A circle with a green edge and bar across it. On the green edge the words "cheaters cheat you out of your degree.Contract Cheating: What It Is and Why It Matters   

Commercial academic contract cheating services, sometimes known more simply as contract cheating, ghost writing services or essay mills, was made illegal in Australia in 2020. These commercial services found to be advertising or providing such services can face fines up to $110,000 which also includes overseas based operations. 

Commercial contract cheating occurs when you pay someone else—or use a service—to complete academic work that you're supposed to do yourself. This includes:

  • Paying someone to write your essay, assignment, or report
  • Hiring someone to sit an exam or quiz for you
  • Submitting work created by tutoring services or online writing mills
  • Asking someone to code a programming assignment for you

Contract Cheating Under UNE's Student Academic Integrity Policy 

Engaging in contract cheating is not necessarily when you pay a commercial service or individual agent to complete your assessments. Contract cheating is also categorised in UNE's Student Academic Integrity Policy as "using work freely obtained from another person, internet site, computer program, artificial intelligence tool or other tool". Whilst UNE embraces the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in learning, you must do so ethically and within the expectations provided in your unit/assessment guidelines. Used beyond this expectation means you could potentially be engaging in a non-commercial form of contract cheating. If you are ever unsure about the use of AI or what AI tools you can use in your UNE assessments, please contact your Unit Coordinator as early as possible to discuss their expectations of the use of AI for clarity in your assessment work. 

Why is Contract Cheating a Problem

Contract cheating undermines the entire purpose of your education. Assessments are designed to help you develop skills, knowledge, and critical thinking—not just to earn a grade. When you use contract cheating:

  • You miss out on learning the material
  • You're not developing the skills your future employer expects
  • You're being unfair to students who do their own work
  • You breach your university's academic integrity policy
  • Contract cheating companies may gain access to your UNE details and your units if you share your login details with them
  • Contract cheating companies may blackmail you.

It is only by completing academic assessment work yourself that you will gain the knowledge and skills required to have the confidence in your chosen field after you have graduated from your degree. So don't be cheated out of your learning, your study experience, and so your degree!

How Contract Cheating Services Infiltrate Student Spaces

Commercial contract cheating services infiltrate student spaces in any number of ways, from professional looking posts in LinkedIn advertising bespoke writing services to a variety of mainstream social media platforms, and they can even access student study groups if they have access to student details. These services often present themselves as offering high level professional services that guarantee success to lure students into using their services and potentially ask students to provide their details in online enquiry forms.

Never provide your student credentials or other student details to these types of services. 

Whilst commercial contract cheating services infiltrate online spaces agents have also become active in on-campus spaces too. Contract cheating agents advertise themselves as providing writing, tutoring or editing services, and agents may try to directly speak with students on campus to promote their services, providing business cards, fliers, and/or place posters in student focused spaces, such as colleges, libraries, and cafes. Additionally, to encourage students’ uptake of such services they may advertise discounts and easy sign-up pathways for their services or offer a free first review. 

It is never worth the risk to engage with these services as you may pay a heavy price for doing so.

Serious Consequences from Engaging with Contract Cheating Services

What seemed like a great offer of assistance or a quick way to complete a few assessments has, for many students, turned into situation of being blackmailed for either money, institutional login details, and/or other student details, so to further infiltrate student spaces. Blackmailers often don't stop when their price has been paid but will continuously raise the bar on their demands, by threatening students by exposing their cheating to their university. Blackmailers may potentially continue threats of exposing individuals in their chosen careers as having not earnt their degree. 

Any level of engagement with commercial contract cheating services comes with risk, and risk taking often has serious consequences for mental health. Often it is vulnerable students who for various reasons may be feeling stressed or anxious about their study or life situation make easy targets for these illegal services.  Engaging with such services will inevitably affect your mental health. 

How to Stay Safe When Studying at UNE

The most important thing is to act swiftly to remedy the situation, regardless of whether you think you have been contacted by a commercial contract cheating service or have got caught up in using a service, there is help available at UNE for all types of situations. 

Below is a list of UNE student support services available that can assist in a variety of ways:

Safety and Security On Campus 

UNE takes student and staff safety and security seriously and patrol the campus 24/7. The team can be reached at any time by calling (02) 6773 2099 (life-threatening emergencies please call 000).

It is illegal for commercial contract cheating agents to promote their services on campus, such as, engaging students directly by handing out business cards or putting up posters. Should a potential contract cheating agent approach you or fellow students on campus, please call the UNE Safety and Security Team immediately.

For more information on safety and security at UNE go to:

Academic Skills Support at UNE

We understand that everyone learns differently, in different spaces, and at different paces, and a key aspect to learning is being supported in how you learn best. UNE, therefore, has a diverse range of academic support platforms from our Madgwick AI platform, on campus face-to-face support with highly experienced Academic Skills Officers and/or a First-Year Advisor, or you may prefer to work with your peers; we've got you covered:

Other UNE Support Services

UNE's Counsellors and Psychologists (CAPS Team) provide all UNE students with a free and confidential service (up to three sessions per trimester). The Team are professionally qualified and registered practitioners and provide students with a range of support across your studies. If you have been approached by commercial contract cheating agents or have engaged with such services and require mental health support or wish to speak with a counsellor, please contact the Team via the link below (24/7 Urgent Mental Health Support is also available): 

If you need to make a complaint regarding commercial contract cheating services and need support to know what to do if you have been contacted by one or have engaged such services, you can reach out to either UNE's Student Grievance Unit or the Advocacy and Welfare Team.

UNE's Academic Integrity Team

Students can also reach out directly to UNE's Academic Integrity Team if you believe you have been contacted by commercial contract cheating services, have witnessed potential contract cheating agents advertising their services either on campus or online, or if you simply have questions or concerns regarding contract cheating services. The Team is here to support you and assist you to find the right help that will keep you safe whilst studying at UNE. 

What to do if you get caught up in contract cheating. 

Reach out to either the Advocacy and Welfare Team and/or the Academic Integrity Team as soon as possible, so we can support you to get your studies back on track. Whilst there may be academic consequences due to your engagement with such services in your studies, commercial contract cheating services are disarmed of their blackmailing power as you have made your own institution aware of the situation.  

UNE wants to see our students’ study successfully and safely; remember we are here to support you so don't pay commercial contract cheating services to cheat you out of your study experience, your degree, and potentially your future career! 

 


Last modified: Friday, 17 April 2026, 4:24 PM