Community Guidelines

Last updated: 23 July 2026

Our community works because people trust it. These guidelines describe how we post, promote and help one another across the C2OC network — and the small number of things that are never acceptable here. Please read them before you post.

1. Why We Have Guidelines

The C2OC community is built on trust. Neighbours post events, ask for quotes, offer jobs, support local causes and sometimes ask for help at difficult moments. That only works if everyone can rely on the space being genuine, respectful and safe.

These guidelines apply to every member and visitor, and to everything posted across our community and business services. They sit alongside our Terms of Service.

2. Be Respectful and Honest

Treat other members the way you would treat a neighbour standing in front of you.

• Be courteous, even when you disagree.
• Describe your products, services, prices and availability accurately.
• Do not impersonate another person, business or organisation.
• Do not post content that harasses, threatens, demeans or incites hatred against anyone.

Robust discussion is welcome. Personal attacks are not.

3. Post in the Right Place, at the Right Reach

Every post lets you choose who sees it: your city, your whole state, or every community in the C2OC network. Please choose honestly.

A neighbourhood bake sale belongs in your city. A statewide job opening belongs at state level. Setting a purely local post to national reach clutters other communities and will be adjusted or removed.

Post to the service that matches your content, too — a job belongs under Job Listings, not on the events calendar.

4. Selling, Promoting and Cottage Industries

Local commerce is a core part of the community, and we welcome it in the right places.

• Use Local Products, Local Services and Cottage Industries to promote what you sell.
• State prices, terms and any conditions clearly and truthfully.
• Honour the offers you advertise.
• Do not post the same promotion repeatedly, or spread one promotion across unrelated services.

Community discussion areas are not advertising space. Keep sales content in the services designed for it.

5. Requesting and Giving Quotes

When you request a local quote, describe what you need as clearly as you can, and include a realistic timeframe and budget where you are able to.

When you respond with a quote, be specific about what is and is not included. Do not use a quote request as an opportunity to send unrelated marketing.

6. Jobs, Internships and Work From Home

Employment listings help keep opportunity local, and we want them to be trustworthy.

• Post only genuine, currently available positions.
• Identify the employer honestly and describe the role, location and pay basis accurately.
• Never charge an applicant a fee to apply, to be considered, or to start work.
• Do not ask applicants for bank details, government identification numbers or payment as part of an application.
• Comply with equal opportunity and employment law in your jurisdiction.

7. Financial Help and Social Support

Some of our services exist for people going through genuinely hard times — asking for financial help, seeking support from social work organisations, or reaching out to a food bank. These deserve particular care from all of us.

If you are asking for help:

• Share only what is necessary. You do not need to publish detailed medical, financial or family information to make a genuine request.
• Never post bank account numbers, card details, government identification numbers or passwords in a public post.
• Be truthful. Fabricated hardship requests harm the people who genuinely need support.

If you are offering help:

• Be kind and discreet. Do not publicly question, shame or expose someone who has asked for assistance.
• Arrange support through trusted, traceable means rather than untraceable transfers.
• Do not use a request for help as an opportunity to sell, lend at interest, or promote a service.

8. Charitable and Religious Organisations

Charities, faith communities and volunteer groups are welcome to share their work, their events and the help they need.

• Represent your organisation and its status accurately.
• Be clear about how donations will be used and who receives them.
• Respect that people hold different beliefs; use these spaces to share and invite, not to disparage others.
• Do not use charitable framing to solicit funds for private commercial gain.

9. Protecting Minors and Vulnerable Members

Membership is for adults aged 18 and over. Protecting children and vulnerable people in our communities is a responsibility we take seriously and enforce strictly.

• Never post sexual, exploitative or suggestive content involving a minor. This results in immediate and permanent removal and, where appropriate, referral to law enforcement.
• Do not post a child's personal details, contact information, school or routine.
• Do not use community services to arrange private contact with a minor, or to encourage a young person into secrecy from parents, carers or trusted adults.
• Take care when posting about vulnerable adults, and do not share their personal circumstances without consent.

If you see content that puts a child or vulnerable person at risk, report it to us immediately, and contact your local authorities if someone may be in danger.

10. Scams, Spam and Solicitation

A small annual community fee exists precisely to keep this network free of bulk spam, and we enforce that vigorously.

• No fraudulent, deceptive or misleading offers.
• No pyramid schemes, chain messages, investment “opportunities” or get-rich-quick promotions.
• No phishing, no requests for passwords, and no links to malicious sites.
• No bulk, automated or repetitive posting, and no harvesting of other members' details.
• No advance-fee requests — asking someone to pay first in order to receive money, a prize or a job.

11. Respect Privacy

Do not post another person's private information — home address, phone number, email, financial details or images — without their clear permission.

Replies to posts arrive privately in the recipient's inbox. Treat what you receive there as private correspondence, and do not republish it without consent.

Think carefully before including personal information in a public post, particularly one set to statewide or national reach.

12. Content That Is Never Allowed

Regardless of the service or the reach you choose, the following is prohibited:

• unlawful content, or content promoting illegal activity;
• sexual, pornographic or gratuitously violent material;
• hate speech or content attacking people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or age;
• threats, incitement to violence, or content that glorifies harm;
• content that infringes copyright, trademarks or other rights;
• malware, harmful code or attempts to compromise our systems; and
• regulated goods and services offered unlawfully, including weapons, controlled substances and counterfeit items.

13. Reporting a Problem

If you see something that breaks these guidelines, please tell us through our contact page. Where you can, include a link to the post, the service it appears in and a short description of the issue.

Reports are reviewed confidentially. We will not disclose your identity to the member you reported, except where we are legally required to do so.

If a situation involves an immediate risk to someone's safety, contact your local emergency services first.

14. How We Enforce These Guidelines

We would always rather help a member put something right than remove them. Our response depends on the seriousness of the issue and whether it has happened before, and may include:

• editing or re-categorising a post that is simply in the wrong place;
• removing content that breaches these guidelines;
• a warning and an explanation of what needs to change;
• temporary suspension of posting privileges;
• termination of membership; and
• referral to law enforcement where the law may have been broken.

Serious breaches — particularly those involving the safety of children or vulnerable people, fraud, or threats of violence — may result in immediate removal without prior warning.

If you believe we have made a mistake, contact us and ask for the decision to be reviewed. We will look again in good faith.

15. Thank You

Guidelines are the easy part; the community is what actually makes this work. Thank you for posting honestly, helping your neighbours, supporting local businesses and looking out for one another.

That is what a chamber of commerce is for.