Raising Children Network: the Australian parenting website

Welcome. You may be using this website to find balanced information about parenting, to find out about others’ experiences, or to be part of an online community.

These terms and conditions of use form an agreement between you and Raising Children Network (Australia) Ltd, (RCN), whether you are posting a message on a forum, or simply browsing the website. They will inform you about your rights and obligations in using this website.

The terms and conditions of use may change from time to time, so please re-visit every so often. Note that we are not required by law to contact you to inform you of changes. Please contact us if you have any questions about these terms and conditions of use.

Disclaimer

Warning: This website and the information it contains is not intended as a substitute for professional consultation with a qualified practitioner.

Before relying on any information you find on raisingchildren.net.au, use common sense, make your own enquiries and seek professional opinion.

Material in this publication is made available on the understanding that neither the Raising Children Network nor Commonwealth is providing professional advice. Before relying on any of the material in this site, readers should obtain appropriate professional advice. Views and recommendations of third parties, which are also included in this site, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Raising Children Network or the Commonwealth, or indicate a commitment to a particular course of action.

Neither the Raising Children Network nor the Commonwealth accepts any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any material contained in this site. Additionally, the Raising Children Network and the Commonwealth disclaim all liability to any person relying wholly or partially upon any information presented in this site in respect of anything, and the consequences of anything, done or omitted to be done.

You indemnify RCN and the organisations in the Raising Children Network (Australia) Ltd consortium against each claim, action, proceeding, judgment, damage, loss, expense or liability incurred or suffered by, or brought, made or recovered against us or the organisations in the consortium in connection with any breach by you of these terms of use.

The information provided in this website is intended for an Australian audience.

If you use another site linked from this site:

  1. you do so at your own risk and acknowledge that we do not control or endorse those websites or their content;
  2. you will no longer be subject to the terms and conditions of this site but may be subject to the terms and conditions of the linked site.

If you are from a particular cultural and/or religious background, you may be offended by some of the information and/or graphics found on this or linked sites.

RCN endeavours to provide information sourced from reliable research based on peer reviewed journals, recognised texts, or government publications and therapeutic approaches that have demonstrated efficacy. The content on this site is periodically updated and reviewed for quality assurance using an editorial board and a review panel drawn from national and international expertise in early childhood, health and parenting. The authors reserve the right to modify the content of the website at any time.

Any legal issues arising in relation to the use of this website will be dealt with under the laws of New South Wales, Australia. Illegal activity under those laws will be a violation of these terms, but as the website and the forums are accessible worldwide you should be aware that you could be prosecuted under the laws of other jurisdictions too.

Personal information and your privacy

RCN has a privacy policy that explains how we will treat your personal information in compliance with the Privacy Act 1988. You supply ‘personal information’ to us when you fill in an online registration form, subscribe to one of our email newsletters, submit postings on a forum, complete a survey or poll, provide feedback on our content, submit parenting tips or email us.

The personal information we collect from your contributions to forums is used to administer the message boards, send you a password, contact you about postings, and keep in touch with you. When you register you give us a licence to deal with the postings as necessary to perform these technical and administrative functions.
We will never give your personal information to any company or individual for commercial purposes.

Complaints

Your rights are taken seriously by our team. If you think your rights have been breached, or if you have a complaint about RCN website or forums, contact us so that we can investigate the issue and make sure it is resolved. Please write to the Complaints Officer explaining what you are concerned about and what steps, if any, you have taken to resolve the issue.

You can either send an email to complaints or write a letter to:

Raising Children Network Complaints Officer
6th Floor SE Building
Royal Children’s Hospital
Flemington Road
Parkville Victoria 3052
Australia

To participate in a Forum

To make a ‘posting’ (that is, any contribution to a forum, including private messages, usernames and user profiles) you must register. To register, you have to provide personal information such as your name, postcode and email address. If you do not want to provide these details, you will be able to read forums but not create or reply to posts.

These terms of use, including the disclaimer, applies to use of forums.

