Australian ‘wage theft’ underpayments ‘nearing A$400 million’

Australia’s academic union is demanding a federal parliamentary inquiry into “wage theft” at universities, as the tally of underpayments approaches A$400 million (£210 million).

A new analysis by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has found that about 124,000 staff at 29 universities have been short-changed by almost A$204 million, in confirmed underpayments dating back up to a decade. The union estimates that Victoria’s Deakin University, which has acknowledged underpayments but not divulged the amounts, owes another A$10 million.

The claims are outlined in the third edition of what the NTEU calls its “periodic wage theft report series”. Since the second report late last year, it says, new instances of underpayment have emerged at 12 institutions.

James Cook and Murdoch universities owe money to a further 8,400 underpaid staff, the NTEU says, while four more cases are working their way through the courts.

On top of this, nine universities have set aside a further A$168 million to repay their workers for “suspected wage theft incidents”, the union says. This includes more than A$70 million at the University of Sydney alone.

Sydney’s 2023 annual report says a “staff payment remediation provision” of A$70.1 million has been allocated, up from A$15 million in 2022. “Costs associated with the investigation and review of payments are…not included against the provision,” the report says.

UNSW Sydney’s 2023 annual report allocates A$70.8 million as a “best estimate” of its payment obligations to current and former employees, including the cost of “a thorough review into historical pay practices”. The final liabilities will be determined through court action brought against the university by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), UNSW says.

NTEU president Alison Barnes said “rampant wage theft” at universities had “spiralled beyond a crisis into a national disgrace. We’re calling on all political parties to back an urgent parliamentary inquiry.

“Australian taxpayers are being taken for a ride by unaccountable vice-chancellors and senior executives committing wage theft at proportions that would make the private sector blush.”

Dr Barnes and Australian Council of Trades Union secretary Sally McManus were scheduled to outline their demands at a media conference at Parliament House on the morning of 26 June.

The union’s accusations largely stem from universities’ failure to pay casual staff the rates specified in enterprise agreements for marking and assessment work. Universities claim to have uncovered these errors in internal audits and voluntarily reported their underpayments to the FWO.

The union acknowledges these voluntary efforts by some institutions but says “others have fought tooth and nail against wage theft claims”.

The NTEU’s report estimates that underpayments at RMIT University totalled A$10 million up until 2016, and that 3,700 staff have since been repaid. The university estimates its underpayments at A$7.5 million.

RMIT says it resolved its historical underpayments by agreeing to back-pay all affected staff at the “maximum rate” for assessment tasks, irrespective of whether the top rate was warranted.

The Australian Universities Accord recommended changes to institutional governance to improve the sector’s employment practices. In April, the country’s education ministers resolved to establish an expert governance council to guide the governance changes.

The federal government also plans to require universities to report their casual staff numbers in greater detail.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com