Marco Polo Portal — Our Community Standards

Why we have a code of conduct

Marco Polo Portal exists because people were being placed into homes that didn't suit them, with people they didn't choose. Fixing that takes more than software. It takes everyone on the platform behaving in a way that makes real choice possible.

So we've written down what we expect. Not as fine print — as a straight description of how this community works.

There are three codes because there are three roles here, and each carries different responsibilities:

• Participants — the people whose home this is about.
• Support coordinators — the people helping participants search and decide.
• SIL and ILO providers — the people offering vacancies and supports.

The four principles

Choice. Real independence means the freedom to choose your home, your supports, and the life you want. On this platform, participants decide. Everyone else supports that decision — they don't make it.

Trust. We're transparent, accountable, and always on your side. That means honest profiles, honest listings, and honest answers.

Connection. Great homes are built on strong relationships, not just four walls. That means treating the people you meet here as future housemates and neighbours, not as leads or placements.

People, not properties. Who you live with matters more than where you live. Compatibility comes first. A fast placement that falls apart in six months has helped nobody.

What applies to everyone

Whatever your role, on Marco Polo you agree to:

1. Be honest. About who you are, what you offer, and what you're looking for.
2. Be respectful. Disagreement is fine. Abuse, harassment, discrimination and intimidation are not.
3. Respect privacy. Information shared with you here is shared for one purpose — finding a good match. Not for anything else.
4. Respect a no. People are allowed to not be interested, and they don't owe you a reason.
5. Keep people safe. If you see or hear something that puts someone at risk, act on it. Don't sit on it.
6. Don't misuse the platform. No fake accounts, no scraping our data, no using Marco Polo to sell unrelated things or push someone towards a decision that isn't theirs.

If something goes wrong

You can raise anything with us:

• Email info@marcopoloportal.com
• Phone (07) 5616 4904

If someone is in immediate danger, call 000. If someone needs to talk to a person right now, Lifeline is 13 11 14, any hour of any day.

Some things sit outside what we can resolve, and we'll say so plainly rather than pretend otherwise. Concerns about the conduct of a registered NDIS provider can go to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on 1800 035 544. We can point you there and we won't stand in the way.

What happens if the code is broken

We'd rather have a conversation than take action. Most issues are misunderstandings and get sorted with a phone call.

When something more serious happens, we may at our own discression:

- edit or remove content

- pause an account

- remove a listing

- end a subscription

- remove an organisation from the platform.

Serious safeguarding matters are reported to the appropriate authority, and we don't wait for permission to do that.

Code of Conduct — Participants

For people using Marco Polo Portal to find housemates and a home.

This is your platform

You're here to find people you actually want to live with, and a home that actually suits you. That's your call to make — not your provider's, not your coordinator's, not ours.

This code is about keeping Marco Polo a place where that's possible. It's short, it's plain, and it applies to you the same way it applies to everyone else.

What we expect from you

Be honest on your profile

Your profile is how someone decides whether you'd be good to live with. Make it real.

• Use your own name and your own photos, or a photo that represents you.
• Describe yourself, your routines and your interests as they actually are — not as you think someone wants them to be.
• Be upfront about the things that would matter to a housemate. Smoking, pets, sleep patterns, visitors, noise, whether you like a quiet house or a busy one.
• Don't hide support needs that would affect the household. You don't owe anyone your medical history — but a housemate should know what living together will look like.

A profile that oversells is a match that falls apart. That costs you more than it costs anyone else.

Talk to people the way you'd want to be talked to

• Be polite, even when you're not interested.
• Reply if you can. If you can't be bothered, that's fine — but don't string someone along.
• If someone says no, or stops replying, leave it there. Don't keep messaging.
• No abuse, no threats, no name-calling, no comments about someone's disability, race, religion, sexuality, gender or culture.
• No sexual messages or images to someone who hasn't invited them. Ever.

Respect other people's privacy

• What someone shares with you here — their support needs, their situation, their photos — stays between you.
• Don't screenshot someone's profile or messages and share them around.
• Don't add someone to a group chat, a social post or a family conversation without asking them first.

Keep your own information safe

• Don't send money to anyone you've met on Marco Polo. There is no reason a housemate or provider needs a deposit, a transfer or a gift card from you before you've seen a home and had proper paperwork. If someone asks, tell us.
• Don't share bank details, your NDIS number, myGov logins or copies of your ID over chat.
• If something feels off, it probably is. You're allowed to stop and ask us.

Meeting up, visiting homes, moving in

Marco Polo helps you find people. The actual meeting happens in the real world, and that part is worth doing carefully.

Meeting a potential housemate

• Meet somewhere public the first time — a café, a park, a shopping centre.
• Tell someone you trust where you're going and when you'll be back. Take your phone.
• Bring a support person if you'd like one. It's not a weakness, it's sensible.
• You can leave at any point, for any reason, without explaining yourself.

Visiting a home

• Look at the whole place, not just the bedroom. Bathroom, kitchen, laundry, front door, exits, access.
• Ask who else lives there and who comes and goes.
• Ask whatever you want to ask. There is no rude question when it's about a place you might live.
• Don't sign anything on the day. Take it away, read it, and get someone you trust to read it too.

