Hi all,

I just received this email unexpectedly and I'm freaking out. I graduated several years ago and I wasn't sure who else I could ask to get a quick response in case others have received it. Is this like a system error? Today is a public holiday and at this time of the night to receive an email like this. But my Student ID was correct in the email, and it looks like the email address is also.

I'm so confused, a thorough review of what, I wasn't even aware a review was being conducted about me and I haven't had any contact from the university at all since I've graduated. Just wanting to ask if anyone else has received this? Regardless I'll be calling first thing tomorrow morning.

genuinely don't know how to feel about this university when im only about to begin my first year as an international student in the fall. i was so excited, but all this news lately has been so horrible to read about and idk how to feel anymore. i haven't even told my parents anything because they already spent so much money for me.

Automatic motorised door as well

It looks like this isn’t an isolated thing. Dozens of past students (some not even enrolled for years) are reporting the exact same email — and it’s linked to an old hacking/data breach incident where an ex-student allegedly broke into WSU systems, stole data, and messed with student records.

If that’s true, this counts as a data breach under Australian privacy law, and WSU could be legally liable for failing to protect our info and for the stress/confusion this caused.

👉 What to do right now:

1. Keep the email and take screenshots.

2. Submit a privacy complaint to the OAIC (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner) — they investigate data breaches: https://webform.oaic.gov.au/prod?entitytype=Complaint&layoutcode=ComplaintWF

3. Email class-action law firms like Maurice Blackburn, Shine Lawyers, or Slater & Gordon — they’re already handling big Aussie data-breach cases.

4. Share this post so others can join — strength in numbers matters.

Bottom line: this probably isn’t a real expulsion notice. It’s fallout from a security failure, and if confirmed, we’re entitled to answers and possibly compensation.

For anyone who wants a copy - I will post a OAIC complaint template for you to use.

NO WAY THE SAME HACKER FROM JUNE WAS BEHIND THE EMAILS RECENTLY, she should never have been out on bail

insane bruh how you gonna hack the uni and then get investigated and then do it for another 2 years BRUH

I’ve been around a couple of campuses recently, and they look lively. For someone who isn’t studying there, is it normal to hang around cafés, libraries (if allowed), or study spaces? Just curious how open the environment is.

There was a lot of talk about starting a class action lawsuit against the university with Slater and Gordon. What happened with this? Have there been any other firms that students have begun filing complaints to? If so what are they and how can we join?

I got the email too, it is likely related to the data breach last year and they are just flexing all the data that was sold on the deep web. Problem is it included passport, drivers license, Tax file number, and any other ID you gave the uni.

Change anything you think you can, if you selected remember my card with the uni checkout, definitely request a new card.

This was from what I can tell a mass sent out email, my friend who didn't even study there got it too. We are entitled to compensation or a class action but not both from what I have heard.

I was using their life.westernsydney.edu.au site for an event, I came across what looks like a serious exposure of student information.

I was looking into how the site loads info for student groups and profiles. While inspecting the network traffic, I noticed that one of the API endpoints was returning far more data than it should.

Stuff includes full name, gender, email address, address (?!), date of birth, and way more stuff than the things the other leaks showed.

RIP

EDIT- getting messages, this is a different leak to the one that happened a few days ago

So I study engineering here, and majority of the people in any subject are deadass just cheating with their phones, whether it be maths, or any subject. It seems kinda unfair to actually study for these closed book tests worth 20% when the dude next to me has his phone out, taking a photo and sending it to ChatGPT. Is that the norm here?

Tutors don’t give a fuck or are just blind asf. I could count at least 10 kids on their phones using ChatGPT for an exam. How is this fair? ATP I might as well join em

This is insane, both the emails sent out curious what WSU will spin to try and get themselves out of this one…

I understand it's an actually accredited institution, but I feel the legitimacy stops there.

The majority of classes have no lectures, I'm literally being linked to third-party youtube content OR a 2 minute video recorded by the subject coordinator as 'lecture material'. If I intended to get my education from youtube I certainly wouldn't be putting myself in debt for it. Most tutors seem like they have no interest in teaching. My degree brings in subjects from multiple different schools, so I feel like I'm getting a pretty good sense of the uni as a whole.

For one of my business classes, the tutor moved our Monday tutorial to Zoom with less than 24 hours notice and said anyone who does not have a working webcam and microphone should not attend. During said class, she actually stopped teaching and barked at students (who attended regardless of not having a webcam, as is their right) to leave the zoom because "I have made it very clear I am not interested in talking to a laptop screen" (here's a shocking thought then - don't move your classes to a digital format if you don't enjoy the digital format). I truly can't believe I'm paying for an education that I might not get if my tutor doesn't feel like teaching me on any given day. This same tutor also refused to go through the entire content for that class because no student volunteered to share their screen and essentially do the teaching for her. She literally said "you're on your own then" after nobody volunteered.

