2022 Residence rules

UOW has adopted specific policies and procedures for the prevention, reporting and management of sexual assault or harassment within the University community, and these can be reviewed here.

Students will be advised of these periods at the Residence. They may be relevant to examination timetable or other times during the year.

The Student Residence Manager may impose additional demerit points (not exceeding twice the demerit points for the breach) for any breach that has an unacceptable impact on the right of residents to an environment conducive to study.

Licensed premises are the appropriate venue for larger parties.
Your UOW Living residence precinct includes all areas owned and controlled by the University of Wollongong including any Playing Fields. Refer to the residence specific information in relation to more information around drinking rules at your residence.

• use the balcony in any way that may endanger your own or another person’s safety. This includes leaning over, sitting on, climbing or hanging off the side of balconies and “room hopping”. These behaviours are not only dangerous, they are a breach of “My Residence Rules” and therefore the Student Conduct in Residences Policy.
• use the balcony as a storage area for boxes, refrigerators, furniture or other items;
• place University furniture which is designed for internal use on them;
• hang items over the rail and/or suspend temporary clothes lines across them;
• post or suspend any banners or advertising material on the balcony doors or over the rail;
• suspend hammocks or similar items to the railings or support beams;
• smoke, cook or use naked flames (including candles or citronella lights) on the balcony;
• throw or allow any item to be thrown over the rail;
• create excessive noise, particularly late at night.

All resident studios/units/bedrooms are to be inspected monthly* by cleaning staff. Residents will be notified if their studio/unit/bedroom fails an inspection and will be given adequate time to clean their studio/unit/bedroom. Should the studio/unit/bedroom fail the cleaning re-inspection, the cleaning staff will be asked to clean the room (s) and a cleaning fee will be charged to the resident’s account.

Information about cleaning charges can be clarified at your Residential Office. .Additional charges may apply if the room requires significant cleaning.

If a studio/unit/bedroom continually fails to meet the required standard, cleaning charges will be automatically levied. Failure to comply with these cleaning rules may also attract demerit points.

*Inspections at Graduate House occur every three months. Residents from Graduate House should check their site specific information.

a) RUBBISH REMOVAL
Each resident is responsible for taking out their own rubbish from both the bedrooms and common areas. If a cleaner, student leader or other member of staff has to take the rubbish out for you then you will be charged a cleaning fee.

b) VACUUMS
Vacuum cleaners are available for loan from your Administration Office. These must be returned within the applicable loan period, otherwise management reserves the right to charge the resident a late return fee. Vacuum cleaners must be checked regularly by residents and emptied after each use. Any resident found to be abusing or deliberately misusing a vacuum cleaner will be charged, and must pay for the repair or replacement cost of the vacuum.

c) DEPARTURE
Upon permanent departure from a contracted unit/room, residents must leave the unit/room clean and in a state fit for immediate use and occupancy by other residents. The unit/room must be left in the same condition as at the date of first occupation, subject to fair wear and tear. Consideration is given to the condition report the resident submitted on occupation of the unit/room.

The Student Residence Manager reserves the right to charge residents the cost of professionally cleaning the unit/room to a condition fit for occupancy.

d) HYGIENE
In the interests of hygiene and the health of fellow residents you should ensure that you contribute to keeping toilet and bathroom areas in your unit in a clean condition. Showers are for showering only and should not be used as toilets. Whilst there are waste water drainage grids in toilet areas these are not urinals.

Please note that approval from the Student Residence Manager must be obtained prior to any personal furniture and/or equipment items being placed brought into and stored in any UOW Residence.

UOW Administration reserves the right to remove, without prior notice, posters that are considered out of date, offensive, posted by commercial organisations without prior approval, or otherwise inappropriately placed

You may seek prior written approval from the Student Resident Manager to conduct fund-raising activities, provided your proposed activities do not impact negatively on the residential community.

Charges associated with the repair and/or maintenance to those damaged items will be passed on to the person/(s) found responsible.

In the event where accidental damage has occurred as a result of unacceptable behaviours described throughout the Handbook and/or were found to be the result of intentional destruction, demerit points and/or termination of a residents accommodation agreement may be assigned.

