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Publishing on the UTS Website Policy

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Purpose | Scope | Principles | Policy statements | Roles and responsibilities | Definitions | Approval information | Version history | References

1. Purpose

1.1 The Publishing on the UTS Website Policy (the policy):

  1. manages the integrity of information published on the UTS website to ensure accuracy and compliance with relevant legislation and standards
  2. defines the types of information published on the UTS website, and
  3. outlines the conditions for publication.

2. Scope

2.1 This policy applies to all staff, students and affiliates (hereafter staff) and to all information published on the UTS website.

2.2 External websites cited on the UTS website are out of scope of this policy.

3. Principles

3.1 All UTS communications, including the publishing of information on the UTS website, must be respectful and in line with the behavioural standards outlined in the Code of Conduct and the Equity, Inclusion and Respect Policy.

3.2 Consistent and professional web management practices enable UTS to meet its strategic and business objectives while maintaining the UTS brand and reputation.

3.3 The requirement to accurately and transparently publish UTS information is considered separate from the exercise of academic freedom as protected in the Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression Policy.

4. Policy statements

4.1 When publishing on the UTS website, staff must act in accordance with UTS policies and practices for the management of information (including the Data Governance Policy, the Information Security Policy and the web standards (refer References)).

4.2 Information published on the UTS website falls into the following categories.

  1. Category 1: Core UTS information refers to the official authoritative source of UTS information for the UTS Act, By-law, Rules, policies, legislative compliance, Council and its committees, and courses and subjects (including fees). 
  2. Category 2: UTS business information refers to all information relating to the official business of UTS's executive, divisions, units, faculties, institutes and centres.
  3. Category 3: UTS teaching and research information refers to all materials that are available on the UTS Library website, which UTS staff are authorised to use for teaching purposes.
  4. Category 4: UTS staff and student information refers to all information published by UTS staff and students that relates to their role and/or area of teaching, research or study at UTS.
  5. Category 5: UTS controlled entities information refers to all information associated with the official business activities of UTS controlled entities that is published on their websites or in category 2 information.
  6. Category 6: Other organisations associated with UTS information refers to all information on any of the organisations that UTS has agreed to host their websites or webpages.

Publishing on the UTS website

4.3 All category 1, 2 and 3 information must conform to the UTS brand and visual identity (Staff Connect), the Publications style guide (SharePoint) and any relevant web standards.

4.4 UTS staff and students can publish category 4 information subject to the following conditions:

  1. information published by staff or students (hereafter publisher) must be associated with their area of teaching, research or study at UTS
  2. the publisher is considered both the information owner and the authorising officer (refer Definitions) and must comply with the relevant conditions for the publication of information outlined in this policy
  3. the publisher must include an appropriate disclaimer statement on their site, and
  4. the publisher must not use the UTS logo or emblem unless approval has been granted (refer Use the UTS logo (Staff Connect)).

4.5 UTS controlled entities can publish category 5 information on the UTS website subject to the following conditions:

  1. information published on a UTS controlled entity's website must be associated with the official business activities of the UTS controlled entity
  2. the published information must not expose UTS to the risk of a legal liability or contradict UTS policies
  3. the chief executive officer (or nominee) of the UTS controlled entity must approve all information before publication on the UTS website
  4. the entity must include a disclaimer statement on their site, which states the views expressed on their site are the views of their organisation and do not reflect the views of UTS and, further, must not use the UTS logo or emblem unless approval has been granted (refer Use the UTS logo (Staff Connect)), and
  5. UTS controlled entities must comply with the relevant conditions for the publication of information outlined in this policy.

4.6 The Chief Information Officer (CIO) may approve the hosting of external organisations' websites or webpages. Approved external organisations must comply with the same terms and conditions as for category 5 information.

4.7 UTS reserves the right to remove any information published on the UTS website if it is in breach of UTS policies, values and/or its legislative obligations.

Conditions for publishing

4.8 Category 1 information can only be displayed on other sites or pages via the inclusion of a link to or feed from the authoritative source.

4.9 Links to external websites can only be included on the UTS website if the information clearly relates to the core business activities of the university, or an area of teaching, research or study at UTS.

