Monash plagiarism, cheating or AI allegation: what to do

Read the notice and check which one you have

Monash uses two notices. If a staff member suspects a breach, they report it to the Chief Examiner of your unit. The Chief Examiner investigates whether there is evidence of a breach and decides whether it is minor or more serious. You then receive a Notice of Suspected Breach and can respond with a Student Response form. If the matter is treated as academic misconduct, Student Conduct and Complaints sends a Notice of Allegation of Academic Misconduct to your Monash email address, with supporting evidence and a Student Response to Notice of Allegation of Misconduct form. Check the sender and notice name before you calculate your deadline. The suspected breach page says five business days; the allegation notice says five University working days.

What to do first

1. Read the notice, supporting evidence and form. Note the notice type, sender and exact deadline.
2. Keep a copy of the notice, evidence, form you send and any documents you rely on. Do not alter a document or create new records of past events.
3. Contact a free student advocate: MGA Advocacy service or Student Advocacy & Support (SAS). A student advocate can help you prepare your response and accompany you to any meeting as a support person.
4. Respond using the form by the stated deadline. For a Notice of Allegation of Academic Misconduct, email the Student Response form with any refuting evidence. If you do not respond, a decision is made without your explanation. For a Notice of Suspected Breach, the pages state you have an opportunity to respond within five business days using the Student Response form sent to you.
5. If you admit the breach, explain the circumstances leading to it and why you believe it happened. If you deny it, use the form to respond to the allegation and the evidence. The pages we read do not give a template response, so ask the advocate to help you put your account in order.

What makes a cleaner response

Use only evidence that is true. Read each part of the notice and answer the specific point it makes about your assessment. If you rely on a document, keep the original or a clear copy and explain what it shows in plain words. The pages we read do not state how much weight the Chief Examiner or responsible officer gives to different kinds of evidence, so confirm that with the advocate or your faculty. Do not invent a reason, exaggerate, backdate or alter a document, or obtain a certificate for an illness you did not have.

What happens after you respond

For a suspected breach, the Chief Examiner considers your response and decides whether a breach occurred and, if so, what type it is. The penalty reflects how serious the breach is. A breach can only be minor if you have no previous records of breaches on the academic integrity register. If the register shows a past breach, your current breach will be considered serious. For a misconduct report, Student Conduct and Complaints assesses your case and refers it to your teaching faculty's responsible officer. That officer decides the action, which may include dismissing the report or escalating the case to a Student Misconduct Panel. When you are reported for academic misconduct, your chief examiner will give you a temporary WH (withheld) grade for your unit until the investigation ends. Within seven University working days of the responsible officer reaching a decision, Student Conduct and Complaints sends the outcome to your Monash email address. The pages we read do not state how long the Chief Examiner's investigation takes; confirm timing with the advocate.

If the decision goes against you

To appeal a decision of a responsible officer or Student Misconduct Panel, submit an online student misconduct appeals form within 20 University working days of the date of the Notice of Decision. The grounds are limited: actual or perceived bias, excessive penalty, new evidence, breach of natural justice, or a clearly wrong decision. A witness, complainant or the University cannot appeal a decision of a responsible officer or Student Misconduct Panel. After you submit, the chair of a Student Appeals Panel reviews it and decides whether to advise the University to set up a full Student Appeals Panel to hear the appeal, or dismiss the appeal.