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Governance & independence charter
One page. How we fund SOCii, how we manage conflicts, how we limit sponsor influence, and how we protect data and editorial independence. This charter is part of our brand: we publish it so the public can hold us to it.
Funding principles
- SOCii is funded primarily by community donations and, where appropriate in future, grants or partnerships that do not compromise independence.
- We do not accept funding from political parties, election campaigns, or entities whose primary purpose is to influence electoral or policy outcomes.
- We do not accept funding that requires us to endorse, promote, or withhold criticism of any policy, party, or institution.
- We prioritise community and philanthropic funding so that our only obligation is to the Australian public and to the integrity of our tools and outputs.
Conflicts of interest
- Directors, staff, and key contributors must disclose any financial, political, or institutional interests that could reasonably be seen to conflict with SOCii's mission or outputs.
- Conflicts are managed by recusal from relevant decisions, transparency in disclosure, or refusal of funding or partnerships where the conflict cannot be mitigated.
- We do not allow any funder, partner, or sponsor to sit on decision-making bodies in a way that gives them control over methodology, data release, or public positions.
Sponsor limits
- No single sponsor, donor, or partner may contribute such a share of revenue that their withdrawal would threaten operational continuity — we aim to keep funding diversified.
- Recognition of supporters (e.g. named datasets, acknowledgement pages) is opt-in and does not imply endorsement by SOCii of the supporter's views or activities.
- No sponsor or partner receives editorial input, advance sight of outputs, or the right to approve or veto any publication, dataset, or product release.
Data independence rules
- We do not sell, license, or otherwise monetise user data or collected civic data. Data is held for public-interest purposes and released in accordance with our published policies.
- Methodology, data sources, and release decisions are determined by SOCii on the basis of accuracy, transparency, and public benefit — not at the direction of any funder or partner.
- We do not accept funding conditional on withholding, delaying, or altering the release of data or methodology. No funder has a veto over what we publish or how we build.
Editorial independence rules
- All public outputs — reports, visualisations, methodology papers, blog posts, and public statements — are produced by SOCii without approval or influence from funders, partners, or sponsors.
- We do not accept commissions to produce analysis or content that must conform to a funder's preferred narrative or conclusion.
- Where we take a position or publish analysis, it is on the basis of evidence and our stated mission. We correct errors promptly and do not alter conclusions in response to pressure from any external party.
SOCii PTY LTD (ACN 690 364 731, ABN 72 690 364 731)
This charter is adopted as a statement of governance and independence. We will review it periodically and publish updates on this page. Questions or concerns can be sent to chat@socii.au.