The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) Sandra Parker recently stated that wage underpayment has become a systemic issue in Australia’s tertiary education sector. Accordingly, the FWO is investigating 11 of the nation’s universities for potentially underpaying their staff, with Parker claiming the high level of casual staff at universities is a major concern.
The National Tertiary Education Union’s (NTEU) president Alison Barnes also claims wage theft in universities is “out of control”, which is why wage theft in the higher education sector is a key FWO priorities for 2022-23.
A March Senate inquiry into wage theft revealed that half the nation’s 40 universities have been implicated in the underpayment of staff.
