Manage your JCU Account
Your JCU Account is your key to accessing JCU online services. It is your responsibility to manage your account and keep the details safe, as it enables staff and students to:
- Change your password
- Reset a forgotten password
- Update your alternative email address (used to reset a forgotten password or notify you of changes)
Learn more about your Account details, lifespan and status.
Your Username and Password security are your responsibility so don't share it.
No JCU staff member can tell you your current password and we will never request this information from you.
Changing my password
In order to change your password, you must login to your JCU Account Profile using your JCU username and current password.
While you are changing your password, we recommend that you add an alternative email address to your JCU Account Profile to assist with account recovery if you later forget your password.
To be able to recover your password yourself, you must first have set up an alternative email address in your JCU Account Profile. This must be a non-JCU email account.
There are a few situations where JCU will require you to change your password, these include:
- Upon commencement with JCU
- In case of a security event
- At intervals as defined in the IT Access and Account Management Procedures.
The password change will take effect on most JCU systems within a few minutes and be fully synced within the hour.
If your new password still won’t allow you access after 2 hours then please contact the Central Service Desk for further assistance.
Once your password has been synced across all systems you will be able to use the new password to log into JCU online services and computers.
Recover my Account
If you have forgotten your password or have been locked out by failed login attempts, follow the instructions below to reset your JCU Account password.
If you have forgotten your password (it happens we get it), and you have an alternative email address set up in your account please follow the forgotten password process to reset your password.
If you do not have an alternative email address registered for account recovery. Please email the centralservices@jcu.edu.au from an alternative (non-JCU) email address to begin the identity verification and account recovery process.
If you believe that your JCU account has been compromised (i.e. hacked), here are some simple steps to recover the account.
- Change your JCU password immediately, if unable to do this initiate the Forgotten Password process (you must have previously added an alternative email address in your Profile for this to be available).
- Notify the Central Service Desk
- Check all important services for any changes, this includes:
- eStudent Details
- MY HR Online (Staff) (especially bank account details)
- Email (check sent email folder for anything new and check your Outlook rules)
If your account has been disabled contact the Central Service.
What to do after changing your password
Now that you've changed your JCU Account password you may need to update your password details on some of the following devices, systems or applications.
After changing your password you will be prompted by O365 applications eg: Teams, OneDrive, Outlook etc to re-enter your password, make sure to enter your new password when prompted.
If you have changed your JCU Account password, you will need to update your password to access the Eduroam Wi-Fi network on each of your Wi-Fi enabled devices.
Your device may prompt you to re-enter your credentials for Eduroam. If you are not prompted to re-enter your credentials then remove and re-connect to Eduroam on Windows, Mac, iOS or Android.
If you are using a JCU computer and have changed your password, you should:
On Campus
- Lock your computer and then log back in using your new password
- If prompted by the computer, JCU Mac users may also need to update the password stored in their keychain
Off Campus
- Connect to the VPN if you are off campus (Working from home).
- Lock your computer and then log back in using your new password
- If prompted by the computer, JCU Mac users may also need to and update the password stored in their keychain
This will ensure that services like network drives and printing continue to function.
If you have saved your password in a web browser (Chrome, Firefox, IE) or a password manager (LastPass, 1Password), it will continue using the old password until you manually clear and update your password.
If you have changed your JCU Account password, you will need to update your password in the VPN connection settings, if you ticked the Save Password option when connecting.
If you are not prompted to re-enter your password when connecting to the VPN:
- Right-click on FortiClient VPN in the System Tray or Menu Bar and choose Open FortiClient Console.
- From here you can enter your updated password.
Choosing a password
Before changing your password please read the following information.
Your password must meet the following conditions to be valid:
- Minimum length of 8 characters and maximum length of 32
A password will be deemed invalid if it contains any of the following:
- Your login id or elements of your email address or name
- Any previously passwords for your account
The importance of using a strong password can't be emphasised enough. Your password verifies your digital identity - like an online passport.
The top reasons people gain unauthorised access to a password-protected system is they guessed someone's password, often because they found it on a piece of paper next to the computer or because they saw the person type the password in, but also because they use software programs that are VERY good at guessing common passwords.
The following guidelines will guard against someone finding out your password and gaining unauthorised access to your account:
- Make your password into a passphrase. The longer a password is, the more difficult it will be to attack the password by guessing (or brute force). A passphrase is simply a phrase or sentence that you use, instead of a word or set of characters. Passwords/passphrases should be a minimum of 8 characters long but if you want to really impress, they should be 11 or more. JCU's maximum character limit for passwords or passphrases is 32 characters.
- Use unique passwords. Make sure you use a unique password for every online service you use.
- Avoid publicly available information. We share a lot on social media, do not use personal information in your password that someone else is likely to be able to figure out. Obviously, things like your name, phone number, date of birth and address are to be avoided.
- Avoid common words. Don't ever be tempted to use one of those common passwords that are easy to remember but offer zero security. e.g. "password", "letmein" or key sequences that can easily be repeated. e.g. "qwerty123","asdf1234" etc.
- Change it periodically. It is a good habit to change or rotate your passwords on a regular basis, every 6-12 months.
IT Services recommend that you use a passphrase rather than a password for your JCU accounts. A passphrase is simply a phrase or sentence that you use, instead of a word or set of characters.
If there is no limit on a password length, use a passphrase. e.g. "Europe is beautiful this time of year." However, if you have to pick a smaller password, just use the first letter of each word and swap some of the letters for numbers: "E1bTtof7”.
JCU has a maximum limit of 32 characters on passwords or passphrases.