association of Psychologists Incorporated be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.
Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants The Australian Association of Psychologists Incorporated and users of this site the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.
Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.
The Australian Association of Psychologists Incorporated does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of The Australian Association of Psychologists Incorporated we will take all appropriate action.
The Australian Association of Psychologists Incorporated reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.
Privacy Policy
Any personal information you provide to us including and similar to your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of our organization except as noted below.
With Whom Do We Share the Personal Information We Collect Through This Site:
Our Service Providers
We may share your personal information with companies (including our affiliates) that perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help process credit card payments. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf.
Business Transfers
Your personal information may be transferred to another entity (either an affiliated entity or an unrelated third party) in connection with a merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar corporate event. If such a transfer were ever to occur, the acquiring entity’s use of your personal information will still be subject to this Privacy Policy.
Government and Legal Disclosures
We may disclose the personal information we collect through this Site, when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce our Terms and Conditions or other agreements that govern your use of this Site; or to protect the rights, property or safety of our company, our users, or others.
External Sites
We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.
Cookies
A "cookie" is a small data text file that is placed in your browser and allows us to recognize you each time you visit this site (personalization, etc). Cookies themselves do not contain any personal information, and we do not use cookies to collect personal information. Cookies may also be used by 3rd party content providers such as news-feeds.
Remember The Risks Whenever You Use The Internet
While we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords or other account information. In addition other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through our site have separate data and privacy practices independent of us, and therefore we disclaim any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies. For any other information please contact us using the Contact Us page.