The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority's website was hacked on Wednesday evening, in the middle of the VCE exam period. A message posted on its homepage by someone using the alias DaggerElite claimed to have sold exam papers to "hundreds of students" across the state, The Guardian reports.
The authority says the claims are false. A VCAA spokesperson said they were "fabricated" and there was "no evidence at all" that any exams had been accessed or leaked. "These are false claims designed for financial gain from the exploitation of anxious students," the spokesperson said.
The hacker claimed to have downloaded a copy of the 2026 exam papers from a printing provider's file servers and sent them out using email details taken from a legal service provider, the ABC reports. The message, full of expletives, also attacked the security of the VCAA and of those providers.
"We've worked overnight; there is no evidence that these exams have been leaked," VCAA chief executive Andrew Smith told the ABC. He told ABC Radio Melbourne the chance that papers could be downloaded from secure printers was "very, very low".
The VCAA says it is running a forensic investigation into the extent of the attack. "There is no indication that exam papers from today or previous weeks have been accessed," a spokesperson said. The incident has been reported to police, according to The Guardian.
The website was still offline on Thursday morning, with a notice saying it was "undergoing maintenance". Smith said it was being restored as a "matter of urgency". "Once we've completed our investigation, we will go back, look at the root cause of what might have happened, and any changes we need to increase the security around our corporate website will certainly be made," he said.
A state government spokesperson said year 12 exams were "stressful enough without someone trying to vandalise the system". "The VCAA immediately removed its website from public access and commenced an investigation into the claims, as is appropriate. The VCE exams will continue as normal," the spokesperson said.
The exam period began on 5 October and runs until 18 November, with 24 exams still to come, including physics, geography and politics. Some students reacted angrily online. "The fact that people are hacking a GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY just goes to show the ridiculous amounts of stress and pressure they put on us," one wrote.
It is the latest trouble for the authority. In 2024, questions the same as or similar to those in VCE exams could be read in hidden text on sample cover sheets published on its website, a review found. Then chief executive Kylie White resigned, and the board was sacked in 2025.
The state budget in May set aside $222.2 million to rebuild the VCAA under the recommendations of the Blacher Review.
