What Australian Employers Need to Include in Social Media Compliance Training

Most Australian employees don't set out to create a compliance problem on social media.  

They post something in the heat of the moment, share a photo without thinking it through, or vent about a difficult day at work.  

And then an HR Manager gets a phone call they weren't expecting. 

The reality is that social media in the workplace is no longer a fringe issue.  

It's a genuine compliance risk that every Australian business, regardless of size or industry, needs to take seriously.  

And the first step is making sure your people actually know what's expected of them. 

According to a 2024 Deloitte report, the average Australian spends 6 hours and 20 minutes per week on social media, roughly equivalent to a full working day.  

That's a staggering amount of time, and a significant portion of it bleeds into work hours, work devices, and work relationships. 

For employers, the question isn't whether your staff are using social media. They are.  

The question is whether they understand where the professional and personal lines sit and whether your organisation can demonstrate it's done something about it.

Why Social Media Compliance Training Is a Legal Obligation, Not a Nice-to-Have

There's a common misconception that social media policies apply only to what employees do on company time and with company equipment.  

Australian case law tells a very different story. 

The Fair Work Commission has repeatedly upheld dismissals for social media conduct that occurred entirely outside work hours, on personal devices, and on accounts that didn't even reference the employer by name.  

In one well-documented case, an employee's crude Facebook rant posted from his home computer after hours, in which he labelled his employer in highly offensive terms, was found to constitute serious misconduct. His unfair dismissal claim was denied. 

In another case, Corry v Australian Council of Trade Unions [2022] FWC 288, an employee was dismissed for posting provocative and offensive content on his personal Facebook account.  

The FWC upheld the dismissal, finding that the conduct, though entirely outside work hours, was sufficiently connected to the employment relationship to warrant termination. 

The message for Australian employers is clear: cyberspace is now an extension of the workplace.  

Your social media in the workplace obligations extend beyond what happens at a desk.  

This is why formal social media in the workplace training is no longer optional; it's a critical part of your compliance framework.

The Core Elements Every Social Media Compliance Training Programme Needs

Whether you're building a programme from scratch or reviewing what you already have in place, here's what your employee social media training should cover at a minimum.

1. What "Social Media" Actually Means in a Work Context

It sounds basic, but most employees think of social media as Facebook or Instagram.  

A solid training programme needs to make it clear that the term covers a much broader spectrum, including:

• Public platforms: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, YouTube
• Private messaging apps: WhatsApp, Messenger, Slack, Teams
• Review and forum sites: Google Reviews, Reddit, Glassdoor
• Professional networks and comment sections on industry publications
• Personal blogs and online communities 

Employees need to understand that a private message sent through Messenger to a group of work colleagues carries exactly the same potential for compliance issues as a public post.  

The FWC's decision in Colwell v Sydney International Container Terminals [2018] FWC 174 made this abundantly clear. 

2. Appropriate Conduct On and Off Work Hours 

This is where training has to go further than a standard policy document. Employees need practical, scenario-based guidance on what is and isn't acceptable, including:

• Posting negative or derogatory comments about colleagues, managers, or the organisation 
• Sharing confidential business information, client details, or internal documents 
• Making comments that could be construed as harassment, discrimination, or bullying 
• Inadvertently representing the organisation's views without authorisation 
• Using work logos, branding, or imagery without approval 

It's worth being explicit: conduct that might seem harmless in a personal context can have serious professional consequences.  

Training should help employees understand the nexus between personal online behaviour and employment obligations, not to police their private lives, but to ensure they're making informed decisions.

3. Privacy Obligations and Confidential Information

Australia's Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) impose specific obligations on organisations regarding the handling of personal information.  

Employees are often the weakest link in this chain. 

Training should cover:

• What constitutes personal and sensitive information under the Privacy Act 
• The risks of inadvertently sharing client or patient data via social media 
• The connection between social media and workplace privacy obligations 
• How even a well-intentioned post of a photo at a client's site, for example, can trigger a privacy breach 

In industries such as healthcare, aged care, and financial services, these obligations are even more pronounced.  

Training needs to reflect the specific regulatory environment in which your organisation operates.

4. Cyberbullying, Harassment, and Online Discrimination

Online misconduct doesn't need to happen in the office to create serious legal exposure for your organisation.  