Forum participants agree to follow the following guidelines for use and accept that they are liable for the content of their posts.  RCN reserves the right to remove any material posted on a forum that is considered dangerous or harmful, and to terminate your participation in a forum at our discretion by cancelling your registration if you disregard the terms and conditions of use, which form a legal agreement between you and Raising Children Network (Australia) Ltd when you access the raisingchildren.net.au forums.

  • Don’t advertise. This website does not endorse products or services. RCN is not here to promote private or commercial interests; it has been created to provide unbiased, reliable information and social support for people in our community caring for children. Do not undermine this mission by advertising.
  • Be respectful. You may have strong feelings about a topic, and you may encounter different or challenging ideas, but show respect to all users of these forums and avoid being rude, abusive or dismissive of others. This includes respect for their race, religion, political views, and other beliefs and experiences. It is illegal to make racist, sexist or homophobic comments, harass or 'stalk' any person, or make defamatory statements or personal attacks on another person. A defamatory statement about a person is one which would make others think less of that person.
  • Keep in mind. RCN reserves the right to omit any material that it determines to be in bad taste.
  • Don’t impersonate someone else. You must not pretend to be another person when posting a message , but it is fine to use an internet ‘handle’, which is a label that identifies you without using your real name.
  • PG rating. Avoid swearing as it offends a lot of people. We want everyone to feel welcome, so be as colourful as you like, but keep it clean.
  • You must not copy material belonging to a third party, or in any way infringe others’ intellectual property rights; otherwise, you may expose yourself and RCN to legal action. You should use your own words and not copy from books, films, other websites or any other material.
  • Use common sense. Remember you are posting to a public website so be careful not to give out personal details about yourself or anyone else,  Do not post anyone’s email address, phone number, postal address or credit card details on a forum; if you want to exchange personal information, you can use the ‘private message’ function instead.
  • Don’t use a forum to discuss, promote or plan anything illegal.
  • Report a problem. A forum moderator will take appropriate steps to address any dangerous, harmful or unauthorised material posted on a forum, but RCN appreciates your help if you notice a problem before we do. Please help us by selecting the ‘report’ icon and following the prompts.
  • Non-RCN research forum. Researchers and students of non-commercial organisations may recruit for participants in a research project, initiate polls and surveys, or post a link to their own polls and surveys via this forum. Posts must include the name of the principal investigator, the name of any affiliated institution and a statement confirming the research has ethics approval. These posts cannot be used as an opportunity to promote a sponsor of the research.

Logins and passwords You may choose a login (user name) and password when you register to use this website and the Forums.  You are responsible for all activity, including the content of any posts, which occurs under your login and password.  Please notify us immediately if you suspect that another person is using your login and password without permission.

RCN reserves rights

Your message may be used by RCN. In consideration for permitting you to access and use the information on this website, posting on a raisingchildren.net.au message board or using the ‘Share Your Story’ link gives RCN a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide licence to reproduce, communicate, re-publish, edit, adapt or otherwise use your postings as we see fit, including the right to sublicense to others at our discretion. You also give us a licence to deal with the postings as necessary to perform technical, content and administrative functions in running the forums.  This includes any ‘moral rights’ you may have, therefore you consent to RCN editing, modifying or adapting your postings, or combining them with other works or postings to be used at RCN’s discretion as part of these above licenses whether or not you are attributed as the author of the postings.
From time to time we may want to highlight a parent story or experience (provided by you by following the “Share Your Story” link or otherwise) and may publish your message elsewhere on the Raising Children Website. In this case, we may attribute authorship with permission, and generally would do so, but we are not obliged to. We will protect your privacy by ensuring that you are not personally identifiable from your posting, unless we obtain your prior written approval. For more information see our privacy policy.

Copyright

RCN reserves all intellectual property rights, including copyright and trade marks in the RCN website.  RCN owns or has licensed from third parties the intellectual property used in this website.  You may print single copies of any pages of this website for your own personal and non-commercial use but must not otherwise reproduce any material on this website in any form without permission.

Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Rights Management Officer at Raising Children Network.