Goodo Community Guidelines

Draft for legal review — not yet legal advice

These guidelines apply to everyone on Goodo: participants, nominees and carers, plan managers, support coordinators, support workers, sole traders, provider staff and allied health professionals. By joining, you agree to follow them. They sit alongside our Terms of Service and Verification Policy.

Goodo is a community for people connected to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). It exists so participants and carers can share real experiences, and so verified providers can share useful, honest information. These guidelines are about keeping that space safe, respectful and honest.

An Easy Read summary is at the end of this document.

1. The basics for everyone

Be respectful. Disagree with ideas, not with people. Do not harass, bully, threaten or demean anyone, including people who are not on Goodo.

Do not discriminate. No hate or abuse based on disability, race, ethnicity, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander identity, religion, sex, gender, sexuality, age, or any other personal characteristic.

Be who you say you are. Do not pretend to be another person, a participant, a provider, a government agency or Goodo staff. Your display name, role and badges must be true.

Keep people safe.

• No content that encourages, instructs or glorifies suicide, self-harm, eating disorders or violence.
• No sexual content and no sexual approaches to anyone. Nudity is not allowed.
• No threats, and no content that celebrates violence, abuse or neglect of anyone.
• No content that sexualises, exploits or endangers children. We report this to police and the eSafety Commissioner.

Respect privacy. Do not share anyone's private information without their consent. This includes names, faces, addresses, phone numbers, NDIS numbers, plan details, health or behaviour information, and screenshots of private messages.

No scams, spam or illegal activity. No fraud, fake accounts, phishing, bulk or repetitive unsolicited messages, or content that breaks the law.

Talking about hard things is allowed. You can share your story about mental health, abuse, neglect, bad experiences with a provider, or problems with the NDIS system. Content that describes lived experience and supports other people is welcome. Content that gives instructions for self-harm, or that targets a named private person with accusations, is not. See section 7 for how to raise a concern about a provider.

2. Consent to appear in videos

Most videos on Goodo show real people. Consent matters.

• Only film yourself, or people who have clearly agreed. Anyone who is identifiable (by face, voice, name, name tag, home, vehicle or distinctive circumstances) must have agreed to appear and to have the video shared on Goodo.
• Consent must be informed, voluntary and can be withdrawn. If someone asks you to take a video down, remove it promptly. If they ask us, we will review it quickly (see the Moderation Policy).
• Supported decision-making. Many participants make decisions with support. Give people the time, format and support they need to decide. Do not pressure anyone, and do not rely on a nominee, carer or provider to consent for an adult who can decide for themselves.
• Children and people who cannot consent. Do not post identifiable video of a child, or of a person who cannot give consent, unless their parent, guardian or nominee has agreed and the person's own wishes have been considered. Goodo accounts are for people aged 16 and over, and under-16s must not be identifiable in videos.
• Private and vulnerable moments. Do not film or share personal care, toileting, showering, dressing, medical procedures, meltdowns, crises, restraint, or someone in distress.
• Group homes, day programs and workplaces. Do not film other residents, clients or colleagues unless they have agreed. Do not film anywhere you do not have the right to film.
• Background and bystanders. Check what is visible: mail, whiteboards, medication labels, screens, name tags and plan documents.

3. Extra rules for providers and workers

If you are on Goodo as a plan manager, support coordinator, support worker, sole trader, provider staff member or allied health professional, you are acting as a provider. The NDIS Code of Conduct applies to you in your work, whether or not you are a registered provider. On Goodo we apply it like this.

No inducements, no referral fees

• Do not offer or accept inducements. You must not give participants (or their carers or nominees) gifts, discounts, cash, vouchers, free items, prize draws or other benefits to choose you, stay with you, switch to you, or recommend you. This includes "refer a friend" offers.
• No referral fees or kickbacks. You must not pay or accept any fee, commission, gift or benefit for referring, steering or recommending a participant to a provider or service. Goodo does not charge or take referral fees either.
• No pressure to switch or stay. Do not pressure participants to leave another provider or to remain with you.
• Plan managers and support coordinators must not steer participants towards their own, related or affiliated services without clear disclosure and the participant's free choice. See the Conflict of Interest Statement.

Honest claims

• Say only what is true. Do not say "NDIS approved" or "NDIS endorsed". The NDIS does not approve providers. You may say you are a registered NDIS provider only if you appear on the NDIS Provider Register, and you should say which registration groups you hold.
• Do not guarantee funding, plan outcomes or results.
• Do not make health or treatment claims you cannot support.
• Reviews and testimonials must be real, and you must have permission from the person quoted.
• "Verified" on Goodo means we checked the items listed in our Verification Policy. It is not a guarantee of quality or an endorsement. Do not describe it as more than that.

Participant information

If you are a worker or other provider-side person:

• Do not post, share or discuss identifiable information about any participant you support or have supported. This includes names, photos, videos, voices, addresses, workplaces, NDIS numbers, plan contents, diagnoses, behaviours, incidents and medication.
• A "de-identified" story is still not allowed if the participant, or people around them, could recognise them. When in doubt, leave it out.
• Do not film participants while you are working with them. If a participant wants to appear in a video with you, you need their written consent and your employer's permission (if you are employed), and the video must still follow section 2.
• Do not post screenshots of private messages, plans or documents.
• Venting about hard shifts belongs in the workers lounge. The same rule applies there: never identify a participant, even indirectly.

