Plagiarism is perceived as a serious problem for the higher education sector, indicated by the fact that all 39 Australian universities have a policy on plagiarism. It is therefore timely to ask: What are the characteristics of these policies? As an example of policy characteristics, this presentation discusses the types of attitudes inherent in the language of policy in the institutional definitions of Australian universities. It is argued that policies are not neutral, but rather contain judgments that show underlying attitudes, a situation neither surprising nor necessarily undesirable for plagiarism. These judgments contribute towards creating the university stance on important topics such as plagiarism and may clarify this stance for those new to the institution. University definitions of plagiarism have been analysed via Appraisal (Martin and White, 2005). The results indicate that the definitions contain a significant amount of judgment appraising plagiarism and plagiarising students negatively in terms of truthfulness and ethics. Students are predominantly appraised negatively in terms of their diligence, capability or adherence to accepted norms. Variation in the mix and emphasis of judgements in institutional definitions was found across the university sector
