• Section 1 - Summary
• Section 2 -  Scope
• Section 3 - Policy Statement
• Part A - What is Academic Integrity?
• Part B - Poor Scholarship
• Part C - Types of Breaches of Academic Integrity
• Plagiarism
• Washing
• Contract Cheating
• File Sharing
• Collusion
• Secure Assessment, Examination and Test Cheating
• Bribery
• Falsification of Information
• Part D - Responding to Breaches of Academic Integrity
• Part E - Recording, Monitoring and Reporting on Academic Integrity Breaches
• Section 4 - Procedures
• Section 5 - HESF/ASQA/ESOS Alignment
• Section 6 - Definitions

Section 1 - Summary

(1) This Policy:

1. outlines Victoria University’s (VU’s) commitment to the principles of honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility that underpin all academic activity; and
2. supports student and staff recognition and adoption of these principles in all academic activities.

(2) This Policy should be read in conjunction with the:

1. Student Misconduct Regulations 2019 and the Student Misconduct Procedure;
2. Academic Integrity Procedure;
3. Assessment for Learning Policy;
4. Student Conduct Policy;
5. AI Governance and Responsible Use Policy;
6. Material available on VU’s Student AI Hub;
7. Material available on VU’s Academic Misconduct site;
8. Material available on Academic Integrity Register (AIR) System Site (staff only).

Section 2 -  Scope

(3) This Policy applies to all students and staff with respect to:

1. Work submitted for assessment or completed as part of assessment activities;
2. Works submitted for publication;
3. Works involving the use of the research data materials or research findings of others.

(4) This Policy does not apply to research integrity. Research integrity is covered at VU under the Research Integrity Policy.

Section 3 - Policy Statement

(5) Academic integrity and honesty are integral to maintaining the academic standards and reputation of VU and its graduates. VU is committed to upholding high standards of academic integrity in all teaching and assessment environments, including online.

(6) The University adopts a holistic approach to academic integrity, encompassing prevention, detection, responses to concerns and breaches and continuous improvement.

(7) Responses to breaches of academic integrity will be proportionate, consistent, and informed by the nature, extent and intent of the conduct.

(8) Detailed requirements for the prevention, detection and response to breaches of academic integrity are set out in the Academic Integrity Procedure.

Part A - What is Academic Integrity?

(9) Academic integrity is the ethical basis upon which academic work is produced. It comprises six important values that shape the work of VU in teaching, research and engagement. These are:

1. Honesty, which involves acknowledging the work and ideas of others and tools used;
2. Trust, which is a mutual relationship between teachers and students;
3. Fairness, through the establishment and communication of clear and transparent and realistic assessment expectations and standards that are applied consistently;
4. Respect for the participatory nature of learning and the work and perspective of others;
5. Responsibility, which highlights that every person at the University has a duty to maintain academic integrity;
6. Courage, which allows learners to commit to the quality of their education by holding themselves and their fellow learners to the highest standards of academic integrity even when doing so involves risk of negative consequences.

(10) VU supports the maintenance of academic integrity through:

1. the promotion of academic integrity modules and the integration of good practices in teaching;
2. the provision of learning and student support services, including library resources;
3. the regular and consistent reporting of academic misconduct allegations and identification of strategies to improve practices;
4. the incorporation of assessment design strategies that minimise the opportunity for breaches of academic misconduct;
5. the adoption of a ranked response to integrity breaches from early intervention processes to sanctions in light of the seriousness of the breach, the unfair advantage created and the intent of the action;
6. the implementation of prevention and detection measures as outlined in the Academic Integrity Procedure; and,
7. alignment with the Assessment for Learning Policy in the design and delivery of assessment.

(11) Types of breaches of academic integrity include:

1. Plagiarism;
2. Failures of correct acknowledgement practice;
3. Contract cheating or requesting or paying for another person to prepare an assessable piece of work;
4. Submitting (for assessment or review) work prepared by another person;
5. Using generative artificial intelligence in a manner inconsistent with acknowledgement requirements;
6. Breach of secure assessment conditions, including the use of generative artificial intelligence where that contravenes the design and instructions of a secure assessment;
7. Collusion;
8. All forms of cheating in examinations, tests and secure assessments;
9. Offering or accepting bribes to obtain or give an unearned academic advantage; and
10. Fabrication or falsification of information.

