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 if allegations are upheld (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.
Schedule a time to chat
How Student Advocacy can support you
You can 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
- provide you with information and templates to 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.
Follow the steps below or download a pdf version (168 KB).
What to do next
Make sure you understand what you're 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.
If you’re being accused of something that relates to potentially illegal behaviour under civil or criminal law, it’s important you seek external legal advice before trying to defend yourself as anything you write or say can be used in further legal proceedings.
You should also think about the allegation and penalty. You may disagree with the allegation altogether and want to challenge it. Or maybe you were facing difficult circumstances that you think haven’t been taken account and should be reflected in a lower penalty.
Student Advocacy can support you to respond to the allegation. We can:
- help you to understand what you're being accused of.
- help with your 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.
You can request an appointment with Student Advocacy by filling out the online form and answering a few questions.
Remember, if the matter refers to potential illegal behaviour under civil or criminal law, you should seek external legal advice as anything you say or write may be used in further legal proceedings.
Your response should describe the incident from your point of view. Explain why you don't agree with the allegation and/or the evidence presented. There may also be additional information that you would like the committee to consider.
Not sure how to start? Use our letter template (PDF 188 KB).
A hearing is similar to an interview and will be conducted by a single staff member or a committee of relevant staff. Its purpose is to discuss the allegations, review the available information, and give you an opportunity to respond. No-one previously involved in making the allegation or deciding the penalty will be at the hearing.
The hearing chair will explain the allegation and ask you questions. You have the right to answer their questions (or not), make extra points and ask questions.
We encourage you to take a support person to your hearing. They can't act as a legal professional or speak (unless invited to do so by the chair), but they may take notes.
The outcome of your hearing will be emailed to you.
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.