Macquarie academic integrity notice: what to do

Macquarie gives you five business days to respond to an academic integrity breach notice. You may request an extension of time to respond; reasonable requests should be accepted. Start by reading the notice and the evidence it includes, then check what you need to do.

Read the notice and the evidence

The university gives you a notice under its academic integrity procedure that sets out the concern. The notice includes all evidence available from the report and an electronic copy of the Academic Integrity Policy and the procedure, or the address of those documents on the university website. Read the notice and the evidence before you reply. Check the assessment, the concern and the documents named. Keep a copy of what you send and what you receive. If you rely on evidence, it must be true.

Respond within five business days

Macquarie gives you five business days to respond to the notice. You may request an extension of time to respond; reasonable requests should be accepted. The pages we read do not set out how to request an extension, so check your notice and the university's page for the method. If you do not respond to the allegation, a decision may be made in your absence. If there is a meeting, you may bring a support person. Their role is to provide emotional support and not to present your case.

1. Read the notice and the evidence.
2. Check the response date and whether you need to ask for an extension.
3. Prepare what you will say about the concern, using true evidence.
4. Keep copies of what you send and receive.

What the Academic Integrity Officer can decide

An Academic Integrity Officer reviews all available evidence. The officer may determine that no breach has occurred, that poor academic practice has occurred, that a breach has occurred and a level one outcome or outcomes apply, or that a breach has occurred and a more serious level two outcome or outcomes are appropriate. The Academic Integrity Officer then escalates the matter to the Faculty Integrity Committee, The College Integrity Committee or the Registrar as appropriate. Level one outcomes include a warning, educative counselling, a corrected resubmission, a reduced mark, or zero marks for the assessment item. Level two outcomes include a direction to complete or recomplete the Academic Integrity module, a direction that the student complete or repeat the Academic Integrity Module and/or undertake another learning activity, failure in the Unit with a mark of zero (0) (FL Grade), exclusion from the course, for a period not exceeding two (2) years. One or more outcomes may be applied by an Academic Integrity Officer, or Faculty Integrity Committee or The College Integrity Committee. A poor academic practice or outcome decision must be proportionate to the type and circumstance of the breach. In deciding this, the decision-maker must take into account the nature, severity and impact of the breach, the effect that the outcome or outcomes will have, any previous breaches the student has engaged in, and the student's personal circumstances and level of experience.

If the decision goes against you

An appeal of an academic integrity breach or sanction decision, other than suspension or exclusion, must be lodged within ten Working Days after the original decision has been communicated. Suspension or exclusion sanctions have twenty Working Days. The appeal application must identify the original decision and attach a copy of any relevant correspondence, specify the ground or grounds for appeal and explain how each ground applies to the current appeal, and include any available evidence to support the appeal. Talk to Student Advocacy, listed under Free help, about what you are preparing. The pages we read do not set out the exact appeal form or where to lodge it, so check the decision letter and the university's appeal page for those details.