- Electronic collaboration systems (such as Microsoft Teams or SharePoint), intranets, email systems and social media platforms maintained, funded, hosted or otherwise the responsibility of public sector bodies must be administered consistently with Part 5A of the Public Administration Act 2004 and the Regulations and should not be used to publish or distribute political material. Material from political parties and how-to-vote material produced by any organisation (other than the Victorian Electoral Commission) should not be displayed.
- At the start of the caretaker period, public sector bodies should review the material published or distributed on electronic collaboration systems, intranets, email systems and public sector body specific social media platforms to ensure that it could not be seen as promoting:
- party political content
- government policies or initiatives; or
- the achievements of the government or a Minister.
- Public sector employees should exercise particular caution to ensure that the content of emails sent during the caretaker period cannot be perceived as promoting a political party or government policy.
- During the caretaker period, public sector employees should also carefully assess requests from Ministerial offices for access to public sector email distribution lists. Unless required for appropriate purposes (as set out in paragraphs 48 – 49), then the request should be declined. Further, communications with Ministerial offices should be managed in accordance with relevant engagement protocols (see paragraphs 103 – 104).
Updated