General and Academic Misconduct

The University takes all forms of misconduct very seriously, and there can be significant penalties if misconduct allegations are upheld. However, you always have the right to respond to and contest allegations of misconduct, and Student Advocacy can help you to do this.

For Academic Misconduct, please head to our dedicated webpage.

General Misconduct

General Misconduct refers to behaviour that:

  • Is disorderly/offensive; and/or
  • Is detrimental to the functioning of the University, it's facilities, property or services; and/or
  • Allows unlawful access to IT equipment or systems; and/or
  • Harms (or has the potential to harm) others physically or psychologically; and/or
  • Brings the University into disrepute

A full range of behaviour that may be classed as General Misconduct are listed in the Students Regulation (Section 49). In most instances, if you are alleged to  have engaged in General Misconduct, you will be sent a letter and invited to a hearing to discuss the matter. However, students may be immediately excluded from campus and/or University activities without 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

If you have been accused of General Misconduct, here are some steps you can follow.

Step 1 - Read the letter and review any evidence

Make sure you understand what you are being accused of. If no evidence is provided for the charge, or the evidence appears unclear or incomplete, you can reply to the email to ask questions and request further evidence. In most instances, you will have been given a hearing date with the Student Misconduct Committee, unless one of the criteria for immediate exclusion has been alleged.

Step 2 - Contact us

Student Advocacy can support you to appeal the charge. We can:

  • Help you to understand what you're being accused of
  • Help you write a response - we can give you initial advice, review a draft and give you feedback before you submit it
  • Help you prepare for a hearing
  • Attend the hearing with you as a support person

Please complete our appointment form to discuss this with one of our Advocates.

Step 3 - Write a response

Depending on the circumstances, your response may be written to either contest the allegation, or to reduce the penalty. If the matter relates to potentially illegal behaviour under civil or criminal law, please seek external legal advice before responding. Anything you write in response to the charge can be used in further legal proceedings.

Step 4 - Attend a hearing

A hearing is like an interview, and will be conducted by the Student Misconduct Committee. This committee may include relevant University staff, a Federation student and/or external members of the community. No-one who has been involved in the case prior to the charge should be part of the committee, and if you'd like to discuss this, please get in touch with us. The committee members will explain the charge and ask you questions. You have the right to answer their questions  (or to not answer them), make any additional points you think are relevant and to ask questions of the committee. One you have left the hearing, the committee will have a discussion and decide on an outcome, which will be communicated to you via your student email at a later date. Possible penalties if the charge is upheld are listed in the Student Regulation (Section 52).