Code of Conduct

All participants, competitors, hosts, volunteers, sponsors, mentors, data custodians, and observers at GovHack and GovHack events must agree with the following code of conduct. We expect cooperation from all participants to help ensure a safe environment for everybody.

Tl;dr Be awesome. Be polite and friendly to everyone involved in GovHack.

Need Help?

If you have witnessed or experienced any transgressions of this Code of Conduct at a GovHack event please speak to the organiser of your event and send an email to conduct@govhack.org for our records. The organiser’s details may be on the back of your name badge, otherwise ask a volunteer who to talk to.

Short version

GovHack is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate at any GovHack event including but not limited to hack events, connections event, awards event, talks, workshops, parties, social media and other online media. Event participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from GovHack events at the discretion of GovHack organisers.

Long version

Harassment includes offensive verbal comments related to gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, photography or audio/video recording against reasonable consent, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.

Photography is encouraged, but other participants must be given a reasonable chance to opt out from being photographed. If they object to the taking of their photograph, photographers must comply with their request.

As this is a hackathon, we like to explicitly note that the hacks created at our hackathon are equally subject to the anti-harassment policy.

Participants asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately.

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a GovHack organiser immediately.

If a participant engages in harassing behaviour, the GovHack organisers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender or expelling them from the event.

We expect participants to follow these rules at all GovHack events, workshop venues and hackathon-related social events.