Online invigilation – key considerations
Authors: Emeritus Professor Greg Whateley and AnneMarie Moran
May 2025
Phillip Dawson (Strategies for Using Online Invigilated Exams) provides a most useful discussion around the key issues of remote proctoring - Strategies for using online invigilated exams.
At the heart of the focus is maintaining appropriate data storage, academic integrity, accessibility and data privacy. We are currently working with an Advisory Board for an Australian education software entity Campus Q - Campus Q | Australian education software solutions | Sydney | CampusQ that has a quality product available for remote proctoring – invigilatorPlus - Online Exam Proctoring Software | invigilatorPlus.
Our observation (and actual use of the product on a number of occasions) is that it in fact meets the key demands and offers a genuine option to education focused entities.
Australian owned and operated
There is certain comfort to be taken in the fact that invigilatorPlus is both Australian owned and operated. To mitigate risks Australian education providers should prioritise working with local proctoring services that store data onshore. invigilatorPlus is designed specifically for Australian institutions, ensuring compliance with the Privacy Act 1988, the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and of course TEQSA’s cyber security recommendations.
Unlike offshore proctoring services that store sensitive student data in foreign jurisdictions, invigilatorPlus guarantees data sovereignty, with all proctoring footage, logs, and information securely stored within Australia.
Academic Integrity
As digital education accelerates (partly driven by our recent COVID19 experiences) online proctoring has become indispensable for preserving the academic integrity of remote assessments. Universities, TAFEs, and training providers now rely heavily on these technologies to secure exam environments across hybrid and online learning models. It is critical that academic integrity is maintained at all costs.
Accessibility
A simple approach to the access of the invigilation tool is critical. invigilatorPlus does not require downloading software on to personal computers to complete the task. No complex installations are required - the platform operates with just a browser extension, with no need for client-side installation. This is a key issue for students/users.
The product also integrates directly with Learning Management Systems (LMS) - this in turn creates a smooth, intuitive experience for students from start to finish.
Data privacy
The risks of offshore data storage are not just theoretical - they have already been realized on a number of occasions. Breaches can happen anytime, anywhere in the world and, unfortunately, are becoming increasingly common. It is not so much the breach but rather sovereignty over the leaked data that is the concern here.
For Australian education providers it is essential to understand the potential dangers of outsourcing sensitive student data to global platforms without local oversight. With HE providers requiring their students to use proctoring examination services the process (typically) requires the students - being examined - to install third party software and give remote control of their laptop/desktop machines to proctors who may be operating from anywhere in the world. This alone should be concerning.
Based on these observations – we recommend invigilatorPlus to you.
Worth reading/viewing
Campus Q – Campus Q | Australian education software solutions | Sydney | CampusQ
Dawson, P. (2025) Strategies for using online invigilated exams - Strategies for using online invigilated exams
invigilatorPlus - Online Exam Proctoring Software | invigilatorPlus
Mienczakowksi, J., Moran, AM. And Whateley, G. (2025) The American Cloud and me - The American cloud and me — invigilatorPlus Blog
Whateley, G. (2025) All a matter of integrity despite the mode of delivery - All a matter of integrity despite the mode of delivery — invigilatorPlus Blog
Emeritus Professor Greg Whateley is currently Chair, Advisory Board – CampusQ.
AnneMarie Moran is Chief Information Officer at CampusQ (invigilatorPlus).