Search Page

Perth’s Murdoch University and other universities have become heavily reliant on foreign student fees to bolster their incomes. 50 professors from the Australian Research Council’s Laureate Fellowship condemned the decision to take legal action against an associate professor from the university. Deeply concerned about the integrity of academic teaching, the professor complained on television that the university was not only enrolling international students whose English was inadequate but also allow them to graduate.

The Minister of Education announced that cheats selling their services to Australian university students would face two years imprisonment or fines of up to AU$100,000. Students who cheat will also be subject to their institutions’ own academic integrity policies and sanctions. The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency will be empowered to request legal measures to force internet service providers and search engines to block cheating websites.

The new Federal government-funded Education Integrity Unit will monitor academic misconduct at Australian Universities. Researchers report that between 6 and 10 per cent of students have cheated during their studies. The new academic Unit will address “emerging threats” to academic and research integrity, admission standards and information, student safety, foreign interference, cybersecurity, fraud, and corruption.