This Code sets the minimum standard of behaviour expected from every person participating in, working with, volunteering for, or representing Rockdale Musical Society Inc. Compliance is a condition of membership and participation. Conduct that damages the safety, welfare, reputation, lawful operation, or financial interests of RMS may result in immediate action and formal disciplinary consequences.
This Code must be read with the RMS Constitution and all current RMS policies, production agreements, venue rules, child safety requirements, and applicable law. If there is an inconsistency, the Constitution and applicable law prevail. Nothing in this Code limits a person's right to report unlawful conduct, seek legal advice, contact a regulator, or exercise any other legal right.
1 Purpose
RMS exists to create high-quality community theatre in an environment where people are safe, respected, accountable, and able to contribute. The purpose of this Code is to state the behaviour RMS requires, identify conduct it will not accept, provide clear reporting options, and support fair and proportionate action when standards are breached.
2 Who this Code applies to
This Code applies to all RMS members and to every person engaged in an RMS activity, including committee members, production team members, performers, musicians, crew, volunteers, teachers, students, parents and carers, contractors, suppliers, guests, and anyone authorised to represent RMS. It applies regardless of whether a person is paid, receives a gratuity, or participates voluntarily.
The Code applies at rehearsals, performances, auditions, meetings, workshops, social events, fundraising activities, working bees, venues, storage facilities, online groups, and any other RMS activity. It also applies outside an RMS activity when conduct has a clear and material connection to RMS, its people, its productions, or its reputation.
3 Core responsibilities
Every person covered by this Code must:
treat others with dignity, courtesy, fairness, and respect; act honestly and in the best interests of RMS when carrying out an RMS responsibility; follow lawful and reasonable directions from the Committee, production team, venue personnel, and authorised supervisors; take reasonable care for their own safety and the safety of others; raise concerns through the proper RMS process and cooperate honestly with any review or investigation; protect confidential, personal, creative, commercial, and financial information obtained through RMS; avoid conduct that could reasonably damage a production, working relationship, public confidence, ticket sales, sponsorship, or the standing of RMS; and take responsibility for their behaviour, including conduct carried out through social media, private messages, group chats, and third parties.
4 Respectful behaviour
RMS expects direct, adult, and constructive communication. Disagreement is permitted. Personal attacks, intimidation, and campaigns against another person are not.
4 1 Bullying harassment and discrimination
RMS prohibits bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, vilification, victimisation, stalking, intimidation, threatening behaviour, and abuse. Prohibited conduct may be verbal, physical, written, visual, sexual, online, or carried out through another person. A single serious incident may breach this Code.
Examples include:
insults, humiliation, yelling, aggressive confrontation, threats, or deliberate exclusion; unwelcome sexual comments, jokes, advances, touching, messages, images, or requests; mocking or targeting a person because of a protected attribute or personal characteristic; repeated unreasonable criticism, sabotage, withholding information, or conduct intended to undermine a person;
spreading rumours, encouraging hostility, recruiting others into a dispute, or using a group chat to ridicule or isolate someone; and
retaliating against a person because they raised a concern, gave evidence, supported a complainant, or declined inappropriate conduct.
Reasonable artistic direction, casting decisions, performance feedback, scheduling decisions, allocation of duties, enforcement of safety requirements, and legitimate management action are not bullying merely because a person disagrees with them or finds them disappointing. They must still be communicated and carried out appropriately.
4 2 Personal boundaries and consent
Participants must respect personal, physical, cultural, and professional boundaries. Intimacy, stage combat, physical contact, costume changes, and potentially sensitive material must be handled according to agreed direction and consent processes. Consent may be withdrawn and must not be assumed from previous participation. No person may pressure another to accept contact, exposure, or conduct that was not agreed.
5 Conduct in productions and activities
5 1 Reliability preparation and attendance
A production depends on every participant fulfilling their commitments. Participants must attend required calls, arrive on time, be prepared, advise the authorised contact promptly of illness or unavoidable absence, and keep up with material missed. Repeated lateness, unexplained absence, failure to prepare, or refusal to perform agreed duties may result in removal from a number, role, production, activity, or position.
Joining a production includes reasonable participation in the broader work needed to deliver it. Subject to a person's role, capacity, safety, and agreed availability, this may include promotion, set and costume work, bump-in, bump-out, fundraising, front of house support, and other production tasks. No participant is entitled to disregard reasonable shared responsibilities because they consider performance work to be their only obligation.
5 2 Direction authority and backstage discipline
Participants must follow the production chain of responsibility. Notes, concerns, and disagreements must be raised privately with the appropriate person and at an appropriate time. Participants must not disrupt rehearsals, contradict authorised instructions in front of the company, interfere with another department, or create factions to pressure a decision.
