Public record
Legislation in three jurisdictions, a 2026 Federal Court of Australia civil penalty outcome, and a source-linked archive of 14 media or public records.
In November 2019, Ireland enacted Section 43A of the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Act 2019. It criminalises providing and advertising cheating services, with penalties for providers and advertisers of up to €100,000, up to five years’ imprisonment, or both.
Australia’s 2020 amendment to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 prohibits providing or advertising academic cheating services. Commercial conduct can attract criminal and civil penalties; the maximum criminal penalty is 500 penalty units, two years’ imprisonment, or both. Unpaid provision can attract civil penalties.
TEQSA legislation summary and Federal Register of Legislation
England’s Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022 received Royal Assent in April 2022. It makes providing, arranging or advertising cheating services for financial gain to post-16 students in England a criminal offence.
Australia’s Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency began Federal Court proceedings against a major US-based online study-help platform in October 2024. The case ultimately concerned three assessments at Monash University in 2021–22. After the platform admitted three contraventions of subsection 114A(3), the Court made declarations and, on 27 March 2026, Justice Craig Lenehan imposed an A$500,000 civil penalty plus A$150,000 costs. The judgment, Chief Executive Officer of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency v Chegg, Inc. [2026] FCA 330, was the first successful Federal Court outcome under Australia’s academic-cheating-services legislation.
Federal Court judgment, [2026] FCA 330, TEQSA announcement, and Times Higher Education report
The 2026 edition brings together a selective collection of court, publisher, government, parliamentary and regulator records.
The archive includes selected court, publisher, government, parliamentary and regulator records relevant to contract cheating policy and public discussion.
The page covers legal measures in Ireland, Australia and England, alongside selected media and public records. The boundaries of each jurisdiction are preserved rather than treating them as one global legal regime.
After the platform admitted three contraventions, the Federal Court made declarations and, on 27 March 2026, imposed an A$500,000 civil penalty plus A$150,000 costs. It was the first successful Federal Court outcome under Australia’s academic-cheating-services legislation.
Suggested citation:
ContractCheating.com. (2026). Media and policy. https://contractcheating.com/media-and-policy