How Australian and Indonesian Universities Treat Plagiarism: A Comparative Study Bambang Yudi Cahyono1 Abstracts: This article is a part of a larger study comparing various aspects of policies on plagiarism in two university contexts. It compares policies on plagiarism in universities in Australia and Indonesia. The results of this comparative study showed that Australian and Indonesian universities treat plagiarism differently. Australian universities treat plagiarism explic- itly in their university policies. In Australian universities, plagiarism is de- fined clearly and forms of plagiarism are explained thoroughly, policies on plagiarism are informed to all university academic members, and there are mechanisms to manage cases related to plagiarism. In contrast, not all In- donesian universities treat plagiarism directly. Some universities depend on religious morality and academic ethics in dealing with plagiarism. Ac- cordingly, this article recommends the explicit treatment of plagiarism in Indonesian universities. Keywords: plagiarism, university policy on plagiarism, Australian uni- versities, Indonesian universities. Etymologically, the word plagiarism originates from a Greek word plagiarius meaning „literary theft‟ (Barnhart, 1995: 573). The Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners defines plagiarism as “The practice of using or copying someone else‟s idea or work and pretending that you thought of it or created it” (Sinclair, 2001: 1169). Thus, plagiarism as an ethical violation in the process of creating a work. 1 Bambang Yudi Cahyono is a lecturer at the English Department, State University of Malang.