Backstage, technical, dressing room, orchestra, and performance areas require calm and disciplined conduct. Participants must observe call procedures, noise restrictions, access controls, cueing, costume and prop requirements, and directions from stage management and venue staff. Practical jokes, unauthorised changes, and conduct that risks a missed cue, damaged equipment, injury, or performance disruption are prohibited.
5 3 Casting artistic decisions and conflicts
Casting, creative, staffing, and operational decisions will not always satisfy every participant. A person may request feedback or raise a genuine process concern through the appropriate channel. They must not retaliate, undermine the selected person, disrupt the production, or attack the competence, motives, or character of those involved.
A participant must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest that could affect an RMS decision. Committee members and others with decision-making authority must not use confidential information, influence, or RMS resources to secure an improper personal benefit for themselves, a relative, an associate, or another organisation.
6 Public statements social media and reputation
People associated with RMS are entitled to personal opinions. They are also responsible for how their conduct affects the Society and others. A person must not publish, circulate, endorse, or encourage content that is abusive, discriminatory, threatening, knowingly false, recklessly misleading, confidential, or reasonably likely to cause unjustified harm to RMS, a production, or an identifiable person.
Participants must not: air internal disputes, rehearsal-room grievances, disciplinary matters, casting complaints, or personal attacks in public or with people who have no legitimate need to know; make statements to patrons, other theatre companies, sponsors, suppliers, media, or community contacts that undermine confidence in a current RMS production or encourage people not to attend, participate, volunteer, sponsor, or purchase tickets; present a personal opinion as an official RMS position or speak to the media on behalf of RMS without authority; share private messages, rehearsal footage, scripts, designs, music, production material, personal information, or images without permission; or use RMS branding, accounts, mailing lists, systems, or contact information for unauthorised purposes.
A concern about RMS must be raised with the Production Manager, President, Secretary, another Committee member, or an external authority where appropriate. This section does not prevent a person from making a protected disclosure, reporting suspected unlawful conduct or child safety concerns, obtaining confidential advice or support, giving truthful evidence, or participating in a lawful investigation.
Where a person identifies themselves as connected with RMS, they must make clear when they are expressing a personal view. Deleting a post or message does not remove responsibility for a breach.
7 Confidentiality privacy and records
Confidential information includes audition deliberations, casting discussions, complaints, disciplinary matters, personal information, medical or accessibility information, contact lists, passwords, contracts, budgets, ticketing data, sponsorship arrangements, unreleased marketing, and Committee or production discussions that have not been authorised for release.
A person with access to confidential information must use it only for the purpose for which access was given, protect it from unauthorised access, and return or delete it when directed. Confidentiality continues after membership, appointment, or participation ends. Information may be disclosed where required by law, necessary to protect a person from serious harm, or authorised by RMS.
No person may secretly record a private RMS meeting, rehearsal discussion, complaint interview, dressing room, or other area where privacy is reasonably expected. Any authorised recording must have a clear purpose and comply with consent and legal requirements.
8 Safety drugs alcohol and property
Everyone must comply with safety directions, risk controls, emergency procedures, venue rules, and instructions for scenery, tools, electrical equipment, vehicles, weapons, pyrotechnics, haze, heights, manual handling, and special effects. Only authorised and competent people may operate equipment or undertake high-risk work.
A person must not attend or remain at an RMS activity if alcohol, illegal drugs, misused medication, fatigue, or any other impairment makes their participation unsafe. Alcohol may only be consumed where permitted and must not affect behaviour, judgement, or safety. Illegal drugs are prohibited at all RMS activities and premises.
RMS property, hired equipment, intellectual property, money, keys, access credentials, costumes, props, sets, and venue facilities must be used carefully and only for authorised purposes. Theft, deliberate damage, unauthorised removal, misuse, or falsification of records may be reported to the owner, insurer, regulator, or police.
9 Child safety and vulnerable people
The safety and wellbeing of children and vulnerable people take priority over personal relationships, production convenience, or the reputation of RMS. Any person who works with or has contact with children through RMS must follow applicable child safe requirements, Working with Children Check obligations, supervision arrangements, and RMS child safety procedures.
Adults must maintain appropriate boundaries. They must not engage in sexualised conduct with a child, form a secret or exclusive relationship, communicate privately without an authorised purpose and appropriate oversight, provide alcohol or illegal drugs, transport a child without approval, enter a change area contrary to arrangements, or photograph or publish images without authority and required consent.
Any suspicion, disclosure, allegation, or observation concerning child abuse, grooming, neglect, or an immediate risk to a child must be reported promptly through the RMS child safety process and to the relevant external authority where required. A person must not investigate the matter themselves, promise secrecy, confront the alleged subject, or delay a report to protect the organisation or another person.
