Healthdirect Australia uses social media to provide reliable health information about our public health services and to support, educate and empower people to make informed decisions about their health. A list of our services can be viewed at about.healthdirect.gov.au/our-portfolio. Our social media channels are moderated between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm Monday to Friday. Healthdirect Australia encourages contributions on our social media channels.

While Healthdirect Australia’s social media pages are an open forum we are committed to maintaining a space that is fair, safe and enjoyable for all users. To support this, we ask users to follow and respect the following rules:

We ask users not to:

• Impersonate any other person.
• Abuse, intimidate, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as privacy and publicity) of others.
• Publish, post or distribute or disseminate any defamatory, infringing, obscene, hateful, indecent, misleading or unlawful material or information.
• Upload or attach files that contain software or other material protected by intellectual property laws unless the user owns or control the rights, or has received all necessary consents.
• Upload or attach files that contain viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software, or, programs that may damage the operation of someone else's computer.
• Delete any author attributions, legal notices or proprietary designations or labels in any file that is uploaded.
• Advertise products or services to take advantage of this page as a vehicle for business or self-promotion.
• Post or upload links to external websites.
• Conduct any other activity that may expose Healthdirect Australia to civil liability.

We also ask users to consider the content of the information they are intending to share before they upload it to our public health service social media pages. Once it has been uploaded, the content will be in the public domain. Users should check their personal Social media profile settings to protect their identity and personal information.

Our social media pages are not intended as complaints forums. Healthdirect Australia encourages feedback and if you wish to provide feedback on our services or make a complaint, please do so via our website: healthdirect.gov.au/contact-us. The information contained on our social media pages is for your general information and use only. It is not intended to be used as medical advice and should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any medical condition, nor should it be used for therapeutic purposes.

The information is not a substitute for independent professional advice and should not be used as an alternative to professional health care.