Tropical Cyclone Alfred: Staff access guidance and directions

During Tropical Cyclone Alfred, UQ campuses and facilities within the cyclone-impacted areas will be closed, and various access restrictions will be in place for staff and students.

Activities occurring outside impacted areas can continue.

Restricted access – definition

Activities at UQ campuses and facilities must stop, except for essential activities to support vital research resources, infrastructure and activities.

During this time, only authorised staff and HDR students required for vital research tasks and critical campus operations are permitted access, where it is safe. 

Heads of organisational units, including Heads of Schools and Institute Directors, are responsible for assessing requests and authorising permissions, and for overseeing compliance with university safety directives.

Heads of organisational units should make decisions based on professional judgement, considering staff safety as the priority.

Full closure – definition

All activities at UQ campuses and facilities must stop and no access is permitted. Not even authorised staff are permitted to access.

Vital research activities – definition

Live organisms

Focus on basic care and preservation, particularly where required by regulations, such as:

• Genetically modified plants and organisms under licence
• Irreplaceable cell lines, microbial cultures, and genetic material
• Care of animals, plants, and insect stocks
• Preservation of valuable samples (e.g., in freezers, liquid nitrogen).

Physical infrastructure

Maintenance of sophisticated and sensitive equipment, including:

• Microscopes, MRI/NMR instruments, lasers, and vacuum systems
• Vital services to comply with regulatory certifications
• Emergency repairs to critical equipment and services
• High-performance computing infrastructure.

Research with substantial investment at risk 

Research with substantial investment at risk, that is at a crucial phase, where stopping would cause: 

• Major safety risks
• Irreversible loss of significant data (e.g. time-series or time-sensitive data with greater than 12-month investment).