Maintenance schedule
Regular maintenance is essential to uphold the continuous performance and reliability of our systems. We strategically schedule maintenance periods to minimise disruptions to vital University operations. The dates on the calendar have been coordinated with relevant business representatives.
Explanation of the maintenance types are listed below the table and details of planned service disruptions are posted on the Service Portal before the scheduled maintenance periods.
Reminders for these maintenance periods will be sent out when appropriate via Staff and Student communication avenues, including screensavers, digital signage, all Staff Emails, digital newsletter as well as social media.
2025 schedule
| START DATE | FINISH DATE | MAINTENANCE TYPE |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday 20 Dec 8:00 | Saturday 20 Dec 20:00 | Minor Maintenance |
2026 schedule
| START DATE | FINISH DATE | MAINTENANCE TYPE |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 26 Jan 0:00 | Friday 30 Jan 18:00 | CHANGE BLACKOUT - Start of Semester 1 |
| Tuesday 27 Jan 18:00 | Friday 30 Jan 18:00 | Change Freeze - Start of Semester 1 |
| Saturday 31 Jan 8:00 | Saturday 31 Jan 20:00 | Minor Maintenance |
| Saturday 28 Feb 8:00 | Saturday 28 Feb 20:00 | Minor Maintenance |
| Saturday 28 Mar 8:00 | Sunday 29 Mar 20:00 | Minor Maintenance |
| Saturday 25 Apr 08:00 | Saturday 25 Apr 20:00 | MAJOR Maintenance |
| Monday 27 Apr 8:00 | Friday 8 May 18:00 | Change Freeze - Trimester 1 & Semester 1 Exams |
| Saturday 30 May 8:00 | Saturday 30 May 20:00 | Minor Maintenance |
| Saturday 27 Jun 8:00 | Sunday 28 Jun 20:00 | MAJOR Maintenance |
| Monday 20 Jul 8:00 | Friday 24 Jul 18:00 | Change Freeze - Winter (Midyear) Exams |
| Saturday 29 Aug 8:00 | Saturday 29 Aug 20:00 | Minor Maintenance |
| Monday 3 Aug 8:00 | Friday 7 Aug 18:00 | Change Freeze - Trimester 2 Exams |
| Monday 17 Aug 0:00 | Friday 21 Aug 18:00 | CHANGE BLACKOUT - Start of Semester 2 |
| Tuesday 18 Aug 18:00 | Friday 21 Aug 18:00 | Change Freeze - Start of Semester 2 |
| Saturday 26 Sep 8:00 | Sunday 27 Sep 20:00 | MAJOR Maintenance |
| Saturday 31 Oct 8:00 | Saturday 31 Oct 20:00 | Minor Maintenance |
| Monday 16 Nov 8:00 | Friday 20 Nov 18:00 | Change Freeze - Semester 2 & Trimester 3 Exams |
| Saturday 28 Nov 8:00 | Saturday 28 Nov 20:00 | Minor Maintenance |
| Saturday 19 Dec 8:00 | Saturday 19 Dec 20:00 | Minor Maintenance |
Maintenance explanation
Scheduled maintenance windows are designated time periods during which ALL services may encounter interruptions. Notifications for affected systems will be provided on the Service Portal before the scheduled maintenance periods. There are two types of maintenance windows throughout the year:
- MINOR with a duration of 12 hours
- MAJOR with a duration of 36 hours.
Occasionally, there arises a need for immediate maintenance actions that cannot wait for a regularly scheduled Monthly Maintenance Window. These urgent maintenance tasks are exclusively executed outside the Monthly Maintenance Window when it is imperative to uphold the security, stability, and functionality of a system.
In the event that urgent maintenance becomes necessary, DTS will communicate any service disruptions through notifications on the Service Portal.
No changes to systems are to be scheduled during this period to minimise risk in these student focused periods (start of semesters 1&2). The only changes during this period will be in response to, or to prevent major incidents, or to address ‘critical’ security patches.
During a change freeze, systems supporting University critical & important processes will not be changed unless in response to, or to prevent a major incident, or to address ‘critical’ or ‘important’ security patches. The periods where change freezes apply are:
- Supporting University Critical Processes (as listed in Section 7 of the University Business Continuity Management Framework)
- Student Admissions
- Student Enrolments
- Student Fees
- Student Teaching
- Student Exams
- Maintaining critical research
- Pay Staff
- Pay Creditors
- Student Census dates
- Research grant applications
- Research grant revenue
- Important Student Processes
Key Student Dates:
- Welcome Week, Start of semester 1 & semester 2
- Graduations
- Open Days
- Student Accommodation Check-In and Check-Out weekend
Periods throughout the year where changes to nominated systems are avoided if possible. Generally changes will only be made during these periods at the request of the business and if the risk is low. Change awareness periods apply:
- In the days leading up to key student deadlines, listed in the Change Freeze section above
- When key business support processes are scheduled:
- finance end of month,
- finance end of year,
- Excellence in Research Australia (3 yearly review)
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.