St Peter’s College taken to SA Employment Tribunal over allegations it underpaid 91 staff

St Peter’s College, one of Adelaide’s top private schools, is facing penalties of up to $930,000 after allegedly underpaying 91 support staff.

One of Adelaide’s most prestigious schools faces a penalty of up to $930,000 after it allegedly left 91 support staff underpaid for more than two years.

St Peter’s College has been taken to the SA Employment Tribunal by the Independent Education Union of Australia amid allegations it failed to pay on-call allowance, overtime and provide proper meal breaks for 91 employees.

IEU SA general secretary Tim Oosterbaan alleged to The Advertiser St Peter’s had, “on multiple occasions”, contravened successive enterprise agreements throughout 2020 and 2022.

“We have warned them of this and they took very little or no action to address it,” Mr Oosterbaan said.

The allegations relate to a breach involving 91 staff. Picture Dean Martin

“It’s a pity that St Peter’s turned a minor procedural issue into something that needed to be fought over in court.”

Mr Oosterbaan said the affected employees weren’t teachers at the school.

The union first took legal action against St Peter’s, alleging its breaches had mainly affected one employee, Barnhard Juckers – a former sports centre services manager.

They further alleged one of the breaches was a “serious contravention” that affected 90 other employees as part of a “systematic pattern of conduct”.

St Peter’s is one of Adelaide’s most expensive schools, with an Advertiser analysis revealing it will cost $32,910 to put a teen through Year 12 in 2025, up 5.5 per cent on last year’s fee.

In a hearing earlier this month, the union asked the tribunal to order St Peter’s hand over specific documents it said would prove its claims – the college opposed, alleging the proceedings were strictly confined to only Mr Juckers.

His Honour Deputy President Stephen Lieschke ruled the 90 other employees – allegedly affected by the breaches – could be “readily identified” as part of the case, and ordered St Peter’s to provide the court with the relevant documents.

Deputy President Lieschke said St Peter’s had acted “unreasonably” by forcing the union into legal action over the application, and ordered them to pay the union’s legal costs for the hearing.

The college faces a penalty of up to $930,000. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

“In Fair Work Act cases, it is very rare for courts to make cost orders like this. In fact, I don’t recall any other South Australian school being ordered to pay costs in a case like this,” Mr Oosterbaan said.

“The court will have to decide how many different fines to order St Peter’s College to pay if it upholds the IEU’s case.

“If the court upholds all of the IEU’s case, four of those fines have maximum penalties of between $63,000 to $66,000 each.

“One fine has a maximum penalty of $666,000, giving total maximum penalties of between $918,000 to $930,000.”

The matter will return to the tribunal for a directions hearing next month.

St Peter’s College headmaster Tim Browning said, due to the ongoing legal proceedings, “it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time”.

Originally published as St Peter’s College taken to SA Employment Tribunal over allegations it underpaid 91 staff