Solving the legal compliance puzzle – we can help

Posted on Oct 25 2018 by admin

One of the most challenging aspects of compliance can be figuring out what and how legal obligations apply to your role. You might be familiar with Acts that apply specifically to your disciplinary area or research expertise, but less familiar with the broad range of State or Commonwealth Acts that apply to the whole of the University.

Piecing together your individual obligations

The Legal and Risk Branch has prepared compliance awareness resources to assist all staff in understanding and meeting their compliance obligations.

Legislative Summaries

Legislative Summaries give an overview of an Act as it applies to the University. Each summary is in easy-to-read language, details the personal and institutional consequences of non-compliance and summarises your key obligations under the Act.

There are 34 summaries available to download from the Legal and Risk website. Some examples of the broad areas covered are listed below:

  • Competition and Consumer Act
  • Copyright Act
  • Defamation Act
  • Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act
  • Equal Opportunity Act
  • Fair Work Act
  • Freedom of Information Act
  • International Sanctions legislation
  • Privacy Act
  • State Records Act
  • Volunteers Protection Act

If there is something you need to know more about but can’t find in our resources, just let us know.

Legislation Directory

There are nearly 300 Acts that apply to the vast range of activities at the University listed on the Legislation Directory. You can learn more about legislation specific to your area and role by visiting your local area’s compliance webpage and the University’s category webpage.

Refresh your legal compliance knowledge with the Legal Compliance Induction Course in MyUni. The online course provides an overview of how Legal Compliance is managed by the University, explains how roles and responsibilities are assigned and what to do if a non-compliance occurs. The course takes approximately 20 minutes and you will be provided with a certificate upon completion for your records.

Browse the Legal and Risk Branch Notices archives for articles on a range of topics. To stay up to date with changes to key legislation affecting the University, ensure you and your colleagues have subscribed for updates.

Keeping up to date with your legal obligations helps you meet your responsibilities to the University and avoid the embarrassment of doing the wrong thing. Not knowing is not a defence, so it could also help you and the University avoid financial penalties, fines, additional scrutiny of your activities by regulators, damage to reputation or criminal prosecution.

The University Compliance Centre is here to help! If you’d like assistance in understanding your compliance obligations or have ideas for new educational resources, get in touch with us at legalcompliance@adelaide.edu.au or by calling 8313 4539.

This article was updated on 29 July 2020; 15 March 2021 and 29 October 2021

Tagged in legal alerts, news & announcements, legal compliance, legislation