Part B - Poor Scholarship

(12) Poor scholarship in terms of inadequate referencing is not an academic integrity matter and does not constitute academic misconduct. It should be addressed through educative responses within the teaching, learning and assessment environment, and distinguished from plagiarism, where substantive amounts of material from another source are used without a genuine attempt at acknowledgment. 

Part C - Types of Breaches of Academic Integrity

(13) Detailed guidance, examples and detection methods are set out in the Academic Integrity Procedure.

Plagiarism

(14) Plagiarism is the use of another person's intellectual output, or the output of material generated using artificial intelligence tools, without appropriate acknowledgement.

(15) Examples of plagiarism include:

1. Presenting another person's work or research data as your own work;
2. Copying out parts of any work without acknowledging the source(s);
3. Using concepts, conclusions or arguments of another person without acknowledgement; and
4. The use of artificial intelligence models to generate any of the above without acknowledging the use of the model where such usage involves an intention to create the impression that the work is being claimed as one's own to gain an advantage and/or deceive an assessor.

(16) Plagiarism may constitute academic misconduct, depending on the nature, extent and intent of the conduct. In some cases, an educative response may be appropriate where there is evidence that plagiarism has occurred due to an inadvertent failure to understand the rules of assessment and citation. 

(17) The reuse of previously submitted work is not plagiarism, but it may not be permitted where an assessment requires original work. Any reuse of prior work must be appropriately acknowledged.

Washing

(18) Washing is a form of plagiarism in which translation tools, text-spinning or similar techniques are used to disguise copied material by generating an ostensibly new version of the work.  

(19) Washing is an intentional act designed to conceal plagiarism and demonstrates awareness of the impropriety of the behaviour. Where there is verifiable evidence of washing, the matter will be treated as academic misconduct. 

Contract Cheating

(20) Contract cheating occurs when a student requests someone else to produce all or part of an assessment task that is submitted as their own work, including arrangements through a third party. Contract cheating is usually, but not exclusively, a paid arrangement.

(21)  Contract cheating is a serious breach of academic integrity and a form of fraud. It has implications for students learning outcomes, the reputation of VU, educational standards and credibility, and public safety, particularly in professionally accredited disciplines. 

(22) Contract cheating is academic misconduct in all instances and will be addressed in accordance with the Student Misconduct Regulations 2019 and Student Misconduct Procedure.

(23) The provision of contract cheating services is a criminal offence in Australia under the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Amendment (Prohibiting Academic Cheating Services) Act 2020. The legislation criminalises the provision of academic cheating services.

File Sharing

(24) Academic file-sharing is the transfer and trading of lecture, unit and class materials, notes, assessment tasks, answers, and responses with others, including through online platforms. It differs from contract cheating in that it does not necessarily involve payments and often involves reciprocal sharing of individuals' own completed assessment tasks.

(25) Academic file-sharing is not permitted unless:

1. The student or graduate has sought or been granted explicit permission by the Course Chair to share the relevant material (this may be done at a whole-class level if appropriate); and
2. The material being shared does not contain any content which is the intellectual property of a third person (e.g. lecture notes which capture verbatim the lecturer's speech, rather than the student's interpretation of it).

(26) Unauthorised file-sharing may constitute academic misconduct, depending on the nature, extent and intent of the conduct. In some cases, an educative response may be appropriate where there is evidence of a misunderstanding of the University's requirements, or where the student has not been given an appropriate opportunity to rectify any unintended breach.

Collusion

(27) Collusion is unauthorised collaboration on assessable work (written, oral or practical) with others. This can occur when a student presents group work as their own or as the work of another person.

(28) Collusion may be with another VU student or with people or students external to the University. This applies to work assessed by VU or another university.

(29) Collusion may constitute academic misconduct, depending on the nature, extent and intent of the conduct. In some cases, an educative response may be appropriate where there is evidence of a misunderstanding of assessment requirements. 

Secure Assessment, Examination and Test Cheating

(30) Cheating in secure assessments, examinations or tests occurs when a student uses any method to attempt to gain an unfair advantage in secure assessments, exam or test environment, whether in-person or online.

(31) Breaching of secure assessment conditions through the use of generative AI or any other tool, resource or assistance that contravenes the design and instructions of a secure assessment constitutes academic misconduct in all instances and will be addressed in accordance with Student Misconduct Regulations 2019 and Student Misconduct Procedure.

(32) The use of wearable devices including ear buds, smart watches, smart glasses in secure assessment conditions where the intention is to gain an unfair advantage in assessment settings will be addressed as academic misconduct in accordance with the Student Misconduct Regulations 2019 and Student Misconduct Procedure.