Starting contact with participants

• Providers cannot start a private conversation with a participant, nominee or carer. The participant side writes first. If they have not written to you, do not try to get around this, for example by asking someone to pass on a message or by repeatedly commenting on their posts.
• Providers cannot search for participants using location features.
• Never ask a participant for payment, bank details, passwords, myGov or NDIS portal logins, or their NDIS number through Goodo.
• Do not push people to move to another app or to give you their phone number to avoid our safeguards. If a participant offers their contact details, that is their choice.

Paid placement

If you pay Goodo, or anyone else, to promote a video, profile, group or event, or you are paid or rewarded to post, it must be labelled. Goodo shows a "Paid placement" label in the app. You must not remove, hide or disguise the label. Posting unlabelled paid content is a breach of these guidelines.

Events and groups

• Every event belongs to a group or community. Events hosted by a provider-side person are labelled automatically.
• Only verified participants, nominees and carers can create groups. Providers can join open groups and must follow the group's rules and its moderators.
• Do not share an event's exact address or online link with people who are not entitled to see it.

4. What is not allowed (summary list)

• Harassment, bullying, doxxing, stalking
• Hate or discrimination
• Threats, violence, abuse or neglect, or content celebrating them
• Sexual content, sexual solicitation, grooming
• Suicide or self-harm instruction or encouragement
• Sharing private information, or filming people without their consent
• Impersonation, fake badges, false claims about registration, screening or insurance
• Scams, fraud, spam, phishing, pressure to pay
• Inducements, referral fees, undisclosed paid placement or conflicts of interest
• Misleading claims about the NDIS, funding, services or outcomes
• Illegal content or activity
• Getting around a restriction, suspension or ban, including by making a new account
• Misuse of reporting (false or abusive reports)

5. Reporting and blocking

• Report any video, comment, profile, message, conversation, group or event. Report is reachable within two taps from anything you see.
• Block anyone. A block stops them messaging you and hides you from each other.
• Close a conversation when you do not want to continue. Participants can reopen a closed conversation by writing again.
• You do not need to prove anything to report. Tell us what you saw in your own words.

What happens to a report:

• We read every report. Self-harm reports are reviewed within 1 hour, reports of exploitation within 4 hours, and all other reports within 24 hours. See the Moderation Policy.
• We may remove content, warn or restrict someone, or remove their badge. We tell the reporter what happened where we can, without sharing private details.
• Private messages are not browsed by staff. Staff can read a conversation only if it has an open report or a message our systems have flagged for review.

If someone is in immediate danger, call 000. For support, see the help links in the app.

6. Enforcement

We use the following steps. We may skip steps when someone is at risk of serious harm.

Badge revocation. Separate from the steps above, we revoke a badge if we find you gave false information, you no longer meet the badge requirements, or you seriously or repeatedly broke the guidelines in your role as a provider. See the Verification Policy.

Immediate action. We may suspend or ban straight away, without a prior warning, for: sexual exploitation or grooming; credible threats of violence; exploitation of a person with disability (including financial abuse); sharing child sexual abuse material; fraud; and using a false identity or false credentials.

Referrals. Where there is a risk to safety or a possible offence, we may refer matters to:

• the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (for example, conduct by an NDIS provider or worker, or a possible reportable incident)
• police
• the eSafety Commissioner
• AHPRA or the relevant professional body
• a state or territory worker screening unit
• the ACCC or state and territory fair trading agencies (scams and misleading conduct)

When we refer, we share only what is needed. See the Safeguarding and Incident Response Policy.

Appeals. You can appeal any enforcement decision within 7 days. A different reviewer looks at it. See the Moderation Policy.

7. Raising a concern about a provider

You can talk about your own experience. Keep it factual: describe what happened to you, do not post other people's private information, and take care about naming individual workers. If you believe you or someone else has been abused, neglected or exploited:

• Report it to us.
• Contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on 1800 035 544.
• In an emergency, call 000.

We may remove posts that identify private individuals with serious accusations and invite you to make a formal complaint instead. That is to protect everyone, including you.

8. Changes

We may update these guidelines. If a change is significant we will tell you in the app before it starts and show you what changed. The Easy Read version is kept in step with this document.

Easy Read summary

This is a short version. The full guidelines above are the rules.

About Goodo

• Goodo is a safe place to share videos about the NDIS.
• It is for participants, carers and checked providers.

Be kind

• Be respectful to everyone.
• Do not bully or threaten people.
• Do not be unfair to people because of disability, race, religion or gender.

Be safe

• No sexual content.
• No content that tells people how to hurt themselves.
• No scams.
• If you are in danger, call 000.

Be honest

• Use your real role.
• Do not pretend to be someone else.
• Do not tell lies about the NDIS.

Privacy

• Keep private things private.
• Do not share someone's name, face, address or NDIS number without their say-so.
• Ask before you film another person.
• A person can say "take it down". Then you must take it down.

Rules for providers and workers

• Follow the NDIS Code of Conduct.
• Do not give gifts or money to get customers.
• Do not take money for sending people to a service.
• Do not message a participant first. They must message you first.
• Do not share information about the people you support.
• Say when a video is paid for.
• Do not ask people for their bank details or passwords.

If something is wrong

• Tap Report. You can do this from anything you see.
• Tap Block to stop someone contacting you.
• We read every report.

What we can do

• Warn someone.
• Give a strike.
• Limit an account.
• Suspend an account.
• Ban an account.
• Remove a badge.
• Tell the NDIS Commission or the police if we have to.

If you disagree

• You can appeal within 7 days.
• A different person will look at it again.