TEMi Professional Conduct Charter

You must: 

• Act with integrity, courtesy and professionalism at all times. 
• Engage respectfully with speakers, facilitators, sponsors, partners and fellow participants. 
• Refrain from behaviour that disrupts sessions or negatively impacts others experience.

You must: 

• Treat all individuals with dignity regardless of background, identity or role. 
• Foster an environment that is safe, welcoming and inclusive.
   

A person sexually harasses another if they make an unwelcome sexual advance, make a request for sexual favours, or engage in any other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, in circumstances in which a reasonable person, aware of all the circumstances, would have anticipated offence, humiliation or intimidation.  

 Sexual harassment is unlawful and as such TEMi maintains a zero-tolerance approach to such behaviour. You must not engage in any behaviour that could constitute sexual harassment. 

In summary, it is unlawful to treat, or propose to treat, a person unfavourably or less favourably because of a protected attribute, including age, gender, sexuality, medical condition, race, colour, nationality, ethnicity, religion, and status as a parent or carer. 

TEMi maintains a zero-tolerance approach to unlawful discrimination, and you must not engage in any behaviour that could constitute unlawful discrimination. 

Bullying is repeated, unreasonable behaviour that creates a risk to health and safety. Unreasonable behaviour means behaviour that a reasonable person, having regard to all the circumstances, would expect to victimise, humiliate, undermine or threaten. Examples may include verbal abuse, physical abuse, teasing, excluding or isolating others, and unwarranted criticism.

TEMi maintains a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, and you must not engage in any behaviour that could constitute bullying.

You must:

• Consume alcohol responsibly where provided.
• Follow venue and event safety instructions.
• Respect the time and guidance of TEMi staff, speakers, volunteers and contractors.

You understand and agree that: 

• TEMi may capture photos, video or audio during events and activities. 
• By attending, you give permission for TEMi to use event images or footage that include you in marketing, reporting and promotional materials, unless you have expressly opted out in writing prior to the event. 
• You will seek consent before photographing or recording individuals for your own use.

You will: 

• Represent yourself, your organisation and TEMi with honesty and professionalism. 
• Respect confidentiality when sessions involve sensitive, commercial or personal information. 
• Avoid any action that could bring TEMi, its programs or its partners into disrepute.

If you feel that you have been subject to or witnessed behaviour that is inconsistent with this Charter, you should not ignore it. The following steps should be taken by you: 

•  You should keep notes of the incident/s – date, time, place, any witnesses, what you said, did, heard or felt. 
• If you feel comfortable doing so, you may wish to address the issue directly with the person concerned and request that he or she stops engaging in the behaviour. 
• If you do not feel comfortable confronting the person directly, or if you confront the person and the behaviour continues, then you should approach TEMI’s Chief Executive Officer and discuss your concerns.

The safety and wellbeing of any person reporting an alleged breach of this Charter is important to TEMi. This is consistent with the person-centred and trauma-informed approach taken by TEMi.   

Any complaints of conduct in breach of this Charter should be made to TEMi’s Chief Executive Officer. If you wish to make a complaint, you may be asked to put your complaint in writing.

Where necessary, a formal investigation will be undertaken. The function of the investigator is to impartially investigate and resolve complaints.  The investigator will treat seriously any complaint. The investigator will seek to ensure that all complaints are investigated promptly, impartially, and as quickly as practicable.

A complaint will be kept confidential as far as possible. However, you should be aware that in certain cases TEMi may have a duty to report the matter to others, such as the Police.

Further, the alleged offender may need to be informed of the details of the complaint in order to be able to respond to the allegations. Witnesses may also need to be interviewed.

Based on the information collected, a finding may then be made as to whether or not the allegation is substantiated. The complainant and the respondent will be informed of the outcome of the investigation.

Where an investigation has found that a complaint is substantiated, appropriate action will be taken against the person about whom the complaint was made. This may include removal from an event, activity, program or function, loss of membership privileges, or further action as deemed appropriate by TEMi.

If an investigation reveals that any person has deliberately made a false, vexatious or malicious complaint, that person may also be disciplined.

You are welcome to seek further advice and assistance about the subject matter of this Charter from a suitable external agency at any time. For example, you may choose to contact the Australian Human Rights Commission or the safety regulator in your State (such as WorkSafe Victoria, Safework NSW, or WA Worksafe). Any suspected criminal conduct, such as assault, should be reported to the Police.  

 If you need support or want to speak to someone about the impacts of inappropriate conduct towards you or others, you can: 

• visit the Headspace website (https://headspace.org.au/) 

• connect to a counsellor through Beyond Blue — 1300 22 4636 

• call 1800RESPECT for confidential counselling services — 1800 737 732 

• call Lifeline — 13 11 14. 

• This Charter sits alongside the TEMi Creed of Professionalism. 

• The Creed outlines our shared values. 

• This Charter outlines the conduct expected whenever engaging in TEMi spaces, whether in-person, online, or on the phone, and whether during or outside of business hours.