UAC home > Applicants' rights and responsibilities

Your rights Your responsibilities If you fail to meet your responsibilities What to do if you believe an institution has breached the Code of Ethical Practice Policy Statement on untrue or incomplete information submitted by applicants

Your rights

The institutions that participate in UAC are committed to observing a Code of Ethical Practice. The Code is designed to protect the rights of applicants, as follows:

1. Participating institutions must not use UAC data to:

• contact you unless you have included a course at the institution concerned among your preferences or
• transfer information about you to third parties such as university companies.

2. Participating institutions may contact you for specific purposes, such as to:
• advise you about changes to the course or to the selection criteria or methods since the UAC Guide was published
• advise you about dates, times and other arrangements for special selection tests
• advise you about changes to the availability of the courses
• provide you with additional information about the institutions and/or courses
• advise you about the likelihood of your receiving an offer.

When contacting you by email, institutions must provide accurate information about the sender of the message and a way for you to unsubscribe so that you do not receive such messages in the future.

3. Institutions must consider all preferences equally.

4. Participating institutions that do contact you must not pressure you to modify the order of your preferences or to change the preferences shown on your application.

5. If your application is successful you will receive an official offer of admission from UAC. Offers will be notified by mail and can be accessed on UAC's website. Participating institutions may advise you about the likelihood of receiving an offer, but the only official offer made will be through UAC.

6. You may seek access to personal information collected by UAC about you. Access may, however, be denied as permitted under relevant privacy laws.

^top

Your responsibilities

When you apply through UAC you have certain responsibilities.

By meeting your responsibilities you will ensure that your application will be processed and assessed as soon as possible.

You must:

• read the instructions before submitting your application
• read the relevant parts of the UAC Guide or corresponding information on UAC's website
• follow any institution-specific instructions
• provide true and complete information in connection with your application
• provide correctly verified documentation with your application where requested and
• accept the conditions set out in the declaration and authority.

^top

If you fail to meet your responsibilities

UAC may cancel your application and/or institutions may withdraw any place offered if at any stage you have submitted an application that contains information which UAC or a participating institution determines to be untrue or incomplete. For further information read the policy statement on untrue or incomplete information submitted by applicants' below.

^top

What to do if you believe an institution has breached the Code of Ethical Practice

Write to the Managing Director, UAC, Locked Bag 112, Silverwater NSW 2128, and explain what has happened. If possible, include the name/s and position/s of the staff at the institution/s who have contacted you. Include your UAC application number and copies of any correspondence from the institution/s that illustrate the problem you have experienced.

The Managing Director will arrange for your concerns to be investigated immediately and will write to you as soon as possible. Your application will not be jeopardised in any way.

^top

Policy statement on untrue or incomplete information submitted by applicants

The Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) recognises that all decisions which affect an applicant must be made fairly and must be made on appropriate academic or other criteria as specified by the participating institutions.

Selection into courses by application to UAC is based on merit. It is the responsibility of an applicant to ensure that she or he complies with all instructions when submitting a UAC application. The responsibilities of applicants are set out on this website and in the UAC Guide.

An application must be complete and correct and all attempts at academic study must be disclosed. Applicants must accept the conditions set out in the declaration and authority when they apply.

UAC will review, and may take action against, any applicant who submits an application that contains information that UAC or a participating institution determines to be untrue or incomplete. That application may also be cancelled.

UAC will also investigate, and may take action against, an applicant who, by any other means has or could have achieved an advantage over other applicants.

Examples of conduct by an applicant which will be investigated by UAC include, but are not limited to:
• submitting an incomplete or falsified academic transcript
• failing to declare previous study at secondary, postsecondary or tertiary level
• submitting an incorrect or otherwise misleading statement of employment experience
• claiming special consideration of educational disadvantage based on incorrect information
• having some other person complete a selection task on the applicant's behalf such as an interview, audition or a portfolio of artwork and/or
• claiming membership of a special selection group when not a member of that group.

The procedures for processing applications suspected of being in some way incomplete or untrue have been approved by the NSW Vice-Chancellors' Committee.

These procedures accept the right of applicants to be treated fairly and without prejudice, and in accordance with the principles of natural justice.

^top