Clear communication about permitted AI use in assessment requires both university-wide consistency and unit-level specificity. This poster presents UWA’s two-layered approach to communicating AI-use expectations to students. The first layer is a university-wide, three-tier framework that distinguishes broad levels of permitted AI use, from no AI use through to AI being fully embedded in the assessment. The second layer supports staff to write assessment- and unit-specific guidance that explains what AI use is permitted, what is not permitted, which tools may or may not be used, and how students should acknowledge or reference AI use.

A key feature of the framework is its emphasis on explaining the “why” behind AI-use boundaries. Rather than presenting expectations as punitive rules, the guidance encourages staff to connect AI-use permissions to student learning, skill development and future professional practice. Staff are also encouraged to explain why students are being assessed in the chosen way, how the assessment format impacts on students’ learning, and to clearly connect the assessment format with AI-use boundaries.

This approach helps students understand how responsible AI use supports their learning. Together, these macro and micro communication strategies aim to support academic integrity while recognising that AI expectations are best understood in disciplinary and assessment contexts.