(33) Examination or test cheating constitutes academic misconduct in all instances and will be addressed in accordance with the Student Misconduct Regulations 2019 and Student Misconduct Procedure.

Bribery

(34) Bribery occurs where a person offers, solicits or accepts any benefit or advantage to influence a student’s academic outcome or standing.  Benefits may be financial or non-financial.

(35) Bribery is a serious breach of academic integrity, and may also constitute corruption. 

(36) Bribery constitutes both academic and general misconduct and will be addressed in accordance with the Student Misconduct Regulations 2019 and Student Misconduct Procedure.

Falsification of Information

(37) Falsification of information occurs where a student provides false, misleading or fabricated information in relation to assessment, academic work or their academic record.  It includes the fabrication of documentation, records, data or misrepresentation of academic achievements.

(38) Falsifying information consitutes academic misconduct in all instances and will be addressed in accordance with the Student Misconduct Regulations 2019 and Student Misconduct Procedure.

Part D - Responding to Breaches of Academic Integrity

(39) When dealing with a suspected or potential breach of academic integrity, VU will respond in a manner that is appropriate and proportionate and informed by the nature extent and intent of the conduct, including whether the behaviour reflects poor scholarship, inadvertent error or deliberate misconduct. Detailed processes for responding to breaches are set out in the Academic Integrity Procedure.

(40) The following forms of academic integrity breach may, depending on the circumstances, be addressed through either an educative or misconduct response:

1. Plagiarism;
2. Collusion;
3. File-sharing.

(41) The following forms of academic integrity breach constitute academic misconduct in all instances:

1. Contract cheating;
2. Secure Assessment, Examination and test cheating;
3. Falsification of information;
4. Bribery.

(42) If an academic integrity breach is not suitable for an educative response, it is treated as a misconduct matter. 

(43) Investigations will be conducted in accordance with the processes established in the: 

1. Student Misconduct Regulations 2019 and Student Misconduct Procedure; or 
2. The misconduct processes established under the relevant industrial instrument (for staff). 

(44) Student academic misconduct matters are investigated by the College in accordance with the provisions and processes prescribed in the Student Misconduct Regulations 2019 and Student Misconduct Procedure. 

(45) Restorative responses acknowledge instances where a student engages honestly and demonstrates a willingness to take responsibility to learn and take responsibility for their actions. These responses may be applied in appropriate cases of substantiated academic misconduct and combine proportionate sanctions with actions to address harm and support the student to re-engage with academic integrity expectations.

Part E - Recording, Monitoring and Reporting on Academic Integrity Breaches

(46) VU maintains central oversight of academic integrity through defined reporting, monitoring and governance mechanisms.

(47) VU maintains an Academic Integrity Register, recording the details of the breach, the response, and the action taken. 

(48) All staff who detect a breach of academic integrity by a student must:

1. Check the Academic Integrity Register to ascertain if the student has a prior record; and,
2. Record the breach on the University’s Academic Integrity Register with specified details about the incident.

(49) Annual reports with de-identified data will be presented to the Academic Board. 

(50) Reports of related incidents to academic integrity breaches may be reported to external regulatory bodies as required by those bodies.

(51) The University will monitor academic integrity data and trends to inform continuous improvement in teaching, learning and assessment practices.

Section 4 - Procedures

(52) Academic Integrity Procedure

Section 5 - HESF/ASQA/ESOS Alignment

(53) HESF: Standards 5.2 Academic and Research Integrity; 6.2.1 Corporate Monitoring and Accountability (specifically 6.2.1j); 7.2 Information for Prospective and Current Students (specifically 7.2.2d); 7.3 Information Management (specifically 7.3.3).

(54) Outcome Standards for NVR Registered Training Organisations 2025: 1.3-1.5 Assessment; 2.1-2.2 Information; 2.3 Training Support; 3.2-3.3 Trainer and Assessor Competencies. 

Section 6 - Definitions

(55) Academic Integrity

(56) Artificial Intelligence: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) language models (such as ChatGPT and Copilot) which respond to natural language text inputs and are designed to generate human-like responses or AI Work Flows which determine decisions, actions and tasks with minimal human input. 

(57) Collusion

(58) Contract Cheating

(59) File Sharing

(60) Plagiarism

(61) Poor scholarship: The inadequate, incomplete or misleading citation of references and sources, including the student's own work.

(62) Research

(63) Secure Assessment: Refer to Assessment for Learning Policy.

(64) Washing