Participant Conduct Policy

This policy sets the standards of conduct expected of all participants in AusISA activities, and describes how AusISA responds when those standards are not met.

This policy applies to all AusISA activities, including trainings, workshops, certification courses, events, competitions and capture-the-flag (CTF) exercises, and gated or vetted courses.

This policy applies to all participant types, including enrolled students, competitors, event attendees, and assessment candidates.

This policy applies across all delivery modes: in-person, online, hybrid, and in any AusISA-run digital space, including chat channels, forums, lab environments, and mailing lists.

This policy does not cover facilitators or trainers, who are covered by the Facilitator Conduct Policy; AusISA staff and contractors, who are covered by their employment or engagement terms; or visitors and guests brought by a participant, for whom the participant remains responsible.

This policy applies before, during, and after an activity, where the conduct arises from or is connected with the participant's engagement with AusISA.

This policy must be read with the Participant Handbook and the other AusISA policies that apply to the activity, including the Assessment Policy, Complaints & Appeals Handling Policy, Fees, Refunds & Cancellations Policy, Ethical Use Policy, and Privacy Policy.

If this policy conflicts with another AusISA policy, the more specific policy applies to the extent of the inconsistency.

This policy operates subject to applicable Australian law. Where a participant is under 18 years of age, AusISA will apply this policy in a way that complies with applicable Commonwealth, state, and territory law, and the relevant law prevails to the extent of any inconsistency.

Participant means a person who enrols in, books into, attends, competes in, or otherwise takes part in an AusISA activity.

Activity means any training, workshop, certification course, event, competition, CTF, lab, or other engagement run or hosted by AusISA.

Facilitator means a person engaged by AusISA to deliver, assess, facilitate, or support an AusISA activity.

Engagement Period means the period from a participant's first interaction with an activity (including pre-course work) to the release of final outcomes, together with any later period in which conduct arises from or is connected with the activity.

Gated or Vetted Activity means an activity for which eligibility criteria, vetting, or an invitation is required under the Participant Vetting Policy.

AusISA Materials means all course materials, lab environments, assessment content, recordings, documentation, and other intellectual property made available to participants in connection with an activity.

Serious Misconduct means conduct listed in clause 8 of this policy, or other conduct of comparable gravity, that may warrant immediate removal from an activity.

Certification Outcome means any assessment result, certificate, statement of completion, or similar outcome issued by AusISA.

Respect and safety: every person involved in an AusISA activity is entitled to a safe, respectful, and professional environment.

Lawfulness: participants must comply with Australian law at all times during an activity.

Integrity: participants must act honestly in their dealings with AusISA, including in assessments, representations about outcomes, and use of AusISA Materials.

Inclusion and equal treatment: AusISA activities are conducted without unlawful discrimination, and participants are expected to uphold the same standard toward others.

Proportionality and procedural fairness: breaches of this policy are handled in a manner proportionate to their seriousness, and participants are given a fair opportunity to respond before significant consequences are imposed.

Participants must familiarise themselves with the Participant Handbook and the policies relevant to their activity before it begins.

Facilitators set and enforce conduct expectations during an activity, and may give reasonable directions to participants to maintain safety, fairness, and the effective running of the activity.

AusISA Administration decides whether this policy has been breached and what consequence applies, except where an activity names a different decision-maker (for example, a competition judging panel).

Participants must raise concerns, complaints, and appeals through the Complaints & Appeals Handling Policy rather than through informal or public channels.

Participants must bring the materials and equipment directed for the activity (for example, a laptop with required software installed) and arrive ready to take part.

Participants must respect the venue, facilitator materials, and equipment. Theft of, or deliberate or reckless damage to, property is Serious Misconduct.

Participants must follow reasonable directions given by facilitators and by venue or host staff.

Where an activity is hosted at a client, government, or partner site, participants must comply with that site's access, security, and conduct requirements.

Participants must attend and participate to the minimum level stated for the activity. AusISA may withhold a Certification Outcome where a participant has not met the stated minimum participation requirement, including through unexplained absence or persistent non-contribution.

Participants must be fit to participate, and must not take part while impaired by alcohol or other substances where that impairment affects safety, their own participation, or others' experience of the activity.

Participants must treat facilitators, other participants, AusISA staff, venue staff, and guests with respect.

Participants must not engage in offensive, bullying, humiliating, or harassing behaviour, in person or online.

Participants must not make a public example of another participant's mistake, or return to it repeatedly in a way that humiliates or singles them out.

