Class action launched against Torrens University over underpayments

A new class action has targeted Torrens University over alleged underpayment of casual academics, potentially covering more than 1,000 staff.

Hayden Stephens & Associates has commenced Federal Court proceedings against Torrens University over allegations that casual academics were underpaid for essential work such as marking, student consultation, moderation, and training and meetings.

Supported by the National Tertiary Education Union, the representative proceeding is anticipated to encompass over 1,000 casual academic staff.

The impacted workers span multiple Torrens University campuses, including those located in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and the Blue Mountains.

Torrens University Australia is owned by Strategic Education, which is a publicly listed US corporation, and the case is expected to be the first major underpayment class action targeting a private university in Australia.

In March, the full Federal Court discovered that Torrens had unlawfully relied on a single rolled-up lecture rate to cover marking duties that should have been separately paid under the Higher Education Industry, Academic Staff Award 2020.

This breach allegedly comes from an inability to compensate casual academic employees adequately for mandatory tasks, such as student consultation, moderation, marking, training, and unit meetings.

Previously, the firm had conducted investigations into underpayments involving doctors across the respective Australian states, with a current Northern Territory doctors underpayment investigation ongoing.

Torrens University lecturer, Tito Scohel, indicated that the action was about making sure that casual academics were being paid for the work that they had done.

“Torrens has shown repeatedly that it cannot be left to police itself,” Scohel said.

“We are taking this action because casual academics should not be expected to perform essential university work for free. If the work is required, it should be paid.”

Meanwhile, Sharon Hannaford, a casual academic who worked at the Blue Mountains campus from 2015, said that students being unpaid was the norm.

“Casuals routinely undertake marking and other required duties without adequate compensation; Torrens must now consult meaningfully with affected staff to ensure fair remediation,” Hannaford said.

A fellow lecturer, who asked to remain anonymous, anticipated that the instability of casual roles might cause academics to be reluctant to reach out over underpayment matters.

“There’s a significant level of fear among casual colleagues about speaking up about wage theft, as doing so may result in a loss of future work opportunities”, the spokesperson said.

The legal action takes place amidst increased scrutiny surrounding wage underpayment in the Australian education system, especially for casual staff.

Hayden Stephens, who is the principal of Hayden Stephens & Associates, described the underpayment issue across Australia as a serious and systemic issue.

“Underpayment in the university sector has reached endemic proportions,” Stephens said.

“What makes the allegations against Torrens particularly significant is the extent to which casual academics say even basic and essential parts of their jobs were not properly paid.”

“Our clients are not asking for a pay rise or special treatment; they are asking to be paid for the work they were required to do.”

“This is about fairness, not money.”

“It would appear that this systemic underpayment of casuals has, over a very long time, formed part of Torrens business model that is designed to rely on unpaid labour from a vulnerable group.”

Stephens further highlighted the vulnerability of casual staff, citing that large corporations such as Torrens often exploit such individuals.

“There is clearly a perception among casuals that your employment status is vulnerable – that means casual academics are less likely to speak up; if they were to complain then it could have a very serious impact on their careers,” Stephens said.

“It is more in ‘sorrow’ and frustration that court proceedings have been commenced, given the failure of Torrens to resolve these long-standing problems.”

“The Torrens’ approach to ignoring payment for marking and other required duties is broken; it has been for well over a decade.”

“Change is needed.”

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