Golden Plains Shire Council’s social media channels are managed in accordance with Council’s Social Media Policy and exist to share information, provide updates and support respectful community discussion.
These Community Guidelines support that policy by explaining how Council moderates public interactions on its social media platforms.
By using or interacting with Council’s social media channels, you agree to these guidelines.
We aim to:
- provide timely and accurate information
- engage respectfully with our community
- foster constructive and inclusive discussion
- moderate our pages consistently, fairly and transparently
- Council social media pages are not intended to replace formal consultation, complaints, or service request processes.
We welcome and encourage:
- polite and respectful comments
- questions and feedback about council services, projects and decisions
- contributions that are relevant to the original post
- differing views expressed constructively
- Council social media channels are monitored during business hours.
- Council reserves the right to hide or remove comments that do not comply with these guidelines or the Social Media Policy.
- Council does not edit user comments.
- Repeat or serious breaches may result in users being restricted or blocked from Council’s social media pages.
- Posts that are sensitive in nature, relate to formal consultation, or are likely to attract inappropriate or unconstructive commentary may have comments disabled at Council’s discretion. This includes all ‘Have Your Say’ posts.
In line with Council’s social media policy, Council may hide or remove comments that contain:
- offensive, abusive, threatening or defamatory language
- personal attacks, harassment or bullying
- discriminatory, hateful or vilifying content
- misinformation presented as fact
- repetitive, off‑topic or disruptive comments
- commercial advertising, spam or promotional material
- political campaigning, advocacy or electioneering
- content that breaches privacy or discloses personal or confidential information
- content that is unlawful or incites unlawful behaviour
- Moderation decisions are based on behaviour and compliance, not viewpoint.
We aim to respond to enquiries as soon as possible but cannot guarantee individual responses to every comment.
Some matters may be redirected to formal channels (e.g. service requests, complaints or submissions).
For urgent issues or emergencies, please contact Council directly via official channels.
Please do not share personal information about yourself or others. Council may remove comments that disclose private or confidential information.
Comments made on Council social media channels may be subject to record‑keeping requirements under public records legislation.
For service requests, complaints or formal feedback, please visit:
www.goldenplains.vic.gov.au