University of Queensland - Client of the month #5

So winter is upon us and we'd rather be somewhere warmer. Let's head to Brisbane, where students at our client of the month, the University of Queensland are enjoying a glorious Australian summer.

The University of Queensland (UQ) is a major research university with thousands of staff, tens of thousands of students and a broad range of faculties, schools and departments. Managing photography, documents and other brand assets at that scale requires more than a shared folder or basic image library.

UQ chose Asset Bank as its digital asset management (DAM) system to give users a secure, central place to find, use and manage approved assets. Crucially, the platform helps the university control access, clarify usage rights and keep responsibility for content in the right hands.

3 things you should know about UQ:

• UQ is ranked as one of the top 100 Universities in the world
• Its the largest University in Queensland, Australia
• UQ has more specialised fields of research than any other Australian University

Read more about how UQ uses Asset Bank's digital asset management software in our latest case study.

To get the month started we have selected 3 of our favourite UQ images.

1. Advanced Engineering building

The Advanced Engineering building is a collaborative project funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments and the University of Queensland. It is a living laboratory. Every detail of the building has been carefully considered to maximise energy efficiency, helping it achieve a 5 Star Green rating representing Australian Excellence in environmental initiatives.

2. Inspired thinking 

‘Inspired thinking’ is the driving statement behind everything UQ does. Some of their students can run pretty fast too. No seriously it's true, Australian Rugby captain Michael Lynagh is just one of their alumni of note.

3. Green Wall at the Global Change Institute Building

Another highly sustainable building at UQ. The Global Change Institute Building features a green wall, bush tucker garden and a bio-retention basin.

Now onto their DAM story.

The challenge: managing assets for a large university community

Universities create and use a high volume of digital content every day. Marketing teams, faculty communications teams, researchers, staff and students may all need access to images, videos, documents and campaign materials.

For UQ, the challenge was to manage a large and varied asset collection for up to 30,000 users, while ensuring different people could access the right content for their role, school, faculty or department.

The university needed a DAM platform that could support:

• Different access levels for administrators, users and contributors
• Permissions tailored to individual user groups and organisational units
• Delegated administration, without losing central oversight
• Automatic user access through integration with the UQ Directory
• Clear visibility of asset usage rights at the point of download
• Secure archiving for assets that should no longer be available to standard users

Without robust permission management, it is easy for outdated, unapproved or rights-restricted assets to be used in error. For a large education organisation, this can create reputational risk, unnecessary administration and uncertainty for users trying to do the right thing.

A secure digital asset management system for education

Asset Bank gives UQ a central digital asset management platform for storing, organising and sharing images, documents and other important content.

The system supports 14 different user groups, each with tailored permissions for viewing, uploading, editing and downloading assets. This means users receive appropriate access based on what they need to do, rather than having unrestricted access to the full asset library.

UQ also uses 44 organisational units. These allow sub-administrators to manage responsibilities within their own area, including approving uploads, edits and downloads. A small number of super administrators retain overarching control, creating a practical balance between local ownership and central governance.

This approach helps a university scale asset management across a complex organisation while keeping standards consistent.

Automatic user access and permissions with LDAP integration

Managing user accounts manually can become a significant burden when staff and students join, move between departments or leave the university.

Asset Bank integrates with UQ’s directory using Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). This enables staff and students to be added automatically, mapped to the appropriate permission groups and removed when they leave.

For UQ, this supports more efficient access management and reduces the risk of former users retaining access to content they no longer need.

Automatic directory integration also helps users get access to relevant assets faster. Instead of waiting for manual account setup, users can be placed in the correct groups based on their existing university information.

Making usage rights clear before assets are downloaded

Digital assets often come with important conditions. An image may have a limited licence, require photographer attribution, be restricted to a particular campaign or include people whose consent must be respected.

Asset Bank enables UQ to clearly label rights management information on assets and show it during the download process. This reinforces the importance of using content correctly at the moment a user is about to take it.

Clear rights information helps teams use assets with confidence. Rather than relying on separate spreadsheets, emails or institutional knowledge, users can see the information they need in the DAM system itself.

For marketing and communications teams, this helps support compliant content use and reduces the chance of publishing an asset outside its permitted terms.

Keeping content in the right hands

Not every asset should remain visible to every user indefinitely. Old campaign content, superseded materials or sensitive files may need to be retained for record-keeping while being removed from everyday search results.

With Asset Bank, UQ can archive assets so they are no longer visible to standard users. Local administrators and super administrators can still access them when needed.

This gives the university greater control over the content available to users, helping teams avoid accidentally selecting outdated or unsuitable assets.

Users can also link related assets from different sets, making it easier to connect and find content that belongs together.

Why universities need DAM with permissions and rights management

A university DAM system should do more than store files. It should make approved content easy to find, control who can access it and help users understand whether it can be used.

For organisations such as UQ, a permissions-led approach supports:

• Consistent access controls across schools, faculties and departments
• Delegated administration with central oversight
• Faster onboarding and offboarding of staff and students
• Better governance for images, documents and other brand assets
• Clearer asset usage rights at the point of download
• Safer management of archived and outdated content

Asset Bank helps universities stay compliant by enabling teams to use assets confidently, control access and protect rights.

Learn more about Asset Bank for higher education

The University of Queensland demonstrates how a large education organisation can use digital asset management to bring order to a complex content library, streamline access and make rights information more visible.

Read the full University of Queensland digital asset management case study to learn more about the implementation.

If your university needs a DAM system that helps you manage permissions, control access and stay on the right side of image licences, book an Asset Bank demo.

Frequently asked questions

How does The University of Queensland use Asset Bank?

The University of Queensland uses Asset Bank to store and manage a large variety of digital assets, including images and documents. The platform supports tailored user permissions, delegated administration, LDAP directory integration, rights information and asset archiving.

How many user groups does UQ manage in Asset Bank?

UQ uses 14 user groups with permission levels tailored for viewing, uploading, editing and downloading assets.

How does Asset Bank help universities manage access to digital assets?

Asset Bank enables universities to assign permissions by role, group, school, faculty or department. It can also integrate with an organisation’s directory so users are automatically added to the right groups and removed when they leave.

How does Asset Bank support usage rights management?

Asset Bank can display rights management information directly on assets and during the download process. This helps users understand important restrictions and use content more confidently.

Can Asset Bank archive university assets?

Yes. Asset Bank enables organisations to archive assets so they are hidden from standard users but remain available to authorised local administrators or super administrators.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss Asset’s Bank digital asset management solution further.