Social Media Policy

Our policy

• Purpose and application

  Purpose

  The Social Media Policy establishes the rights and responsibilities of Victorian Convention and Event Trust (VCET) employees and outlines the expectations for acceptable social media and online platform use in relation to VCET’s workplace. 

  VCET embraces social media as an important tool for corporate, business and employee engagement.  

  Additionally, VCET recognises that many employees will use, interact with and contribute to social media on a personal level.  

  VCET aims to create a working environment that is based on a culture of openness and trust and which is free from discrimination and harassment. Our Social Media Policy works in conjunction with a number of our other important Policies, including our Public Comment Policy and our Code of Conduct.  

  Application

  This Policy applies to all employees of VCET including any independent contractors performing services on behalf of VCET. 

• Policy statement

  Policy statement

  The Code of Conduct applies when using social media or posting/engaging with content online. VCET’s Code of Conduct sets out the standards of behaviour expected from employees. 

  This Policy sets guidelines for your use of social media: 

  • As part of your employment if you are authorised to represent VCET on social media platforms for business purposes, or in a personal capacity, when you choose to make references to VCET, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre, its people, products or services. 

  • When commenting on social media in such a way that you are clearly identifiable as an employee of VCET, employees should not represent their individual views as those of their employer on external channels. 

  • While making comments on social media forums or online, employees have a professional responsibility to uphold the outstanding reputation of VCET. Information provided by employees should be accurate and transparent. 

  • Employees are obliged to respect rights and responsibilities in respect of intellectual property, and the confidentiality and privacy of information entrusted to them in the course of their employment, for example, customer’s financial information. 

  • Employees, when making public comment, should do so respectfully and without causing injury to reputations or by defaming others. 

  VCET’s venue brands have public facing social media channels inclusive of Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, X and Threads. Employees are encouraged to use the internal channels such as Viva Engage employee group to post about internal matters and questions, of which VCET’S Code of Conduct applies.

  Personal use of Social Media

  We understand that employees may want to share their experiences and opinions about the company on their personal social media accounts or online forums. However, it is important to remember that even personal posts can reflect on the company, and it is important to be mindful of what you share online. 

  If an employee posts something on their personal social media account that is deemed to be harmful to VCET’s reputation, we may ask the employee to delete the post or content. This could include posts that are: 

  • Confidential or sensitive information about the company 

  • Negative or disparaging comments about the company or its employees 

  • Defamatory or otherwise illegal statements 

  • Posts that violate the company's Social Media Policy 

  • Posts that are political in nature and impact VCET’s neutral position as a State Government entity. 

  We encourage all employees to use social media responsibly and to be mindful of what they share online.

  Employees are not authorised to set up any accounts on behalf of VCET, its venue brands, products or services. 

  Employees are not authorised to create content or post on behalf of VCET from personal channels.  

  Business use of Social Media

  For those employees who have the designated responsibility of posting content that represents VCET or our venue brands, there are several guiding principles that should be followed. 

  Please ensure you speak with our Marketing team if you are intending to use social media for business purposes. Our Marketing team will provide advice and facilitate training for the employee to ensure brand guidelines are met. 

  In general, the training will cover: 

  • Requirement to adhere to our Code of Conduct and all other VCET policies. 

  • Requirement for pre-approval before posting. 

  • Requirement for pre-approval of business-related Social Media accounts, including how to appropriately use our brand mark and company name. 

  • Content ideas in line with MCEC and Nyaal Banyul content pillars. This also includes content sourcing. 

  • Engaging with influencers and followers. 

  Posting of: 

  • Images and videos  

  • Use of hashtags  

  • Retweeting and posting of reactive content 

  Do not post on the following: 

  • Financial or Operating information: This includes business strategies and forecasts. If information has not been publicly released by VCET, then it is not for you to share online. 

  • Legal matters: Any information regarding legal cases or a legal issue should not be discussed on social media unless you’ve been asked to do so in your official capacity. 

  • Personal information: Never share personal information about our customers or employees, including photos or images. 

  • Intellectual property that belongs to someone else: Do not share any photos or information about our customers or employees unless you have been given approval to do so. 

  • Imagery of persons under 18 years of age without consent. 

  • Do not use false personas or profiles. 

  • Do not post inflammatory, harassing, spam or off-topic messages with the deliberate intent to provoke an emotional response, cause upset or to create arguments in online communities (otherwise known as “trolling”). If your comments can be reasonably linked to your professional employment at VCET and are in breach of our Policies (eg: EEO, Sexual Harassment, Anti-Discrimination), disciplinary action may be taken. This includes posts you may make outside workhours on personal devices. 

  Breach of Policy

  Any employee found to be in breach of the Social Media Policy or related Policies may be subject to disciplinary action including possible termination of employment.  

• Definitions and references

  Definitions

  Social media generally refers to online platforms, that are public facing, where content can be created and viewed by others. Social media content can be published using a variety of tools, including mobile devices and desktops. Some examples of social media include: 

  • Social media networking applications (Facebook, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Instagram, Discord or Threads). 

  • Video and photo sharing websites (Instagram, Flickr, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest and TikTok). 

  • Blogs, including corporate blogs and personal blogs (WordPress, Blogger, LinkedIn or Substack). 

  • Forums, discussion boards and groups (Google groups, TripAdvisor, Whirlpool, Reddit or Glassdoor). 

  • Video on demand and podcasting. 

  • Facebook messenger and instant messaging.

  • Search engine applications (Google Business Profiles, Google Maps Locations, Bing or Wikipedia) 

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  References

  Internal

  • Code of Conduct

  • EEO and Grievance

  • Sexual Harassment & Anti-Discrimination

  • VCET Public Comment Policy

  • Image Consent Policy

• Procedure details

  Division Name - Marketing

  Department - Marketing

  Sponsor - GM Marketing

  Responsible - ​​Brand and Content Manager​

  Review Frequency - Two Yearly

  Policy ID - ​​VCET-725537380-7384​

  Version - 3.0