Echo only works if it's a real professional community. These guidelines cover the specifics of what that means day to day — they sit alongside, and don't replace, our Terms of service.
Be who you say you are
Sign up with your real name and your actual discipline. Don't create a second account, post on someone else's behalf, or claim a qualification, mentor status, or credential you don't hold. Verification only means something if it's true.
Keep clients and patients out of it
Discuss cases the way you would in professional supervision: de-identified, and never in enough detail that a client, patient, or colleague could be recognized. Don't share their name, contact details, images, or anything else that could identify them, even with consent claimed in the post itself.
Share experience, not certainty
Every post on Echo is one professional's experience, not a clinical recommendation. Say what worked for you and why, rather than presenting an opinion as the universal standard of care. If someone needs advice specific to their client or their own practice, point them toward supervision, their professional body, or a proper second opinion — not just your comment.
Disagree like a colleague, not a stranger online
Different disciplines, workplaces, and years of experience mean people will genuinely see things differently — that's expected. Challenge the idea, not the person. Harassment, discrimination, personal attacks, and pile-ons aren't tolerated, regardless of how reasonable the original disagreement was.
Mentors are held to the same bar, not a lower one
Being verified as a mentor doesn't exempt you from any of the above — if anything, it means more people are relying on what you post being accurate. Describe what you actually offer (your real experience, your real availability) rather than implying an outcome or credential you can't back up.
Q&A: real participation only
The fortnightly Q&A prize exists to reward genuine questions and genuine answers from real members. Using multiple accounts, asking or answering in bad faith to game the prize, or coordinating votes is treated the same as any other fake-engagement violation below — the incentive only works if the participation behind it is real.
What happens if these are broken
Depending on what happened, we may remove the content, warn the account, or suspend or close it — the same enforcement described in our Terms of service. Anything involving a client or patient's identifiable information, or a fabricated account or credential, is treated as a serious violation regardless of intent.
Reporting a problem
If you see something that breaks these guidelines, or you're not sure whether something does, email support@myecho.com.au with a link or description of the post. We'd rather look into something that turns out fine than have it go unreported.
Changes to these guidelines
We'll update the “last updated” date above if these guidelines change, and post the updated version here.