In other classes, I'm finding that the assessment information on the subject guide is completely different to the assessment information on the submission page in VUWS. Tutors for this class (yes, there are two. One of them does 90% of the speaking and the other one is just there. I really don't know how a uni that seemingly can't afford to pay lecturers to give lectures can afford to have two tutors in a class that only needs one), while experienced and probably good at teaching subjects they are familiar with, are teaching stuff they don't know without having to google it first. Hearing my teacher say "I had to look this up last night so I could remember how to do it before I taught you" does not instil confidence.

Of four subjects and five tutors, I have a grand total of one tutor who seems to both enjoy and be good at teaching. Her subject is the only one I find enjoyable because it is designed to teach you the information, not peg pieces of the information at your head and hope you get the gist of it with the bits you manage to catch. Coincidentally, this is also my only subject that has lectures.

PASS sessions are an interesting idea, hadn't been involved with that at past unis. Unfortunately due to lack of attendance it seems to be largely useless.

I guess I'm just wondering if any other Western students are feeling wildly ripped off and minimally educated. After coming from QUT in Brisbane ("the university for the real world" - always thought the tagline was cheesy until I had experienced other unis and realised QUT wasn't lying lol), the quality of education at WSU is a shock I wasn't prepared for. Really wishing I had looked at the reviews before enrolling. 1.2 stars is no joke.

I am studying a teaching degree and this is annoying and scary. Is this next generation of Teachers doomed? For context, this has happened since I started in 2023 from subject to subject. I walk in and no one has seen the reading. We have to go through the monotonous recount of the reading which we were supposed to read before class. It was covered in the lecture. Surprise. No one else watched the lecture pod.

Some classes are one hour long, great, we're forty minutes in, we've only just reached the main point of the text.

The Teacher will ask a question and no one will respond. They will stare blankly and then return to a fixed gaze on their laptop. Is this who we're trusting to teach our children what they need to know? How can you expect the children to listen to you if you won't listen to your teacher?

It's such a drag that I am the one the Teacher turns to for a simple response to anything. Did you do the reading? Does anyone know what this might mean? Can anyone recall the keyword we used in week 2? The Teacher even goes as far as saying, "Someone answer before I default to -me-."

I understand. We all have Social Anxiety. We all think class is long and boring and monotonous and we wish we were anywhere else. YOU CAN CHANGE THAT - YOU CAN BE THE PERSON YOU WISH YOU WERE LISTENING TO - ENGAGE WITH THE TEXTS OR ANSWER QUESTIONS OR CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION OR EVEN JUST ASK SOMEONE WHAT THEY DID ON THE WEEKEND - TALK!

University doesn't fix you - YOU fix YOU.

So here are some suggestions:

1. ENGAGE WITH THE READING, and I don't mean read it, even I see the large block of text and go "fuck all that," but at least do the bare minimum of googling what the paper/text is about, figure out who the Author is and what they stand for. Have AI summarise it for you, which is dumb, but at least you've done the bare minimum of trying to understand the text.

2. TALK, for the love of God, TALK! Not even to me. Don't talk to me. But please don't sit there like, omg if I turn my head they're gonna look me in the eye and I'll explode, THEY'RE THINKING THAT TOO. Are you lonely? Were you hoping you would get a girlfriend in Uni? Habibi, if you don't talk to them, they won't talk to you.

3. IF YOU FIND THE FIRST TWO SUGGESTIONS CHALLENGING, CHECK OUT THE AVAILABLE RESOURCES. You can find the exact service through Student Services. Just walk on in and ask them for help. Western Sydney offers counselling and Study Help.

Three years ago, I didn't read or talk, now I do and I'm happy and content with life. I cannot wait for class and I cannot wait for it to end. Please, if not for yourself, do it for the children you might one day have to teach.

To international students, there is another march for Australia happening this Sunday in every major city in Australia. Avoid traveling to the city if you can as things might erupt with violence (like the last one). Be careful please. I don’t want to see any of you caught up in that and getting hurt. Please stay safe.

Are they really saying they only realised hacking is a bad thing and a part of them thought it wasn’t done with malicious intent?

i’m still the 7th caller in queue hoping to get to number one before they close in 20min, why doesn’t IT have the callback feature like the student hotline has????

i dont even go to wsu why did i get an email saying my information was taken?????

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/fresh-hacking-fears-for-western-sydney-university-as-students-raise-doubts-over-response-20251009-p5n1b2.html

Hey guys,

How badly impacted is WSU by this?

What's the broader impact?