Manage ministerial content and remain apolitical – digital guide

Before you begin

What is ministerial content?

Ministerial content is content that is attributed to a minister. This could include forewords, media releases, direct quotes or statements. Ministerial content is distinct from agency or departmental content as it is often of a more political nature. Agency and departmental content must be apolitical, in line with public sector values.

Why manage ministerial content?

The Victorian Public Service’s role is to provide high-quality, professional support free of political influence or bias to the government and its ministers. As such, your task is to distinguish between:

• digital content related to the minister's electorate or political activities and
• 'Victorian Government’ content, which will be of use to the public.

What are the recommendations?

All agency and department staff should understand what ministerial or other content is acceptable and what content to avoid. You can publish ministerial messages on your agency’s website or social media as long as the content serves the public interest and is apolitical (see below – Ministerial content that serves public interest).

What standards must be met?

Only publish content that is in the public interest

Part 5A, and section 97B of the Public Administration Act 2004, should be considered when publishing ministerial or any other content. This provision states that public sector bodies must ensure that publication is in the public interest.

The Public Administration (Public Sector Communication) Regulations 2018 set out what are acceptable public interest purposes.

The Victorian Government Communications Requirements provide a list of types of information in the public interest.

Remain apolitical

For a department or agency website or social media account funded with taxpayer dollars, where there’s ministerial content, you’ll need to comply with the Victorian Public Sector Commission (VPSC) Code of Conduct for Employees, Section 2.2, Remaining Apolitical.

Use the right branding

Apply Brand Victoria to your content, including social media tiles, and never use a slogan, image, logo or the branding (colours or design elements) associated with a political party in any content you create or publish.

For more information on applying Brand Victoria to digital content, refer to apply Brand Victoria - digital guide.

What agency or department staff can publish

Agency or department content

Agencies or departments can publish or share/like any content classified as ‘agency content’ or ‘department content’. For example, this can be digital content published by:

• departments, such as the Department of Health
• agencies, such as Creative Victoria
• statutory authorities, such as the Port of Melbourne Corporation
• independent statutory authorities such as the Chief Investigator, Transport Safety.

Ministerial content that serves public interest

Departments and agencies can publish a minister’s name, portrait photo, and title on the corporate or ‘about us’ section of their website. A link can also be included to the minister’s profile on the parliament website for further information. Departmental and agency websites and social media channels should not link to a minister’s personal website or social media.

Where it serves the public interest and is apolitical, it is acceptable to publish or share ministerial messages on your agency or department website and social channels.

For example, a minister’s media release issuing a flood warning for their electorate can be published or shared with VicRoads and other travel advisories on your agency or department’s website or social media accounts. However, this should only be done if the release hasn’t already been published on the official Premier of Victoria website, or on any other government website or social media channel. Agencies or departments should always use agency or department content if it is available.

Refer to the Public Administration (Public Sector Communication) Regulations 2018, regulation 4, for guidance on acceptable purposes.

Alternatively, a media release with political content can be edited to make it apolitical, so it can then be shared on an agency or department’s website as a news story or alert. This might include replacing language such as “Labor Government” with “Victorian Government”, or removing ministerial or political branding.

Getting it approved

Contact your department or agency’s strategic communications team to find out who approves ministerial-related content for digital assets.

What agency or department staff can't do

Publish material of a party political nature

Material that relates solely to party political issues or that might be categorised as ‘how to vote’ material can’t be published on an agency or department website.

Other content may be unclear. To work out what is ‘party political’ you’ll need to apply your own judgement or contact your department or agency's strategic communications team to discuss. It will depend on the language used and its intent. Every case will be different, so you’ll need to decide case-by-case. For example:

• unacceptable: A minister’s defence of government policy draws distinctions between government and opposition policy, or content mentions a political party and its achievements since being elected e.g. “Since 2014 the Labor Government has invested $x million in…”
• acceptable: An announcement of a policy or new initiative from the Victorian Government.

In keeping with your professional responsibilities, you can legitimately decline a request to digitally publish party political content.

Links to a minister's private website or social media accounts

Agency or department websites and social media accounts should not link to a minister’s private website or social media accounts.

This includes not liking or sharing these accounts.

Publish irrelevant information about ministers

Agency and department websites and social media accounts should not publish or share information about ministers' activities or views that have no relationship to the minister’s official duties. For example, this could include website or social media posts on their favourite books or discussion of unrelated activities in their electorate. Ministers can establish personal websites and social media accounts for such purposes.

Be involved in the operation of a minister's private website or social media account

Agency and department staff should not, at any time, have any involvement in the operation of a minister’s personal website, social media platform and the like. They should not prepare material or content specifically for a minister’s personal website, social media, etc.

When in doubt, escalate it

If you are concerned about material you’re being asked to publish or share on your agency or department-funded website or social media accounts, escalate and raise your concerns promptly with your manager.

Rules for ministerial content

Distinguish it from agency or department content

It’s important to make sure that you distinguish between agency or department and ministerial websites. This is done using visual branding.

Branding and logos used by agencies, departments or the Victorian Government shouldn’t be used on ministers’ personal websites. Ministers’ websites and social media should not be hosted or maintained by agencies and should use a different domain name.

Don’t use vic.gov.au for ministers' websites

Ministers’ personal websites that don’t relate to the official business of government aren’t included in the vic.gov.au domain. The Parliament of Victoria website lists all members’ personal websites and social media channels.

Use the correct naming conventions

When referring to ministers in department or agency content it’s important to understand when to use the capitalised form of a title (that is, when to use ‘Minister’ and not ‘minister’).

The general rule is to use capitals for a formal title (that is, a ‘proper noun’).

We use lowercase for informal titles, for example:

• the state government has taken the bold step
• the minister’s website...
• former premier, Joe Blogs...
• Victoria’s premier, The Hon. Joanne Blogs

And we use upper case (or capitals) for a formal title, for example:

• The Premier of Victoria, The Hon. Joanne Blogs
• The Victorian Government today announced new...
• The Premier, Joe Blogs...
• The Minister for Education reiterated...

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