An Australian government agency has taken a US “study help” platform to Federal Court over allegations it helped students cheat on exams and assignments.

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) has accused Chegg, a US-based publicly listed company, of breaching Australia’s new anti-cheating laws, based on allegations that five university students used the service to cheat on university assignments in 2021 and 2022.

Chegg has denied it helped the students to cheat.

It’s the first time the higher education regulator has taken legal action against a company in relation to the anti-cheating laws, which prohibit companies from providing or arranging for a third-party to provide an academic cheating service to a university student.

Chegg markets itself as a “student-first connected learning platform” with a mission to “help every student achieve their best, in school and beyond”.

It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has a market capitalisation of $280 million ($US185 million).

It has now been revealed that the TEQSA legal action relates to the “Expert Q&A” service offered by Chegg, which allows students to pose questions and be provided with handwritten answers by “experts” facilitated by the platform, as The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported.

Case against Chegg

The case alleges that five students at Monash University in Victoria used this service to assist with exams and assessments in IT, engineering and physics courses.

Chegg should have been aware these students were uploading assignments that they were meant to be completing personally, the lawsuit claims.

TEQSA is seeking a fine of more than $150,000 for Chegg, a declaration from the court that the company has breached Australian laws, and for its costs to be paid.

TEQSA acting chief commissioner Adrienne Nieuwenhuis said in October that the agency had received many concerns from Australian universities about the use of Chegg’s services domestically.

“Where TEQSA finds academic cheating services being advertised or offered to students, we will take appropriate action to protect the integrity and reputation of Australia’s higher education sector,” Nieuwenhuis said in the statement.

“TEQSA welcomes reports from students, providers, academic staff and the wider public about suspected cheating services via our website.”

Claims rejected by Chegg

Chegg has railed against the claims made by TEQSA in the lawsuit, saying the agency had used “selective and misleading examples”.

“The lawsuit brought by TEQSA is based on an outdated academic integrity policy, which was formulated long before the rise of AI, and its profound impact on education and technology today,” a spokesperson for Chegg told the SMH.

“Despite the rapid advancements in generative AI technology, offering immediate and comprehensive student support, TEQSA seeks to apply backward-thinking policy and continues to single out Chegg’s student-centric products – viewing them more critically than other similar technologies.”

Chegg said it has a number of tools aiming to prevent students from using its services for the purpose of cheating on exams or assignments.

“TEQSA continues to reject our efforts to address their concerns with innovative solutions, and we look forward to the opportunity to present the full picture and defend ourselves in court, where the facts will demonstrate our commitment to transparency and responsibility,” the spokesperson said.

Chegg appears to be used regularly by Australian university students.

The University of NSW’s 2021 academic misconduct report found that of the 335 identified cases of contract cheating, 257 involved students posting questions on the Chegg platform.