CODE OF CONDUCT

BURNING SEED

CODE OF CONDUCT.

Abstract

Burning Seed is Australia’s first Burning Man regional event. It takes place at the temporary location known as Red Earth City. Burning Seed runs on the energy, gifting and enthusiasm of every participant in its co-creation, including you! Every one of us contributes to Burning Seed being an amazing zone of experience; one that brings great joy and also opportunities for creativity, learning new skills and personal growth through collaboration.

While the event takes place on the real or virtual Paddock that hosts Red Earth City, its activities are year-round and not always site-specific.

The intention of this policy is to provide participants with a safety net that aims to protect them from egregious and aberrant behaviour during the pre-event planning period, and on-site at the event. This Code does not apply to events organized by any entity other than those operating under Red Earth City Pty Ltd and the Burning Seed Town Council.

Please read this Code of Conduct carefully. Your participation in the Burning Seed event requires a complete and unreserved consent to all provisions of its terms and conditions.

Our Policy

Participation in Burning Seed is open to all including:

  • Volunteer roles with crew

  • Committees approved by the Board of Red Earth City Pty Ltd and/or Burning Seed Town Council

  • Participants attending the event with Theme Camps

  • Participants attending the event as individuals

However, the opportunity to attend or participate may be suspended if a participant fails to adhere to the terms of this Code of Conduct.

Our Code

Every participant agrees to:

  1. Treat other participants in a lawful way.

  2. Conduct their volunteer crew or committee duties in a lawful way.

    and in addition to:

  3. Respect the privacy of other participants.

  4. Adhere to the principles of Consent in all interactions.

  5. Not bully another participant in person or on social media.

  6. Not harass another participant, including by telecommunications or social media.

  7. Behave in a non-violent manner including in verbal communications.

  8. To be honest and act in good faith.

  9. Not be negligent in their activities and risk the physical or psychological safety of another participant.

Recourse

In the case of items 1 and 2 above the matter may be referred to the NSW Police.

In the case of items 3 to 9 above, where resolution cannot be reached by the parties independently, participants may report any incident to the Burning Seed Town Council. BSTC may refer the matter to a committee with the delegated authority to handle Code of Conduct breaches or to the independent whistleblower service, RECspect; that is managed by Core Integrity Pty Ltd.

Any participant may also directly refer the matter to RECspect in the case that the complaint is against a member of BSTC, a member of a committee with the delegated to manage Code of Conduct breaches or a member of the Board of Red Earth City Pty Ltd.

Our Standards

Examples of behavior that contributes to a positive environment for our community include:

  • Demonstrating empathy and kindness toward other people

  • Being respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences

  • Giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback

  • Accepting responsibility and apologizing to those affected by our mistakes, and learning from the experience

  • Focusing on what is best not just for us as individuals, but for the overall community

    Examples of unacceptable behavior include:

  • The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances of any kind

  • Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks

  • Public or private harassment

  • Publishing others’ private information, such as a physical or email address, without their explicit permission

  • Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a Burning Man endorsed event setting

Pledge

We as participants, contributors, volunteers and leaders pledge to make participation in Burning Seed a harassment and discrimination-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.

We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community. These standards are in addition to the “10 Principles of Burning Man” that we base our organisation and community upon.

Definitions

Volunteer

  • Pertains to any unremunerated role conducted in the pre-planning or on-site phases of the event Burning Seed including:

  • Red Earth City Pty Ltd Board members

    • Burning Seed Town Councilors

    • Members of Committees approved by the REC Board or Burning Seed Town Council

    • Crew with Burning Seed email addresses

    • Volunteers with permissions to access to any Google Drive folder that sits under the Burning Seed Master Drive

Event

Refers to:

  • The Burning Man regional event, Burning Seed held at the temporary Red Earth City regardless of the actual GPS location

  • Any online iteration of Burning Seed or Red Earth City

  • Any event hosted by a Volunteer as defined above, that is convened for a reason pertaining to the operation, planning or production of Burning Seed.

Participant

Refers to:

  • anyone who holds a ticket to Burning Seed

  • Anyone participating on social media managed by a Burning Seed crew team or otherwise deemed to be “official” by the Burning Seed Town Council or the Board of Red Earth City Pty Ltd.

Zero tolerance Violations

  • Failure to respect consent.

  • We believe in body autonomy. Violating a fellow participant’s consent is not okay.

  • Consent holds true to photography, as well. If you take non-consensual photos of others, you may

  • be asked to leave. If a participant asks you to delete a photo you’ve taken, you should respect their wishes.

  • Effigy, Temple or other art Burn perimeter violations. Once a perimeter has been established you MUST NOT cross the perimeter.

  • No ticket/wristband on person; all participants over 12 years of age require a wristband on their person

  • If your wristband is lost, it is your responsibility to promptly work with the Gate team on figuring out a replacement, during their gate hours. If your wristband comes off, keep it secure until Gate can reissue you one.

  • Helping someone sneak into the event

  • Failure of parents to ensure minors under the age of 18 wear wristbands or file “Minor Tracking Form” with Rangers

  • Failing to ensure that a minor for which you are responsible has proper adult supervision at all times

  • Failing to respect boundaries. This includes personal boundaries (physical consent and personal camp space including living area) and physical boundaries (event boundaries)

  • Unauthorized fireworks Possession of firearms/weapons

Following offenses may get you removed from the event

  • TRESPASSING IN GAS WELL AREAS. These areas of the property are OFF LIMITS.

