The Federal Court held that Chegg Inc. contravened s 114A(3) of the TEQSA Act on three occasions by providing or arranging for third persons to provide academic cheating services to students at Monash University through its Expert Q&A platform. The Court construed 'work' in the definition of 'academic cheating service' to mean the intellectual labour performed by a person (rather than the product of that labour), based on the surrounding statutory text including 'undertaking of work' and the statutory purpose of protecting academic integrity. The Court imposed an agreed total penalty of $500,000 for three contraventions, having regard to Chegg's large global size but comparatively small and declining Australian revenue, the absence of deliberate conduct or senior management involvement, Chegg's moderate cooperation, and the need for both specific and general deterrence.
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