Terms of Use & Community Agreement

Open Letters (Fremantle) is a public noticeboard, not a private messaging service. We do not send or forward your letter to Josh Wilson MP or Simone McGurk MLA. We publish it here, with your name, suburb and postcode, so the community can read it, upvote it, and see what Fremantle cares about.

People already write letters to their representatives, but those letters disappear into private inboxes. That means there is no shared picture of what constituents are asking for, and no easy way to know whether your concern is shared by ten people or ten thousand.

By publishing letters openly, we create social proof that civic participation matters, help people who have never written before learn how to take part, and show that respectful, constructive dialogue can be influential between elections.

We want your honest thoughts, but they must be your own. When you write and submit a letter, you promise us that:

• You are using your real name and genuine identity. Anonymous submissions or fake accounts are not permitted.
• Your facts are accurate, and your opinions are genuinely yours.
• Your words focus on public policy, legislative decisions, or an MP's official role. They must not cross the line into bullying, hate speech, or harassment regarding an MP's private or family life.

We absolutely welcome strong, passionate opinions. We strongly encourage you to share your own lived experiences to show how government choices and policies affect real lives. Sharing your personal story is a powerful and legally safe way to participate in civic debate.

Our team reviews every letter before it goes live. If we approve your letter, it means it met our Community Agreement. It does not mean we have legally verified your facts, nor does it mean our platform officially agrees with or adopts your opinions. You remain the proud author of your letter, and you keep ownership of and sole responsibility for your words.

Australia has some of the toughest defamation laws in the world. If an MP feels their reputation has been damaged by a statement we publish, they can take legal action. Crucially, the law is heavily weighted toward the person filing the complaint: they do not have to prove your statement is false; instead, we have to legally prove that it is true.

So, because of how the law works, we simply cannot publish anything that isn't verifiable or grounded in fact. If a letter you write does lead to a legal claim or lawsuit against the platform, you agree to work with us constructively to resolve it and to accept responsibility for your statements.

To protect the continuity of the platform for everyone, we reserve the right to temporarily or permanently remove a letter if it faces a serious legal challenge. Our goal is always to keep the forum active, secure, and trusted by both writers and readers.

The goal of this platform is to ensure that everyday citizens are heard on a larger stage. To help your letters make the biggest possible impact, we sometimes share them beyond this website.

While you keep ownership of your words, you grant us a free, perpetual, and worldwide license to share, format, and republish your letter. This includes featuring your letter, or excerpts of it, on our official social media channels, in community newsletters, or in public advocacy campaigns such as street posters, billboards, and newspaper advertisements.

When we republish your work in public spaces or advertisements, we will only ever display the details published on our website (your first name, last initial, and suburb) to protect your privacy while maintaining civic credibility. We will never share your private email address or contact details.