Acknowledgement of Country

Writing WA recognises the First Nations peoples of Western Australia as our first memory holders and storytellers. Writing WA respectfully acknowledges that it is located on the land of the Whadjuk Noongar people. We pay our respects to the traditional custodians of this Country.

Writing WA is instrumental in developing, supporting and maintaining a community of writers in Western Australia. The development of a community is a difficult thing to measure but is enormously beneficial.
Dervla McTiernan, best-selling author of The Ruin

Writing WA is working between the lines and behind the scenes to build a state of opportunity in Western Australia for writers, publishers and other practitioners in the writing sector – not just for the benefit of practitioners themselves, but for the immense social value that great writing brings to individuals and communities.

Long-form or short, in a book or on-screen; we celebrate writing no matter how it’s expressed. Though the mediums in which we consume writing may be evolving what remains constant is the power of writing to unite, challenge, inspire, entertain and educate. So we seek to champion its value in creating and developing culture through our programs and initiatives. Because of this commitment, truly remarkable creative voices have emerged and will continue to do so.

We believe that writing should be an industry of opportunity and the promotion of sustainable professional practice for writers is embedded in all that we do.

Writing WA’s core values are further articulated here.

 

Social Media Policy

This policy outlines our approach to official social media use by our staff, and public participation on our social media channels.

Writing WA deeply values the creativity and diversity of the community we serve. We encourage our staff, members, partners, supporters and members of the public to use social media to share their work, opinions and experiences with us and with others.

We actively seek ideas and feedback from our community. We encourage open conversation and debate in a respectful manner, and we believe everyone deserves the right to freedom of speech and to hold opinions which may differ. Within this space, we have a responsibility to ensure that our social media platforms are safe, respectful and inclusive spaces for all.

We request when engaging with us on our social media channels that our users:

• Agree with the Terms and Conditions of the social media platform, which grants certain rights to that service.
• Aim to be fair, truthful, and accurate.
• Be respectful when pointing out someone else’s error or misinterpretation.
• Do not spam others – it makes it hard to have a real conversation.
• Take issue with the opinion, not the person.

Writing WA uses a post–moderation process by which third party comments are published immediately.

As we have a duty to our community to ensure that our social platforms are positive and productive spaces for everyone, we take a strong stance on removing user content which is illegal, defamatory, discriminatory, hateful or threatening; and actions which may offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate or otherwise breach the Terms and Conditions of use of the relevant social media platform. 

We reserve the right to remove any user content, without any prior notice, if it is considered to have breached these conditions.   

Harmful posts include, but are not limited to, those that:

• Contain abusive, defamatory, offensive, discriminatory or hateful language or imagery
• Promote violence, illegal activity or self-harm
• Violate the privacy, intellectual property or personal rights of others
• Spread misinformation, false or misleading claims
• Harass, bully, intimidate or threaten anyone
• Spam, advertising or soliciting for commercial purposes

This policy applies to Writing WA social media accounts as well as to Writing WA representatives using their personal social media accounts with respect to our organisation.  In addition, we ask our staff to follow these guidelines when posting on our own social media platforms:

• Be respectful and courteous to others
• Use appropriate language and tone
• Stay on topic and relevant to the purpose of the platform
• Give credit and acknowledge the sources of your information and images
• Report any harmful posts to our moderators

We appreciate your cooperation and thank you for being part of our community.