  • TRESPASSING OUTSIDE THE EVENT INCLUDING “The Dam”

  • Photographing another participant without their consent

  • Taking photos/video for commercial purposes without registering as media

  • Vending or commerce of any kind

  • Unsafe operation of a vehicle (golf cart, art car, bicycle, motorized container etc.)

  • Malicious destruction of property

  • Possession of alcohol if under 18

  • Serving alcohol to someone under 18 (Theme camps serving alcohol are required to adhere to RSA laws)

  • Disrespect of the land such as digging, felling trees or limbs, etc.

  • Unapproved fires are not allowed. No ground fires.

  • Failure to respect the value of Leave No Trace!

  • Violating any of the fire safety rules

  • Violation of RedMV rules

  • Harassing wildlife

Addendum (Internal use only)

Enforcement

Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported to the Burning Seed Town Council, the Board of Red Earth City Pty Ltd or any committee with delegated authority to handle these matters granted by BSTC or the REC Board.

All parties are obligated to respect the privacy and security of the reporter of any incident.

Enforcement Guidelines

Community leaders will follow these Community Impact Guidelines in determining the consequences for any action they deem in violation of this Code of Conduct:

  1. Correction

    Community Impact: Use of inappropriate language or other behavior deemed to be unwelcome in the community.

    Consequence: A private, written warning from Burning Seed Town Council, providing clarity around the nature of the violation and an explanation of why the behavior was inappropriate. An apology may be requested, privately to the complainant c/o the BSTC or publicly. (where public means inclusion in the Burning Seed newsletter, The Flaming Galah or the Burning Seed Facebook page)

  2. Warning

    Community Impact: A violation through a single incident or series of actions.

    Consequence: A warning with consequences for continued behavior. No interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, for a specified period of time. This includes avoiding interactions in community spaces as well as external channels like social media. Violating these terms may lead to a temporary or permanent ban.

  3. Temporary Ban

    Community Impact: A serious violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior.

    Consequence: A temporary ban from any sort of interaction or public communication with the community for a specified period of time. No public or private interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, is allowed during this period.

    Violating these terms may lead to a permanent ban.

  4. Permanent Ban

    Community Impact: Demonstrating a pattern of violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior, harassment of an individual, or aggression toward or disparagement of classes of individuals.

    Consequence: A permanent ban from any sort of public interaction within the community.

    Attribution

    This Code of Conduct was adapted by from the Contributor Covenant, version 2.0, available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/2/0/code_of_conduct.html .

Communicating this CoC & ticket Terms and Conditions

Text to be given to all participants when finalising their burner profile and again when purchasing a ticket. A tick box confirming they have read and agree to the terms is compulsory before ticket purchase.

Burning Seed wishes for you to be free to create art, interact with others, and enjoy autonomy up to a point. A condition of entry into Burning Seed is the acceptance of the Code of Conduct, and in addition

  • Participants are expected to be responsible for themselves, their own behavior, their issues and resolution of them.

  • Participants are expected to behave and act in a manner which will not make other participants feel unsafe or threatened.

  • Burning Seed Town Council and the Board of Red Earth City Pty Ltd does not condone any behavior that endangers our community’s ability to hold our events.

Warnings and Bans Policy

Participants may receive a formal Warning, a Temporary Ban or a Permanent Ban from the Burning Seed Town Council or the Board of Red Earth City Pty Ltd. Individuals may be banned from attending some or all Burning Seed events or refused inclusion in a volunteer crew team for Burning Seed.

A participant may receive a Warning or Ban if they:

  • Have been the subject of a report for violating the Code of Conduct or other safety policies that endanger the event or its participants’ welfare or safety;

  • Continues problematic behavior after receiving a Warning Letter about such behavior.

  • Evictions will be determined by the Ranger process and decision.

What are the terms of a Ban?

  • Bans can be instituted for a minimum of one year or permanently.

  • Bans must be reviewed by the Burning Seed Town Council or a Committee with the delegated authority to deal with Code of Conduct matters annually. Bans may be renewed if the Committee determines an extended Ban is warranted.

  • Participants subject to a ban must be offered an appeal process to have their ban lifted. This should be managed by an independent third party service through the RECspect initiative which is managed by Core Integrity Pty Ltd.

Appeals Process

  • Banned individuals can appeal their ban directly with the delegated Committee.

  • Appeals will be handled at the next scheduled Committee meeting.

  • Only one appeal request per individual will be heard per year.

Publishing Warnings and Bans

It is not recommended that warnings and bans are made public. This can have unforeseen consequences for the parties involved and is likely to be disproportionate in most cases.

Informing banned individuals of their status

  • Burning Seed Town Council will make every attempt to notify any individual that is subject to a Warning or Ban.

  • Whether the BSTC is able to contact the individual beforehand or not, they will not be able to purchase a ticket for Burning Seed if they have been banned.

  • If an individual subject to a ban attempts to enter the Event (or does enter the Event) they will be removed from the event and refunded their ticket fees.

  • In no case will Burning Seed be responsible for any other costs or fees including but not limited to: accommodation, transport, fines, meals, amenities etc

  • Participants should immediately inform Gate, a Red Earth Ranger, a Site Manager on duty or a member of the Burning Seed Town Council if they witness a banned person attending the Event.

Inquiries about individuals registered to attend Burning Seed

A person who can demonstrate a clear risk to their personal safety if another person has registered for ticket purchase for the Event may inquire if that individual has registered or has purchased a ticket for the event. Requests should be emailed to tickets {at} burning seed [dot] com .

Banning people from positions of responsibility rather than from events

Burning Seed Town Council and/or the Board of Red Earth City Pty Ltd reserve the right to decline a participant’s application to volunteer for crew if they have been the subject of a temporary or permanent ban.