SA Health social media policy

Terms and conditions of use

SA Health uses social media for the distribution of health information, alerts, news and event updates. In certain circumstances, (for example State emergencies), SA Health may also use social media to inform the public and its stakeholders directly with information updates.

SA Health currently operates the following social media accounts:

@SAHealth – a Twitter account for South Australian public health sector information including health alerts, careers, health tips, news and events

SAHealthAustralia – a YouTube channel for South Australian public health sector information delivered in video format.

Content management

The SA Health social media sites are managed by the Communication Branch in the Policy, Governance and Executive Services Division.

If you join or follow a SA Health social media account you can expect approximately 5 updates per week.

SA Health also utilises other information channels and does not solely release news and announcements via social media.

Availability

SA Health updates and monitors its social media sites during office hours, 8:30 am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday.

The social media sites used by SA Health may occasionally be unavailable and we accept no responsibility for lack of service due to their downtime.  

Following

SA Health does not automatically follow organisations or individuals who follow it.

SA Health may follow relevant organisations including government agencies, health sector organisations and other parties where there is a clear link in communicating and receiving health information.

SA Health will not follow individuals unless they are known in a professional capacity and satisfy the above criteria. Being followed by SA Health does not imply endorsement of any kind.

Comments, @Replies and Direct Messages

SA Health welcomes feedback and ideas from its followers.

SA Health reads all comments, @replies and Direct Messages and ensures that any emerging themes or helpful suggestions are forwarded to the relevant people in the organisation.

SA Health is not able to reply individually to all messages received and where common topics and requests exist, SA Health may issue a general notification to all parties.

SA Health does not engage on issues of State or Federal politics nor provide individual health and medical advice.

In an emergency call 000

If you are unwell see your local GP or call Health Direct on 1800 022 222

The usual ways of contacting SA Health for official correspondence are detailed in the Contact Us section of the SA Health website .

Re-tweeting

SA Health actively seeks opportunities to re-tweet content that contributes to the dissemination and exchange of useful information about health and related topics.

SA Health may occasionally be asked to re-tweet content from other Twitter users. It will consider these requests on a case by case basis but generally aims to honour such requests from:

• Other government departments
• Recognised stakeholders, and
• Non-profit organisations (NGOs).

In line with SA Government advertising policy SA Health will generally not re-tweet content from profit-making organisations.

Lists

In the interest of organising our followers into meaningful categories and providing stakeholders and the public with useful industry and topic information, SA Health may create publicly viewable lists of organisations following its sites.

Inclusion on lists does not imply endorsement of any kind.

Should an organisation not wish to be included on a list created SA Health, it may request to be removed from the list by sending a direct message to the relevant account.

Unfollowing

As part of account maintenance and monitoring, SA Health regularly reviews accounts it is following. This may result in unfollowing accounts.

Hashtags (#)

It is a convention among Twitter users to distinguish content using semantic tags (keywords), preceded by a # sign. This enables users to search and filter information based on keywords and share information more meaningfully. Hashtags also allow users to quickly identify ‘trending’ topics (as displayed on the Twitter.com homepage).

SA Health will use hashtags when:

• Identifying public health services such as hospitals and key health topics
• Identifying key staff such as the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Executive
• Providing live coverage of events
• Providing State emergency communications using agreed hashtags through appropriately authorised staff.

Link shortening

Unless they are already very short, URLs will be shortened using commonly used link compressing services.

Privacy

SA Health captures and stores records of comments posted to our social media sites for records management purposes.

SA Health does not capture or record the contact details of parties following its social media sites. Any information identified or deemed confidential or private is treated in accordance with SA Health’s Privacy Statement.

Election periods and Caretaker mode

The same approach will be taken to social media as other communication channels during election periods and Caretaker mode.

Disclaimer

In addition to the SA Health website disclaimer, the following conditions apply:

All messages on social media sites should be considered public and visible to all for review, comment and sharing.

Information posted on one of our social media sites is not intended to be individual medical advice and should not be considered medical advice, nor is it intended to replace consultation with a qualified doctor or other health care professional.

In an emergency call 000.

If you are unwell see your local GP or call Health Direct on 1800 022 222.