Furthermore, the possession of drug-related paraphernalia (whether it is being actively used or not) is also prohibited. As a resident, it is expected that you will remove yourself from a situation in which drugs are present and to immediately report the presence of drugs to a member of Staff or Student Leader. Failure to do so is breach of the student conduct in residences rules.

A number of UOW policies and legislation govern this area:
• NSW Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985
• Student Conduct in Residences Policy

Please note that UOW living staff are obliged to assist law enforcement agencies with respect to enquiries on illegal drugs and will do so without hesitation.

A number of pieces of UOW policy and legislation govern this area.

UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG

• Respect for Diversity Policy

NEW SOUTH WALES LEGISLATION

• Anti-Discrimination Act 1977
• Anti-Discrimination (Racial Vilification) Amendment Act 1989

• Racial Discrimination Act 1975
• Sex Discrimination Act 1984
• Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986

It is prohibited to harass a person because of their sex, race (including colour, nationality, descent, ethnic or ethno-religious background), age, marital or domestic status, homosexuality (actual or perceived), disability (actual or perceived, past, present or future), transgender status (actual or perceived), or carer's responsibilities (actual or presumed).

Anti-discrimination law defines harassment as any form of behaviour that:

• you do not want;
• offends, humiliates or intimidates you;
• creates a hostile environment.

• material that is displayed in the workplace (for example on a noticeboard), circulated on paper, sent by fax or put in someone's workspace or belongings
• material put on a computer, sent by email, or put on a website, blog or social networking site
• verbal abuse or comments
• offensive jokes
• offensive gestures
• ignoring, isolating or segregating a person or group - for example not inviting someone to a work event that everyone else is invited to
• initiation ceremonies that involve unwelcome behaviour
• unwanted communication via mobile/telephone.

For more information see Safe and Respectful Communities  

• The student support and counselling services contact 02 4221 3445
• The UOW out of hours crisis line: 1300 036 149
• The Campus Clinic: 02 4208 1018
• Disability Services: 02 4221 3445
• Wellbeing planning: the management team at your residence can work with you to develop a wellbeing plan to help you maintain your health and wellbeing whilst in residence. Remember, it is important to reach out for help if you feel distressed or if you have a concern for the welfare of others.
• Lifeline
• Beyond Blue
• The Black Dog Institute
• The Salvation Army

Disturbance caused by noise can occur at any time of the day or night and will be regulated through the residence, however as a matter of courtesy to your fellow residents you are required to keep noise to a minimum between 10pm at night and 9 am in the morning.
Persistence breaches of this standard can be considered under the Failure to Comply request and demerit points can be allocated as a result of this behaviour.

The following items are not permitted within UOW Living residences:

• Candles (including decorative, memento or souvenir candles)
• Oil burners or lamps
• Incense
• Microwaves (refer to 3.6)
• Washing machines
• Bug bombs’ (a pest control device)
• Fireworks
• Beer bongs
• Drug paraphernalia of any kind
• Flammable or combustible substances
• Chemicals
• BBQs
• Stolen items (including road and directional signs)
• Hunting knives
• Weapons of any kind.

This list of prohibited items is not exhaustive. Other items may be considered safety hazards and subject to prohibition at the discretion of the Student Residence Manager. If you are at all in doubt, contact your Student Residence Manager or Residence Administration Office.

Fan heaters (excluding pedestal or desk fans) and column oil heaters of >800 watts are prohibited.

• flammable liquids (such as petroleum or paint thinner)
• kerosene,
• charcoal lighter fluid
• propane fuelled camping equipment
• automotive or industrial batteries
• dry ice
• chemicals
• corrosive liquids
• acid-like materials
• compressed gas cylinders
• explosives

UOW Living staff will remove any hazardous materials immediately with any resulting costs charged to the resident responsible for their presence on campus. If at all in doubt about a material please contact your Residence Administration Office.

NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure that ALL personal electrical equipment in your room is safe.

Please ensure that any ‘power adapters’ brought in from overseas conform to Australian Standards before use.

