Community Rules

This is a safe place

This is a place we can talk about the tough stuff in a way that is safe. Forums are public so we don’t post any personal information that we would not be comfortable sharing with a stranger.

(We recommend that you use just your first name or a nickname in your username and that you don’t post any information that may identify you or anyone else, such as your address, email address or phone number.)

We are respectful

We understand that everyone has a different experience of brain injury and recovery and we listen without judgement. We appreciate and that people with have different opinions and we respect this. If we see abuse, we report it to the forum administrators.

We are Kind

We approach all our conversations with understanding and warmth. We always assume our community members are communicating with the best of intentions. We welcome new members and share our tips.

(If you are a new member, please introduce yourself. Your community is ready to meet you.)

We are supportive

We all need support sometime and we all have something to offer. In our community we give and receive support by sharing our stories of our challenges and our successes.

We are empowered

We share our knowledge and empower each other to make our own choices in our lives. We care for each other and receive support whilst taking responsibility for ourselves.

(If you are really struggling you can contact Lifeline 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue 1300 244 636 for mental health support 24 hours a day).

We have a team of moderators who can intervene when community values are not being upheld. However, due to the number of posts and that this is a 24 hour space, we can’t immediately read everything written so much of the responsibility of maintaining the safety of this space remains with you.

If anything you post raises concerns about your safety or the safety of others, we may contact you to make sure you or others are safe. We may need to pass your contact details on to services that can help protect you or other’s safety (e.g. mental health crisis service, police).

We maintain the right to remove posts and threads

It is important that we make sure that any material posted in the forums is not potentially harmful. To ensure this we may edit or not publish a post, avatar, image or display name that:

• Is abusive or disrespectful
• Contains advice or information that may be distressing, damaging or unhelpful
• Contains swearing or offensive language
• Is racist, homophobic, sexist, sexually explicit or suggestive
• Expresses personal beliefs in a way that is disrespectful of other’s choices
• Breaches a person or services privacy
• Advertises products, services, information or events
• Makes reference to prescription medication by name and/or dosage or is seeking medical advice
• Includes personal information such as photos of faces, full names, phone numbers, locations, postal or email addresses r encourages the sharing of such details. (If you would like to make personal contact with a member you can go through our Synapse Peer support program by emailing: mbaker@synapse.org.au)
• Describes or encourages violence, suicide, self harm or any other activity that could endanger the wellbeing or safety of others
• Contains links
• Is a copy of another post
• Contains reference to edits or modifications
• Is longer than the word limit or uses multiple posts to avoid word limit
• Is made from another account for the same person. (One account per person. Multiple accounts are not permitted. If you are unable to access your account please contact us rather than make a new account.)

If you want to question a moderation decision, please email us.

You will be advised by email if we are unable to publish your post, or if the post has to be edited or removed.

You may request that your membership from the website be cancelled at any time.

When you do this, you understand that anything you have posted or comments you have made will remain on the website.

We reserve the right to permanently deactivate the accounts of users who breach our community values.

Posts from users who are no longer part of the community may be locked or unpublished at the discretion of moderators.

Synapse is funded by State and Territory government in Australia and generous donors. We therefore need to ensure that our services are primarily available to those within Australia. We encourage those outside Australia to make use of services within your country or that are international.

Accounts created using a false postcode will be deactivated.