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April 13, 2026 \u2014 7:30pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n A \u201cstudy support\u201d business has been fined $500,000 for providing cheating services to Australian university students, in a landmark victory for the regulator.<\/p>\n But while the decision, handed down in March, puts academic integrity at the forefront of higher education, there is growing evidence students\u2019 use of contract cheating companies to complete assessments has been replaced by reliance on AI.<\/p>\n Last year, this masthead revealed the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) would take study support business Chegg to the Federal Court<\/a> over allegations that its \u201cexpert Q&A service\u201d, run by the company\u2019s wholly owned subsidiary, Chegg India, had violated Australia\u2019s strict anti-cheating laws.<\/p>\n TEQSA argued at the time that contract cheating services threatened the hard-won reputation of Australia\u2019s universities and had the potential to significantly impact the economy with further \u201csignificant public consequences\u201d if students of engineering or medicine lacked the requisite skills for these professions on graduation.<\/p>\n Last month, Justice Craig Lenehan found Chegg and Chegg India had violated Australia\u2019s anti-cheating laws three times in 2021 and 2022 by providing prepared answers to IT and water engineering assessments from Monash University.<\/p>\n Lenehan\u2019s March judgment found experts had prepared and uploaded answers to three questions in these assessments \u2013 the Water Surface Profiles Answer, the Programming Answer and the Databases Answer \u2013 onto the Chegg website.<\/p>\n \u201cStudents submitted their responses to the assessment tasks \u2026 with minimal, if any, substantive edits to the Water Surface Profiles Answer, the Programming Answer and the Databases Answer as uploaded to the Chegg website,\u201d Lenehan found.<\/p>\n \u201cAs such, Chegg provided, or arranged for a third party to provide, an academic cheating service.\u201d<\/p>\n CEO of TEQSA Dr Mary Russell welcomed the decision.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cAcademic integrity is fundamental to the quality and reputation of Australia\u2019s higher education sector and the academic success and experiences of students,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cTEQSA will act decisively to address allegations of academic cheating services being provided or offered to Australian higher education students.\u201d<\/p>\n The $500,000 penalty \u2013 plus an order to pay the regulator\u2019s legal fees \u2013 comes as Chegg\u2019s business model faces an existential threat from AI<\/a>.<\/p>\n When AI technologies emerged in 2023, most universities banned them. However, institutions have gradually loosened restrictions and most now allow use of AI in some contexts but not others.<\/p>\n Data from universities suggests misuse is of AI is on the rise, while proven cases of contract cheating have fallen.<\/p>\n UNSW had a 219 per cent rise in \u201cunauthorised use\u201d of generative AI in 2024 compared to the previous year, while proven cases of contract cheating<\/a> decreased from 232 in 2023 to 132 in 2024.<\/p>\n Chegg\u2019s subscribers declined from 8.1 million in 2022 to 2.87 million last year.<\/p>\n In February 2025, Chegg launched legal action against Google for loss of traffic to its website due to the search engine\u2019s AI summaries and, in October, it shed 45 per cent of its workforce.<\/p>\n Macquarie University head of complaints, appeals and misconduct Kane Murdoch told this masthead in February: \u201cChegg is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ce47146771463811e782c760e52b0c9c7ada7c92.jpeg\")
The Federal Court judgment comes as Chegg faces problems on multiple fronts in a battle with AI. Matt Willis<\/p>\n![\"Deep](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/f227260ca9fd83a3ce0dc2e4ff3521b3631397cef6d39ef9266c89206ffd5bd8.gif\")
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