Living together

• Do what you said you'd do. If you told your housemates you'd keep the kitchen clean, keep the kitchen clean.
• Sort out the boring stuff early — bills, chores, guests, quiet hours. Write it down.
• Talk about problems while they're small, don't let things get out of hand.
• Nobody has to put up with being treated badly at home. Not you, and not the people you live with.

What you can expect from us

• We'll keep your information secure and use it only to help you find matches.
• You control your profile. You can change it, hide it, or delete it whenever you want.
• We'll take you seriously if you report something.
• We'll never tell you who to live with. Suggestions, yes. Decisions, no.

Things that will get an account removed

Some behaviour ends things immediately:

• Pretending to be someone you're not, or setting up a fake profile.
• Sexual harassment, or any sexual contact or content involving a child.
• Threats, stalking, or violence.
• Scams, fraud, or pressuring someone for money.
• Targeting people on this platform because they have a disability.

We report criminal behaviour to police. We report safeguarding concerns to the right authority. We don't negotiate on this.

If something goes wrong

Tell us. You don't need to have proof, and you don't need to be certain.

• Email info@marcopoloportal.com
• Phone (07) 5616 4904

In an emergency, call 000. To talk to someone now, Lifeline is 13 11 14 — any time, day or night.

If your concern is about a support you're receiving from an NDIS provider, you can also contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on 1800 035 544. You can do that whether or not you tell us.

You can bring a support person, a family member, an advocate or your coordinator into any conversation with us.

Code of Conduct — Support Coordinators

For support coordinators, specialist support coordinators and recovery coaches using Marco Polo Portal on behalf of participants.

Why you're here

You have access to a database of real people looking for a home and the right housemates. That access is a privilege participants extend to you, not a resource you own.

Marco Polo is free for coordinators at the time of this writting. What we ask in return is that you use it the way it was built to be used: to widen your client's options, not to narrow them.

What we expect from you

Consent comes first, every time

• Get your client's informed consent before you create a profile, share their information, or contact anyone on their behalf. Consent to search is not consent to disclose.
• Tell them what you're going to share and who will see it. Then share only that.
• If your client has a decision-maker or guardian, follow that arrangement — and still involve your client in the conversation. A formal arrangement about decisions is not a reason to stop asking someone what they want.
• Consent can be withdrawn. If your client changes their mind, act on it the same day.

The decision is your client's

This is the part that matters most.

• Present options. Don't pre-select one and present it as the only realistic choice.
• Give your client the information in a format they can actually use, and the time they need to think about it.
• Don't let a vacancy deadline drive a decision that will shape someone's next five years. If a provider is applying pressure, tell us.
• If your professional view differs from your client's choice, say so honestly, once, and record it. Then support the choice they've made.

Search and use the database properly

• Search only for participants you're actively working with, on a matter you're engaged for.
• Don't browse profiles out of curiosity, and don't look up people you know personally.
• Don't extract, copy, scrape or bulk-download participant data. Don't build your own list from ours.
• Your login is yours. Don't share it with colleagues, students or agency staff — get them their own.
• Tell us when you leave your organisation so the account can be closed properly.

Declare conflicts, plainly

• If you or your employer has a commercial or ownership interest in a provider, vacancy or property you're putting in front of a client, disclose it to the client in writing before they consider it.
• Don't accept referral fees, commissions, gifts or hospitality in exchange for placing a participant. Don't offer them either.
• If you work for an organisation that also delivers SIL, ILO or in-home supports, be explicit with your client that they can choose someone else — and mean it.
• Where you're uncertain whether something is a conflict, treat it as one and disclose it.

Deal straight with everyone on the platform

• Be accurate about your client's needs, preferences and situation when you talk to providers and potential housemates. Overstating a fit to get a placement over the line hurts your client first.
• Reply to providers and other coordinators within a reasonable time, even if the answer is no.
• Don't misrepresent yourself, your registration status, or your authority to act.
• Keep other participants' information confidential — including from your own clients. A group match means several people's information is in play.

Handle safeguarding the way you'd want it handled for your own family

• If you become aware of abuse, neglect, exploitation or an unsafe living situation through Marco Polo, act on your own reporting obligations, and let us know so we can act on ours.
• Don't quietly move a client out of a bad situation and leave the situation in place for the next person.

What you can expect from us

• Free access, with no bait-and-switch later.
• A straight answer when you ask us something, including when the answer is "we don't know."
• Somewhere to take a concern about a provider's conduct on the platform.
• We won't use your searches or your client list to market to your clients around you.

Things that will end your access

• Sharing or selling participant data outside the platform.
• Searching or accessing profiles for a purpose other than supporting a client.
• Taking or offering an inducement to steer a participant to a particular provider.
• Falsifying consent.
• Concealing a safeguarding concern.

Where conduct engages your obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct or your registration, we will report it to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission as required, and we'll tell you we've done it.