10 Financial integrity and use of position
People handling RMS money, purchases, reimbursements, contracts, sponsorships, ticketing, or assets must act honestly, keep accurate records, follow approvals, and avoid personal benefit. No person may commit RMS to expenditure, enter an agreement, offer a payment, or represent that approval has been given unless they have authority.
Gifts, benefits, discounts, or hospitality that could influence, or appear to influence, an RMS decision must be disclosed to the Committee. Suspected fraud, theft, corruption, or serious financial misconduct must be reported immediately to the Treasurer, President, or another Committee member who is not implicated.
11 Raising concerns and making complaints
A person should raise a concern as early as reasonably possible. Reports should be made honestly, in good faith, and with as much specific information as is available. A report may be made to the Production Manager for a production matter, or to the President, Secretary, or another Committee member. If the concern involves that person, it must be reported to an alternative Committee member. Child safety concerns and immediate risks must follow the separate urgent reporting requirements.
A report should identify what occurred, when and where it occurred, who was involved, any witnesses, supporting material, the effect of the conduct, and any immediate protection needed. Anonymous reports may be considered, but anonymity can limit the action RMS can fairly take.
RMS will not tolerate victimisation or retaliation. A knowingly false, malicious, or deliberately misleading complaint is itself a serious breach. A complaint is not vexatious merely because it is not substantiated.
12 How RMS will respond
RMS will assess each concern according to its seriousness, urgency, available evidence, safety implications, and obligations under the Constitution and law. RMS may appoint an impartial Committee member or external person to manage the matter. Where appropriate, RMS may use informal resolution, facilitated discussion, mediation, a formal investigation, or referral to an external authority.
RMS may take interim action before reaching a final decision where reasonably necessary to protect people, evidence, a production, property, or the integrity of the process. Interim action may include changing duties, limiting contact, directing a person not to attend, removing access to systems or premises, or temporarily suspending participation. Interim action is precautionary and is not a finding of misconduct.
So far as fairness and safety permit, a person whose conduct is under review will be told the substance of the allegation, given a reasonable opportunity to respond, and have relevant information considered by an impartial decision-maker. Decisions will be based on the information reasonably available. RMS may set reasonable limits on support persons, communication, timeframes, and disclosure to protect privacy and the integrity of the process.
RMS cannot promise complete confidentiality. Information will be shared only with people who reasonably need it to assess, manage, decide, support, or comply with legal obligations. Participants must not interfere with witnesses, coordinate accounts, destroy material, or conduct their own investigation.
13 Consequences of a breach
A breach may result in one or more actions, depending on its seriousness, impact, history, level of responsibility, and any mitigating or aggravating factors. RMS is not required to begin with the least serious action where the conduct warrants a stronger response.
guidance, coaching, an apology, a direction, or agreed corrective action; a formal warning, behaviour agreement, additional supervision, or restricted duties; removal from a scene, number, role, duty, production, event, production team, Committee function, or authorised representative position; temporary suspension from rehearsals, premises, systems, communications, or RMS activities; termination of an engagement or withdrawal of an invitation to participate; disciplinary action concerning membership, including suspension or expulsion, where authorised and carried out under the RMS Constitution; recovery of property or money, withdrawal of access, or other protective action; and referral to a venue, rights holder, insurer, child protection body, regulator, or police where appropriate.
Serious misconduct may justify immediate removal from an activity or production. Examples include violence, threats, sexual harassment, child safety breaches, serious bullying, deliberate sabotage, theft, fraud, dangerous conduct, serious confidentiality breaches, retaliation, refusal to follow a critical safety direction, or conduct causing significant reputational or financial harm.
Any membership disciplinary process or appeal must follow the RMS Constitution. Nothing in this Code creates a power to suspend or expel a member beyond the powers contained in the Constitution or law.
14 Responsibilities of leaders
Committee members, production managers, directors, musical directors, choreographers, stage managers, teachers, department heads, and others in authority must model this Code, communicate expectations, address problems early, document serious concerns, manage conflicts of interest, protect complainants and respondents from retaliation, and refer matters beyond their authority.
A leader who witnesses or becomes aware of serious misconduct must not ignore it, minimise it, conceal it, or attempt to resolve it privately where safety, child protection, criminal conduct, or a formal RMS response may be required.
15 Relationship with other rights and processes
This Code does not replace emergency services, child protection reporting, police, courts, regulators, workplace processes, or rights under the RMS Constitution. An internal process may be paused, adapted, or continued where an external process is underway. RMS may act on conduct affecting its own safety, activities, or membership even when another body is also considering the matter.
Nothing in this Code restricts lawful participation in a general meeting, a properly made complaint, a request for mediation, an appeal available under the Constitution, or a genuine report to an external authority.
16 Acknowledgement
By applying for or renewing membership, accepting a role, joining a production or activity, volunteering, contracting with RMS, or continuing to participate after receiving this Code, a person confirms that they have read it, understand the standards expected, and agree to comply with it.