Please note that should the wattage of your personal electrical appliance/s overload the circuit, you will be charged any associated costs with rectifying the situation.

In the event of an alarm leading to a Fire & Rescue NSW callout being caused deliberately, or for repeated callouts caused by a specific resident or unit, or in the case of an actual fire caused accidentally, the full call out charge of $1750 may be imposed on the resident or unit.

As a precaution you should ensure that fans are working in bathrooms and over cooking units and always use them when showering / cooking. This will reduce risk of steam, cooking fumes, toast etc. setting off the alarms. See also section on ‘Candles, Other Naked Flames’.

Tampering with fire safety equipment - or fire exit doors are offences under the Law. Tampering can comprise, for example, attempting to cover or in some other way disable a smoke/heat detector, silence or decrease the safety warning emitted from a siren or horn, or making a fire exit door or extinguisher unusable. Residents should be aware that if, in accordance with appropriate due process, you are found responsible for the unauthorised discharge of a fire extinguisher, or tampering with fire safety equipment (as outlined above), your residency will be terminated.

Should you tamper with fire prevention/safety equipment, which resulted in damage or injury, you will be held liable, both financially and legally. The cost of replacing or repairing fire extinguishers and/or equipment will be passed on to the individual resident responsible or, if no one takes responsibility, may be shared by all residents in a unit. That is, if the fire extinguisher or other associated fire protection or detection equipment in your unit is found to be tampered with or discharged, the cost of restoring it to full working order will be divided between the members of the unit. If such equipment in a common area is damaged, then the Damage Assessment Policy may be implemented.

A number of UOW policies and legislation govern this area:

UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG

Workplace Health and Safety Policy
Student Conduct in Residences Policy

COMMONWEALTH

Work Health and Safety Act 2011

Because of the increased risk of COVID-19 transmission in shared residential settings and consequential health risks, it is a condition of residence in all UOW Student Accommodation covered by these Rules that every resident, family member or guest  aged 12 and older, either:

• has had 2 doses* of a COVID-19 vaccine (being a vaccine approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration of the Commonwealth for use in Australia as a vaccine against COVID-19, or recognised by the Therapeutic Goods Administration of the Commonwealth as an appropriate vaccine against COVID-19 for incoming travellers to Australia) and any additional doses for which they are eligible, in accordance with published NSW Health recommendations; or
• has a medical contraindication that prevents them from receiving any COVID-19 vaccine available in NSW.

* or a single dose of the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine.

Please see the 
Therapeutic Goods Administration website for details of approved vaccines.

It is a condition of residence in all UOW Student Accommodation covered by these Rules that a resident, family member or guest aged 12 and over, complies with any request made by UOW Accommodation staff to provide evidence of their compliance with the condition at 11.1 (see below for acceptable forms of evidence), in the manner and within any timeframe specified in the request.

Evidence of vaccination (condition 11.1) should take the form of:

• Evidence from the Australian Immunisation Register (e.g. online immunisation history statement, a COVID-19 digital certificate from the Australian Immunisation Register); or
• Official evidence from an equivalent central register or health department if vaccinated in another country; or
• A certificate from a medical practitioner if neither of the above available.

Evidence of a medical contraindication should take the form of:

• Evidence from the Australian Immunisation Register that a medical contraindication has been recorded; or
• A certificate issued by a medical practitioner certifying that, because of a specified medical contraindication, the person cannot have any approved COVID-19 vaccine available in NSW.

All evidence must be clear, legible, in the English language, contain the person’s name and date of birth.

Residents with a medical contraindication to vaccination will be required to enter into a written Resident COVID Plan (RCP), which will set out agreed measures to manage risks associated COVID-19. The content of the RCP will depend on each Resident's individual circumstances and will include reasonable requirements and adjustments to that person's living situation designed to manage the health and safety risks to themselves and others that are associated with living in high density housing. These measures may include moving to a studio apartment, wearing a mask in common areas, or undertaking regular COVID-19 PCR or Rapid Antigen Testing and supplying the results of that testing to UOW. Once in place, Residents will be required to comply with the terms of their RCP.