Code of conduct

All attendees of PyConline AU agree to be bound by the Linux Australia code of conduct.

Linux Australia aims to provide fun, welcoming and professional environments so that diverse groups of people—regardless of age, race, gender identity or expression, background, disability, appearance, sexuality, walk of life, or religion—can get together to learn from and be inspired by each other about all things Free and Open Source.

Linux Australia is committed to the ideals expressed in our Values Statement and ask all our members, speakers, volunteers, attendees and guests to adopt these principles. We are a diverse community. Sometimes this means we need to work harder to ensure we're creating an environment of trust and respect where all who come to participate feel comfortable and included.

We value your participation and appreciate your help in realising this goal.

Safety team transparency reports

This year's event safety team, comprised of Maia Sauren, Russell Keith-Magee, Eliza Sorensen, Ned Letcher, Nicky Ringland, Tom Eastman, and Linda McIver, provided the following transparency report:

Hi folks,

Three incidents were noted by the safety team during Pyconline-AU 2020, all mild, and all dealt with swiftly.

  • Inappropriate comment in Education track 04/09/2020 09:13 ACST: A user noted to a member of the Safety team that someone had posted a mildly sexist comment in the public chat channel of he Education track on Venueless. The comment appears to have been aimed at the people running the Education track, with whom he has a pre-existing relationship. The reporter was notified that members of the Safety team were in the channel to keep an eye on things. No further action was taken.
  • Inappropriate pronoun field contents in a Venueless user's profile, 05/09/2020 14:00 ACST: Following an anonymous report of inappropriate contents in a pronoun field, a safety team member contacted the user and asked them to change their pronoun field to something more appropriate. The user removed the field contents within 30 minutes.
  • Lightning talk should have been preceded by trigger warning, ~12:00 ACST: A lightning talk containing swearing and mentions of genocide, mental illness and depression was not told to be preceded by a trigger warning. The speaker had been asked whether their talk should have one. Lightning talk czar has since apologised for this via his personal twitter account. The speaker was contacted and responded positively. A trigger warning will be added to the video.

Addendum:

The safety team was asked to cast their eyes over a Python developer community survey to gather feedback about dependency specification. No issues were noted with the survey.

The safety oversight group, which is a part of the PyCon AU Steering Committee and comprised of Christopher Neugebauer, Katie Bell, and Richard Jones, provided the following transparency report:

In July, before the conference took place, a volunteer made comments in the Organiser's Slack that implied support for certain high-profile persons who hold transphobic viewpoints. Several other volunteers and core organisers made comments that resulted in an argument. No attempt was made to de-escalate the argument. Subsequently, the volunteer who made the original comments resigned their position with the conference. The PyCon AU Steering Committee's Safety Oversight Group communicated individually with all of the parties to the conflict, and posted a statement to the organisers' Slack, which affirmed that transphobic viewpoints will not be tolerated, but that moments of conflict should not be allowed to escalate. The Safety Oversight Group also provided resources to de-escalate conflict when it arises.

How to make a report

If at any time during the conference you feel unsafe or want to report questionable behaviour, please contact a member of the safety team.

You can do that from Venueless, by finding the Direct messages section in the left-hand sidebar, clicking the plus icon next to it, and searching for one of the safety team members below. Each safety team member will have a "Safety" badge next to their name.

Alternatively, you can also email safety@pycon.org.au.

Be respectful

Respect yourself, and respect others. Be courteous to those around you. If someone indicates they don't wish to be photographed, respect that wish. If someone indicates they would like to be left alone, let them be. Our event venues and online spaces may be shared with members of the public; please be considerate to all patrons of these locations.

Be inclusive

All presentation material should be suitable for people aged 12 and above.

Any public presentation which is part of any event, including but not limited to keynotes, presentations, lightning talks, addresses, mailing list posts and forums, is subject to this code of conduct and thus may not contain:

Presenters are asked to avoid language which is not appropriate for an all-ages audience as much as possible.

If the subject matter of the presentation cannot be presented adequately without including language that could be considered offensive, this should be pointed out in advance, at the beginning of the talk and in the schedule.

If presenters are unsure whether their material is suitable, they are encouraged to show it to the conference’s speaker liaison or mailing list/forum moderators before their session.

Be aware

We ask everyone to be aware that we will not tolerate intimidation, harassment, or any abusive, discriminatory or derogatory behaviour by anyone at any event or online.

Complaints can be made to the organisers by contacting the registration desk or mailing list/forum moderators by contacting the relevant email addresses. All complaints made to event organisers will remain confidential and be taken seriously. The complaint will be treated appropriately with discretion. Should event organisers or moderators consider it appropriate, measures they may take include:

What does that mean for me?

All participants, including event attendees and speakers must not engage in any intimidation, harassment, or abusive or discriminatory behaviour.

Here are some examples of behaviours that have occurred at past events which are not appropriate:

We want everyone to have a good time at our events.

Questions?

If you’re not sure about anything you’ve just read please contact the organisers or the Linux Australia Council at council@linux.org.au

This document is available to be re-used or modified under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia licence, available from CreativeCommons.org