General misconduct
Find out what action you can take if you received a general misconduct letter.
If you’ve received a general misconduct letter, it means your behaviour may have breached the university's standards. Actions that fall under general misconduct include being disruptive, offensive or harmful to others, gaining unauthorised access to IT systems and damaging the university's property or reputation. You'll find a full list in the Student Misconduct Procedure.
Federation takes all forms of misconduct seriously, and there are significant penalties for upheld allegations (see Section 52 of the Federation University Australia (Students) Regulations 2022 (PDF 357 KB)). While you'll always have the right to respond to and contest allegations, you can be immediately excluded from campus and/or University activities without a hearing if:
- there is a reasonable expectation that others will come to harm as a result of the behaviour
- the behaviour seriously disrupts the conduct of University business
- the matter has been, or will be, referred to the police.
What to do next
Follow these steps or download a pdf version (168 KB).
How Student Advocacy can support you
You ask for help at any point in the process, but the earlier the better. We can:
- clarify what you're being accused of and explain the penalty
- advise you on your rights and the procedures
- help you write a response
- review a draft of your response and give you feedback
- prepare you for your hearing
- attend the hearing with you as a support person
- help you with any further appeals processes.
Schedule a time to chat
Counselling
If you'd like to talk to someone about any challenges you're having, consider booking time with one of our counsellors. The service is free and confidential.