Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct applies before and throughout the event (including related activities such as social events, and social media).

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Why do we have a Code of Conduct?

Our goals with having this Code of Conduct are:

• Helping everyone feel safe and included. We want to set the expectation that harassment and other unpleasant behaviour are not acceptable. So that if people do have an unpleasant experience, they know that’s neither the norm nor acceptable to us as a community.

• Helping to build trust that if an incident is reported, we will not respond with victim blaming, and that we will do a thorough investigation. Even, for example, if the incident concerns someone in a position of power.

• Informing everyone of the expected behaviour. We are a diverse community, and having a Code of Conduct makes the expectations of everybody’s behaviour explicit and transparent.

• Having a framework for report handling. The Code of Conduct is the basis for dealing with a report, assessing whether the CoC was violated, and what action should be taken.

Our Code of Conduct

• Be kind and considerate to others. Do not insult or put down other attendees. Behave professionally.

• We are dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, colour, immigration status, social and economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and physical ability.

• We do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form. This includes offensive comments related to the categories above, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, violent threats or language, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention. Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour is also not acceptable.

• Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate for any venue to which the CoC applies.

• Don’t publish individual photographs of people without their consent.

• Be careful in the words that you choose. Remember that sexist, racist, and other exclusionary jokes can be offensive and unwelcoming to those around you. Excessive swearing and offensive jokes are not appropriate for TOOOL Australia.

Where does the Code of Conduct apply?

This Code of Conduct applies to all TOOOL Australia related spaces. That includes, but is not limited to: Any venue related social activities Slack channels, tweets with the TOOOL Australia hashtag, and other online media.

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The Code of Conduct does not exclusively apply to events on the publication agenda. For example, if after a scheduled social event you go to a bar with a group of fellow participants, and someone harasses you there, we would still treat that as a CoC violation.

What can happen if the CoC is violated?

In case of a Code of Conduct violation, some of the most common actions organisers may take are:

• Demanding that a participant stops their behaviour.

• Demanding that a participant prevents further contact with certain other participants.

• Not publishing submitted work.

• Removing their work from any current or future publications.

• Removing a participant from the community.

• The action taken is at the discretion of the Code of Conduct team. Participants are expected to comply immediately, and further action may be taken in case a participant does not comply.

• A record will be kept of all incidents.

Where to report incidents

If a Code of Conduct incident happens to you, or witness it happening to someone else, please contact the CoC team immediately either in person, or by sending an email to conduct@toool.com.au.

Guidelines for reporting incidents

Please do not feel like you may be a burden to us by reporting incidents. Even if you happen to report multiple incidents. We rather consider reports an opportunity for us to act: by knowing about an incident, we can act on it, and often prevent it from continuing or repeating. But if we don’t know, we can’t take action.

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If you are not sure whether the situation was a Code of Conduct violation, or whether it applied to that particular space, we encourage you to still report it. We would much rather have a few extra reports where we decide to take no action, rather than miss a report of an actual violation. We do not look negatively on you if we find the incident is not a violation. And knowing about incidents that are not violations, or happen outside our spaces, can also help us to improve the Code of Conduct or the processes surrounding it.

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In your report please include, when possible:

• Your contact info (so we can get in touch with you)

• Names (real, nicknames, or pseudonyms) of any individuals involved. If there were other witnesses besides you, please try to include them as well.

• When and where the incident occurred. Please be as specific as possible.

• Your account of what occurred. If there is a written record (e.g. tweets or slack messages) please include screenshots, or otherwise a link.

• Any extra context you believe existed for the incident.

• If you believe this incident is ongoing.

• Any other information you believe we should have.

• If you don’t have some of this information, or not at this time, please still make the report anyways.

When handling a report, we follow specific guidelines.

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This Code of Conduct has been borrowed and updated from Django Con Europe 2018.