Participants must not exploit a position of relative authority, seniority, or advantage over another participant, including relationships such as senior/junior colleague, employer/employee, or sponsor/attendee.

Participants must not make romantic or sexual advances toward, or apply pressure or coercion to, another person where that conduct trades on authority, imbalance, or the other person's vulnerability.

This section applies during an activity and afterwards, where the conduct arises from or is connected with the engagement.

Participants must not engage in unlawful activity in connection with an AusISA activity.

Participants must not engage in hateful, harmful, abusive, defamatory, or discriminatory speech or conduct, whether verbal, written, or online.

Participants must not threaten, intimidate, stalk, or dox any person. Given the technical capability of AusISA's audience, AusISA treats the misuse of technical skills against another person as Serious Misconduct.

Participants must not use skills, tools, or techniques taught in an activity against any system, network, or person without lawful authority. The Ethical Use Policy applies to all use of taught content.

Participants must not attack, disrupt, or attempt to gain unauthorised access to AusISA systems, lab environments beyond their intended scope, other participants' systems, or venue infrastructure.

Participants must not record, photograph, or stream any part of an activity without AusISA's prior written consent.

Participants must comply with the Assessment Policy in all assessed work, including its rules on cheating, plagiarism, collaboration, and the use of AI tools.

Participants must display good sportsmanship in competitions: no cheating, no attacking competition infrastructure or other competitors outside the stated scope, no flag-sharing or unauthorised collaboration, and gracious conduct in both victory and defeat.

Participants must not misrepresent an assessment or participation outcome, including claiming a pass, certification, endorsement, or competency that was not achieved.

Participants must not misrepresent what an assessment, certificate, or participation represents, for example presenting attendance at a course as ASD endorsement as an IRAP assessor.

Participants must not share any full or partial part of AusISA Materials (including course materials, assessment content, or information about other participants or facilitators) visually, verbally, in writing, online, in person, or by any other means, without AusISA's prior written consent.

Participants should present in a manner appropriate to the activity and venue. Clothing standards must be appropriate, but are not unnecessarily restrictive.

Participants must be accurate when communicating about their relationship to AusISA. Being a participant does not authorise a person to speak for, or imply endorsement by, AusISA, ASD, or any partner organisation.

Participants who are dissatisfied with any aspect of an activity are encouraged to raise it: first with the facilitator or AusISA Administration, and through the Complaints & Appeals Handling Policy where informal resolution is not appropriate or does not succeed.

Where AusISA reasonably believes a participant has breached this policy, AusISA may take one or more of the following actions, proportionate to the seriousness of the breach: a warning or direction; removal from a session, activity, or environment; suspension or termination of enrolment; withholding of a Certification Outcome; denial of a refund in accordance with the Fees, Refunds & Cancellations Policy; exclusion from future AusISA activities; or referral to police or another authority where the conduct may be unlawful.

For Serious Misconduct, AusISA may remove a participant from an activity immediately and decide the final consequence afterwards.

Before imposing a significant consequence (other than an immediate safety-based removal), AusISA will tell the participant the substance of the concern and give them a reasonable opportunity to respond.

A participant may appeal a conduct decision in accordance with the Complaints & Appeals Handling Policy.

Where a breach also involves a safety incident, suspected unlawful conduct, or an obligation to notify an endorsing entity such as ASD, AusISA will follow the reporting obligations in the relevant policy.

Facilitators monitor conduct during activities and report suspected breaches to AusISA Administration.

AusISA records conduct matters and their outcomes in accordance with the Record Management Policy.

Participation in an AusISA activity constitutes acceptance of this policy.

Any exception to this policy must be approved in writing by AusISA Administration before it is relied upon, and will be recorded with the reason and duration of the exception.

Participant Handbook (GOV-001); Facilitator Conduct Policy (GOV-003); Assessment Policy (GOV-004); Complaints & Appeals Handling Policy (GOV-005); Record Management Policy (GOV-006); Fees, Refunds & Cancellations Policy (GOV-009); Ethical Use Policy (GOV-010); Participant Vetting Policy (GOV-011); Privacy Policy (GOV-013); Terms of Service (GOV-014).

Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2, Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)); Privacy Act 1988 (Cth); Commonwealth, state, and territory anti-discrimination law; Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), including Part 10.7 (computer offences).

This policy is reviewed at least every 12 months (P-016), and earlier where an incident, legal change, or continuous-improvement finding warrants an out-of-cycle review.