4.10 A link to the UTS website disclaimer statement, which includes a provision regarding external links, must be included in the footer of all pages containing external links.

4.11 The UTS website must not be used to promote any external organisation's advertising material that is not clearly related to the core business activities of the university. Approval must be sought from the Vice-Chancellor or nominee before a paid or unpaid advertisement from an external organisation is published on the UTS website.

Compliance requirements

4.12 All information on the UTS website must be published in accordance with legal requirements and UTS policies and rules. Information owners and authorising officers must:

  1. comply with copyright legislation (refer Footer web standard (SharePoint) and Copyright statement)
  2. comply with the Privacy Policy, the Privacy Management Plan (available at Privacy regulations) and the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW). The Website privacy notice must be included as a link in the footer of all websites containing category 1, 2 or 3 information
  3. observe the principles of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW) and the Equity, Inclusion and Respect Policy
  4. manage information in line with the Records Management Policy by establishing an appropriate version control register to record updates to category 1, 2 or 3 information
  5. comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cwlth), ensuring all UTS webpages comply with the mandatory WCAG 2.1, conformance level A standard, and adhere to the further WCAG 2.1, conformance level AA where possible (refer Accessibility and Inclusion Policy and Accessibility statement)
  6. ensure the appropriate disclaimer statement is included in the footer of relevant websites (refer Disclaimer Web Standard (SharePoint) and Disclaimer).

Breaches and exclusions

4.13 Breaches of this policy will be managed in line with the Code of Conduct, relevant Enterprise agreements and/or the Student Rules.

4.14 All suspected breaches of this policy should, in the first instance, be reported to the CIO or the CMCO. Suspected breaches that represent serious wrongdoing must be reported in line with the Whistleblowing and Public Interest Disclosures Policy.

4.15 The University Secretary is responsible for taking corrective action to rectify breaches of this policy and, where relevant, for reporting any illegal activities to the appropriate authorities. Staff and students may be subject to criminal or civil proceedings for publication of illegal or defamatory material.

5. Roles and responsibilities

5.1 Policy owner: The Chief Information Officer (CIO), the University Secretary and the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer (CMCO) are responsible for policy enforcement and compliance, ensuring that its principles and statements are observed. The policy owners are also responsible for the approval of any associated university level procedures.

5.2 Policy contact: The CIO, the University Secretary and the CMCO share joint responsibility for the day-to-day implementation of this policy and act as primary points of contact for advice on fulfilling its provisions.

The CIO, University Secretary and CMCO can authorise the removal of any non-compliant information published on the UTS website.

5.3 Implementation and governance roles: Information owners and authorising officers are responsible for ensuring that:

  1. information conforms with this policy, relevant legislation and web standards (refer References)
  2. confidential material is stored in line with the Privacy Policy and the Records Management Policy
  3. information is accurate and current and is not duplicated
  4. appropriate security control mechanisms, for example, passwords and security controls, are in place to manage access to confidential information, sensitive or otherwise restricted access information, and
  5. information is regularly audited, reviewed, updated and maintained.

Publishers share joint responsibility for the day-to-day implementation of this policy and act as primary points of contact for advice on fulfilling its provisions.

The University Secretary is responsible for the management and publication of Category 1 information.

6. Definitions

The following definitions apply for this policy and all associated procedures. Definitions in the singular also include the plural meaning of the word.

Authorising officer means staff (the University Leadership Team and directors) who are responsible for the creation and publication of category 1, 2 and 3 information for their area of responsibility.

Information owner means staff with delegated authority and/or approval to write, approve and publish information on the UTS website.

Serious wrongdoing is defined in the Whistleblowing and Public Interest Disclosures Policy.

UTS website includes all websites and webpages that contain the domain name uts.edu.au, or other names as registered or approved in line with this policy.

Web standard means the agreed standards that are used to ensure the practices associated with the publication and management of information on the UTS website are undertaken in a consistent and standardised way to comply with legal requirements and UTS policies. The standards are used as a reference point to check compliance and are listed in this policy (refer References).