Safe Work Australia's model Work Health and Safety laws make it clear that employers have a duty of care that extends to psychosocial hazards, and cyberbullying is firmly in that category. 

Effective social media in the workplace training should help staff:

• Recognise what constitutes online harassment, cyberbullying, and digital discrimination 
• Understand that these behaviours can result in disciplinary action, including dismissal 
• Know how to report incidents they witness or experience 
• Understand their rights and the support available to them 

This module pairs well with broader workplace bullying and harassment training, and many organisations choose to deploy these together as part of a broader compliance programme.

5. Use of Company Devices and Systems

Employers have a legitimate interest in how their systems and devices are used.  

Training should make it clear what's permissible and what isn't when it comes to accessing social media on employer-provided equipment, including: 

• Acceptable use policies for work devices during and outside business hours 
• Monitoring and surveillance practices the organisation has in place, and the legal framework around these 
• Consequences of using work systems to access or post inappropriate content 

Transparency here is important. Employees who understand the monitoring framework are far less likely to misuse work equipment.

6. Reporting, Resolution, and Consequences

No training programme is complete without a clear picture of what happens when things go wrong. Staff need to understand: 

• How to report concerns about a colleague's social media behaviour 
• What the investigation process looks like 
• The range of consequences for policy breaches, from a formal warning through to summary dismissal 
• Their rights during any investigation process 

Making this section concrete rather than abstract, including real examples drawn from Fair Work case law, significantly improves comprehension and retention.

Training That's Documented and Demonstrable

Here's the piece that many Australian businesses still get wrong: having a policy isn't the same as having a compliance position. 

If a complaint is made and a matter proceeds to the Fair Work Commission, the question isn't whether a policy existed.  

It's whether employees were trained on it, whether they acknowledged it, and whether the organisation can demonstrate all of this with timestamped records. 

This is where the choice of training system matters enormously.  

Organisations that deploy employee social media training through a platform that tracks completions, records acknowledgements, and generates compliance reports have a demonstrably stronger position when things go wrong. 

Platforms like Sentrient, a Melbourne-based compliance training and GRC software provider, are specifically built for this.  

Their internet and social media in the workplace course is a 15-minute, legally endorsed online module written in partnership with Mills Oakley Law Firm.  

It covers appropriate use at work and outside work, privacy obligations, cyberbullying, reporting mechanisms, and more, and it integrates directly into their compliance management system, so HR teams can see exactly who has completed training and when. 

The course can be deployed as standalone training or bundled with the full compliance programme, which includes modules on workplace bullying, sexual harassment, privacy, and work health and safety.  

For organisations that want a consolidated compliance record, including policy acknowledgements, training completions, and incident records in a single system, it's worth exploring what a purpose-built GRC platform can do.

How Often Should Training Be Refreshed?

Social media evolves quickly. New platforms emerge, privacy laws are updated, and the Fair Work Commission continues to hand down decisions that reshape the compliance landscape.  

Training that was current two years ago may no longer reflect the obligations your organisation has today. 

A reasonable approach for most Australian businesses is to: 

• Deploy social media compliance training as part of induction for all new starters 
• Refresh training annually or whenever there are significant legislative or policy changes 
• Provide targeted training for managers, who carry greater accountability for team conduct 

Update your training provider when new case law shifts the compliance landscape and confirm that your provider keeps course content aligned to current legislation 

Sentrient courses are updated in line with legislative changes across all states and territories, removing the burden on HR teams of having to monitor and manage content currency themselves.

The Bottom Line:

Social media compliance isn't about restricting your employees or monitoring their private lives.  

It's about giving them the knowledge they need to make smart decisions and giving your organisation the documentation it needs to demonstrate due diligence. 

When an employee gets into trouble online, the first thing the Fair Work Commission will want to know is what your organisation did to communicate its expectations.  

A well-designed, legally grounded social media in the workplace training programme, one that's been completed, acknowledged, and recorded, is the clearest answer you can give. 

The cost of getting this right is modest. The cost of getting it wrong in legal fees, lost productivity, reputational damage, and the human cost of a poorly managed workplace is not.

Ready to get your social media compliance training in order?

Sentrient provides legally endorsed compliance training for Australian businesses, including a dedicated Internet and Social Media in the Workplace course. 

To see how the platform works and what it can do for your organisation, request a free demo today.