UNSW signs EU to back pay $32m

One of Australia’s largest universities has entered into an enforceable undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Commission to complete more than $32 million in rectification payments, including interest and superannuation, to over 33,000 underpaid staff.

Under the EU, the university admitted to underpaying entitlements under its enterprise agreements between 2024 and 2023 to employees across campuses in Sydney, Canberra, Albury, Coffs Harbour, Griffith, Port Macquarie, and Wagga Wagga.

According to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), a total of $32,719,122 will be paid to 33,069 current and former employees, who mostly consist of casual academic staff but also include professional staff such as laboratory assistants, administrative staff, and library staff.

In addition to the back pay, a contrition payment of $500,000 will be made to Commonwealth Consolidated Revenue.

Individual back payments range from less than $1 to $398,000.

Having already rectified a significant portion of the identified underpayments, UNSW has vowed to fulfil any outstanding payments, as well as any further identified as part of the ongoing review.

As part of the agreement, a range of compliance measures will be instituted, including the commissioning of up to two audits, staff completion of educational programs, bi-monthly reporting to the FWO, the maintenance of an Employee Advocate Program, and the establishment of a Joint Consultative Committee.

UNSW was first put on notice in 2018 regarding compliance issues after the FWO received a request from a casual academic regarding underpayments.

Extensive failures in record keeping, poor governance and payroll system inadequacies were then identified after the university self-reported underpayments in 2020. According to the ombudsman, the deficiencies were so severe that they hindered the investigation.

The FWO first commenced legal action for breaches between 2017 and 2022, securing a $213,120 penalty in December 2025.

According to FWO Anna Booth, the university has demonstrated a strong commitment to rectifying issues, despite its initial response falling short of expectations.

She said: “UNSW deserves credit for committing significant time and resources to put in place corrective measures that will ensure both full remediation of impacted staff and improved compliance for the future.”

“Improving workplace compliance in the universities sector has been an extended priority for the Fair Work Ombudsman. Our preference is for universities to engage openly with us about any compliance failures and for us to work with them to correct their problems.”

As recently reported, Charles Darwin University signed an EU regarding the identification of $4 million in underpayments.

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