Raising something with us

• Email info@marcopoloportal.com
• Phone (07) 5616 4904

Complaints naming a specific provider, coordinator or individual go to a member of our team, not to an automated process. Serious safeguarding matters can also go directly to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on 1800 035 544, and to police or 000 where someone is at immediate risk.

Code of Conduct — SIL, ILO and In-Home Providers

For providers listing vacancies and receiving matched groups through Marco Polo Portal.

The deal

You get access to participants who have chosen each other, who know what they're looking for, and who want to live somewhere that fits. That's a better starting point than an ad on a noticeboard, and it's why placements made this way tend to stick.

The reason it works is that participants trust the platform. This code is how we keep that true. Read it as the terms of being here, not as a nice sentiment.

What we expect from you

Advertise what you actually have

Your vacancy listing is the thing a participant decides on. It needs to be accurate on the day it's published and accurate on the day they read it.

• Describe the property as it is. Current photos of the actual home (when available on platform)— not a display home, not a similar property, not a render.
• Be specific about accessibility. Step-free entry, doorway widths, bathroom set-up, ceiling hoist, accessible parking — say what's there and what isn't. "Accessible" on its own tells a participant nothing.
• State who already lives there, how many people, and what supports are in place.
• State the location honestly. Suburb, transport, and how far from things.
• Be clear about the support model and what it does and doesn't include.
• Take the listing down when it's filled. Stale vacancies waste participants' hope, which is worse than wasting their time.
• Don't list a property you don't have the right to offer.

Never pressure a participant

This is where we're least flexible.

• No deadlines invented to force a decision. If a real deadline exists, say what it is and why.
• No "this is the only place that will take someone with your needs." That is coercion, and it is usually untrue.
• No approaching a participant's family, guardian or coordinator to get around a no you've already been given.
• No incentives, gifts or inducements offered to a participant, family member or coordinator to secure a placement.
• No bundling. A participant choosing your house does not have to choose your other services, and shouldn't be told otherwise.
• If a participant says no, or goes quiet, that's the end of it.

Respect who chose whom

Participants come to Marco Polo as groups they formed themselves. That grouping is the point.

• Don't try to split a matched group to fill separate vacancies faster.
• Don't add a resident to an existing household without the current residents being part of that conversation.
• Don't propose a match you know doesn't fit because you need the room filled. Every re-placement is a person's life disrupted.

Handle information properly

• Use participant information only to assess and discuss the vacancy it was shared for.
• Don't add participants to your marketing lists, CRM campaigns or newsletters off the back of a Marco Polo enquiry.
• Don't share a participant's details with other providers, brokers or landlords without their consent.
• Don't take, copy or extract participant data from the platform for your own database.
• Keep your staff accounts individual and current, and tell us when someone leaves.

Meet your obligations, and don't ask us to cover for you

• Hold and maintain your own registration, insurance, worker screening and compliance. Marco Polo does not verify these on your behalf.
• Comply with the NDIS Code of Conduct and your obligations to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, including incident reporting. Being matched through Marco Polo changes none of that.
• Support participant choice and control in practice, not just in your policy documents. That includes visitors, coming and going, and the right to change providers without their housing being threatened.
• Never link someone's home to their continued use of your supports. If a participant wants to change providers, that conversation and their tenancy are separate.
• Be reachable. Answer enquiries from participants and coordinators within 7 days or as soon as practicable

Be a decent participant in the community

• No talking down other providers on the platform to win a placement. Compete on what you offer.
• Don't use Marco Polo to recruit staff, sell unrelated services, or market to coordinators outside the intended features.
• If you disagree with something we've done, tell us directly. We'd rather have the diagreement than lose the trust.

What you can expect from us

• Vacancies put in front of participants who are genuinely looking, and groups that have already formed.
• Clear pricing, with no surprise changes mid-term.
• A fair hearing before any action is taken on your listings or account, unless someone's safety requires us to act first.
• Honest feedback from us when participants tell us something about your listings or conduct.
• We won't take payment to rank one provider above another, unless clearly stipulated or ammended in our policies.

Things that will end your access

• Listing a property, support model or accessibility feature that materially isn't as described.
• Coercing, pressuring or inducing a participant, family member or coordinator.
• Using participant data outside the platform's purpose.
• Retaliating against a participant, coordinator or staff member for raising a concern.
• Concealing a reportable incident or safeguarding concern.
• Threatening someone's housing over their choice of provider.

Where we identify conduct that engages the NDIS Code of Conduct or provider registration obligations, we report it to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. We don't weigh that against the commercial relationship, and we won't be talked out of it.

Raising something with us

• Email info@marcopoloportal.com
• Phone (07) 5616 4904

Concerns about a specific provider, coordinator or individual are handled by a member of our team. Anyone can also contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on 1800 035 544 directly, and 000 where someone is at immediate risk.

We may update this, a disclaimer

Marco Polo Portal may change, update or replace this code of conduct at any time. We'll publish the current version here, and we'll let you know when we make a change that materially affects you.

The version published on this page is the one that applies. If you keep using Marco Polo after a change takes effect, that means you accept the updated code.

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