Uni NSW is the 13th university to accept an Enforceable Undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman. It is a win for 33,000 current and former UNSW staff, who have received or will soon receive $32m in unpaid wages, super and interest across 2014-2023.
The FWO took the university to court in 2018, with Federal Court Judge Brana Obradovic delivering her judgement last Christmas Eve, (Future Campus, January 18). The university admitted its business school did not keep employee records for casual academics over seven years, did not include prescribed information on their pay slips and breached employment conditions in its enterprise agreement. Professional staff in a range of roles were also underpaid.
Justice Obradovic imposed a $213,000 penalty at the time, finding that “despite its various meetings, production of documents and information, as well as answering notice to produce, UNSW did not, at any point in time, voluntarily disclose its record keeping failures to the FWO."
Now, the FWO adds the terms of its Enforceable Undertaking, including a $500,000 contrition payment to Commonwealth Consolidated Revenue. Plus, there are a range of compliance requirements.
In March ’25 an FWO submission to a Senate inquiry submitted, “the scale of non-compliance has been particularly disappointing given the university sector’s social licence, receipt of substantial taxpayer support, and because existing governance structures have regrettably not, in our experience, ensured workplace compliance.”
The 12 other universities which have entered into Enforceable Undertakings with the FWO are, Charles Darwin U, Monash U, La Trobe U, Uni Sydney, Uni Melbourne, UTS, Uni Newcastle, Charles Sturt U, Griffith U, Uni Wollongong, QUT and Uni Tasmania.