Community Guidelines

Last updated: 6 November 2026

1. Purpose

1.1 Vella is a community of people who travel and record it. These Community Guidelines (Guidelines) set out what is and is not acceptable on Vella, how to report something, and what happens when you do.

1.2 The Guidelines form part of the Vella Terms of Service at vellaapp.com.au/terms and are issued by Vella Labs Pty Ltd (ABN 20 701 816 202). They apply to everything you post, send or do on Vella, including journal posts, photos, comments, challenges, map pins, reviews, ratings, profiles and messages.

2. The rules

2.1 Unlawful content and conduct

Do not post, send or do anything on Vella that is unlawful in Australia or in the place you are. This includes defamation, incitement to violence, and content that breaches a court order.

2.2 Harassment, bullying and hate

Do not harass, bully, threaten, intimidate or demean any person. Do not post or send content that attacks or incites hatred against a person or group on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or age. Disagreement is fine; abuse is not.

2.3 Sexual content and the protection of children

Do not post or send any sexual material involving a person under 18, in any form, ever. We report such material to the relevant authorities. Do not post or send pornographic or sexually explicit material of any kind; it does not belong on Vella.

2.4 Other people's privacy

Do not post another person's private information, including their home address, phone number, email address, private photos, or their location, without their consent. Do not post photos of people who have not agreed to appear in them where they would reasonably expect privacy. Do not impersonate any person or organisation.

2.5 Intellectual property

Post only content that is yours or that you have the right to post. Do not post other people's photos, text or work as your own.

2.6 The integrity of the map

Vella's map is only useful if it is true. Do not add places that do not exist, mark places as visited that you have not visited, post reviews or ratings of places you have not been to, or fabricate trip records. Do not add a place at a private residence or on private land without the owner's consent. Do not manipulate challenges, rankings or badges.

2.7 Safety and respect for places

Do not post content that encourages or depicts trespass on private, closed or culturally restricted land, dangerous or unlawful driving, or damage to natural or cultural sites. Respect closures, Traditional Owner protocols and local rules, and do not encourage others to ignore them.

2.8 Spam and commercial use

Do not use Vella to advertise, promote or sell anything, to send unsolicited commercial messages, or to post repetitive or irrelevant content, without our prior written agreement.

2.9 The integrity of the service

Do not attempt to gain unauthorised access to Vella, another account or any connected system, overload or disrupt the service, scrape or harvest content or information, or get around any limit, filter or security measure.

3. Reporting

3.1 If you see something that breaks these Guidelines, tap Report on the post, comment, challenge, message or place concerned, choose a reason, add a note if you wish, and send it. Reporting takes a few seconds and helps everyone.

3.2 The person you report is never told who reported them. A report is confidential between you and the people who moderate for us.

3.3 If you cannot report something in the App, or you want to tell us more, email support@vellaapp.com.au with a link or a description of where the content is.

4. Blocking

4.1 You can block any person from their profile. A blocked person cannot message you, and you will not see each other's posts. They are not told that you have blocked them.

4.2 You can unblock a person at any time at Settings → Privacy & Safety → Blocked Accounts.

5. What happens after a report

5.1 A person reads it. We do not use automated scanning or automated decisions. Every report is read and decided by a person acting for Vella Labs under written confidentiality obligations.

5.2 Timeframes. We aim to review every report within 24 hours of receiving it. Reports involving the safety of a child or a threat of harm are reviewed as a matter of priority, ahead of everything else.

5.3 The decision. Having reviewed a report, we may: take the content down; remove the person from a conversation; suspend the account responsible; close the account for a serious or repeated breach; or close the report with no action because the content does not break these Guidelines.

5.4 What you are told. You are told that your report was reviewed. You are not told what was decided or who was involved, because that would disclose another person's information.

5.5 Records. Every report and every decision is recorded. A decision can be reversed if we find that it was wrong.

6. What we take down, and how

6.1 Journal posts, comments, challenges and messages that break these Guidelines are taken down in the App by our moderators. A comment that is taken down is deleted, together with any replies to it.

6.2 Places on the map. If a place, or a photo, review or rating added to a place, breaks these Guidelines, we remove the thing that was added. A pin created by one person is removed; a photo or review added to a shared place is removed from it, and the place remains for the people who use it. A pin is taken down in the App; a photo or review is removed by hand today, which can take longer than other takedowns.

6.3 Notice to you. If your content is taken down, you are told in the App, except a place or something added to one, which we tell you about by email until the App can. If your account is suspended, you are signed out and told that it is suspended and why. We will not tell you where the law prevents it, or where telling you would put another person at risk.

6.4 If you think we got it wrong, email support@vellaapp.com.au and a different person will review the decision and reply to you.

7. Serious matters

7.1 If someone is in immediate danger, call 000.

7.2 For anything on Vella that involves the safety of a child, a threat of harm, or a serious crime, email support@vellaapp.com.au with URGENT in the subject line. It goes to the top of the queue.

7.3 We cooperate with Australian law-enforcement bodies and with the eSafety Commissioner, and we act on lawful notices. Where the law requires or permits it, we may preserve and provide content and account information in response to such a notice. You can also report seriously harmful online content directly to the eSafety Commissioner at esafety.gov.au.

8. Changes to these Guidelines

8.1 We may update these Guidelines as Vella grows. The current version is always at vellaapp.com.au/community, and the date at the top shows when it last changed. A significant change will be announced in the App.

9. Contact

Vella Labs Pty Ltd (ABN 20 701 816 202)
C/- MOR Accountants, 406 Dana Street, Ballarat VIC 3350, Australia

Reports, questions and reviews of a decision: support@vellaapp.com.au
Legal notices, including notices from the eSafety Commissioner: legal@vellaapp.com.au