Australian Catholic University apologises after audit finds staff underpaid millions

A major university has apologised for underpaying hundreds of highly qualified staff across several years, with the total figure exceeding $3m.

Australian Catholic University has apologised for underpaying staff. Picture: ACU

Australian Catholic University has apologised to hundreds of staff after an extensive audit found 1100 people were underpaid $3.6m in wages over a seven year period.

Vice-chancellor and president Zlatko Skrbis emailed workers on Wednesday, informing them some staff had their entitlements miscalculated between 2016 and 2023, resulting in insufficient pay.

“You deserve to be paid correctly for your work and it is our responsibility to ensure you are being paid correctly,” Prof Skrbis said.

“On behalf of the university, I would like to sincerely and unequivocally apologise on behalf of the university and the Senate to every employee — paste and present.”

Sessional staff who had PhD qualifications and those undertaking subject or unit coordination duties or lecturer-in-charge duties were among those who had possibly been underpaid.

The university said in a statement it was in the process of contacting all former and current staff who had been affected by the error to apologise and advise them about how much they’re owed.

ACU apologised to staff after the university was found to have underpaid hundreds of faculty members.

Staff who weren’t appropriately paid will also receive interest on top of the amount of money they’re entitled to.

ACU said it has disclosed the matter to the Fair Work Ombudsman and advised the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and the Community and Public Sector Union to inform them about the error.

NTEU national president Dr Alison Barnes said the university’s admission was further proof wage theft in higher education was endemic.

“There’s barely a university in Australia which hasn’t been caught out stealing workers’ wages,” she said.

“Wage theft is the symptom and insecure work is the disease. It’s extremely disappointing but not surprising that casual staff have once again been the victims of this egregious conduct.”

NTEU ACU branch president Dr Leah Kaufmann said she was disappointed the university didn’t consult the union before Wednesday, however welcomed its commitment to take responsibility.

“This is extremely serious systemic wage underpayment or an estimated $3.6 million to 1100 sessional staff,” she said.

“Unlike some other universities, ACU management has reported itself, apologised, committed to full back payments within 28 days, and will be providing access to support for staff identified as the victims of underpayment.”

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, the Australian Tax Office and UniSuper were also made aware of the matter.

ACU has two Victorian campuses — one in Ballarat and the other in Melbourne — although it’s not known at this stage how many staff in the state were underpaid.

The catholic university’s confession comes a month after the National Tertiary Union revealed more than 47,000 staff from Victorian tertiary institutions were collectively underpaid more than $75 million across a 12-year period.