We welcome your comments and insightful contributions to the debates sparked by our stories. Please keep your commentary on-topic. Subscriber comments are given priority by our moderators.
Remember these guidelines:
1. Criticise ideas, not people
- Focus your comments on the idea being expressed, not the person expressing them.
- We'll always consider the context, but as a general rule, comments including swear words and offensive language - including swear words with some letters replaced by dashes or asterisks - will not be published.
- While we welcome criticism and feedback, personal attacks on our authors or continual and repeated criticism which is not constructive will be removed.
2. Be respectful of each other
- We value passionate debate, but comments that can be reasonably considered insulting, offensive, threatening or obscene will not be published. Material that may incite violence or hatred will not be published.
- Comments that we believe may be defamatory or breach copyright will not be published.
- Comments containing links to unsuitable material or videos of any kind will not be published.
- Never impersonate someone else, or post personal details (such as phone numbers, email or postal addresses) that could inadvertently put someone in danger.
- Please don't SHOUT (or post in all capital letters).
3. Be constructive
- Comments that are not constructive will not be published. The point at which a healthy debate leads to an argument that results in the community space becoming a hostile and unattractive place to communicate will not be tolerated.
- There is a zero-tolerance rule on spam, scams and referrals.
- Using too many links or URLs in your comments adds to moderation times as our moderators need to check each link to ensure the content on the URL meets our guidelines. Please limit the number of links to external sites.
FAQ
Why don't you publish all comments automatically?
We want to create a space that fosters healthy discussion where community members feel safe and valued.
A large portion of the comments we receive each day do not meet our guidelines, making it necessary to manually read, approve and often reject comments.
Further to this, Australia's strict defamation laws heighten the importance of a moderated comment section. We receive regular legal advice on what sort of language is appropriate in the comment section of our websites, which we are liable for.
Why aren't comments open on all articles?
Our moderation resources are limited, which means difficult decisions have to be made about hosting discussions in our comments section.
Our moderating team's job includes rejecting comments that contain trolling, abuse, spam, scams and defamatory content as much as it includes approving the valuable commentary many of you spend time writing.
We are actively working to make our moderation processes more efficient and part of this work includes being selective about which stories have comments open.
Some articles have comments closed due to legal advice.
Who moderates comments?
Our journalists write the stories, but they do not moderate comments. We employ a small team of moderators who are responsible for accepting and rejecting the thousands of comments we receive on articles each day.
Do you edit comments before publication?
No. Comments are either approved or rejected.
My comment didn't break any of the rules, why wasn't it published?
We're working on some product solutions to better communicate the status of your comment, but in the meantime, it's worth keeping in mind that there's a portion of comments which our moderators do not reach due to the huge volume. Subscriber comments receive priority.
What sort of comments are you looking for?
Relevant, articulate and well-informed comments from all sides of the debate. We're looking for comments that offer unique insights on important stories. These types of comments will always be prioritised over unconstructive name-calling. Our moderators seek quality over quantity.
Why do comments close after 24 hours?
Cutting the tail on stories after 24 hours helps to shorten our comment backlog and ensure the most recent events are given priority.
How do the moderators choose which comments to moderate first?
Our moderators prioritise stories which are promoted on the homepage and have the largest number of readers engaged.
Subscriber comments are also given priority. Due to our limited resources, we are unable to moderate all of the comments we receive each day. Prioritising our paying readers is a way for us to ensure the people who help fund our newsrooms are able to participate in the community they keep alive.
What about criticism of your publication?
We welcome criticism, opinions and corrections of our work. That said, we want to avoid our comment section becoming a discussion about moderation practices and improvements. Please contact us via the relevant feedback forms and remember to opt-in to being contacted if you'd like a reply.