La Trobe University to Repay $10.77 Million in Underpayments

La Trobe University has entered into an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) and will repay more than $10.77 million, including superannuation and interest, to over 6,700 underpaid staff.

As part of the EU, the university will also make a $220,000 contrition payment to the Commonwealth’s Consolidated Revenue Fund and implement significant measures to strengthen compliance with workplace laws.

Systemic Payroll Failures Lead to Underpayments

The underpayments affected casual academics and professional staff across La Trobe’s Victorian and Sydney campuses. The errors stemmed from widespread failures in compliance, oversight, and governance, with payroll practices varying between schools.

A key issue was the misapplication of Enterprise Agreements, which led to casual employees not being paid for all hours worked. In particular, many were underpaid for marking, as payments were based on benchmarks—such as words per hour or assessments per term—rather than actual hours worked. Underpayments also affected lecturing, tutoring, and subject coordination roles, with record-keeping failures further exacerbating the problem.

Between January 2015 and December 2022, La Trobe underpaid 6,774 employees a total of $9.3 million. The university is now back-paying affected staff, with an additional $909,422 in superannuation and $556,061 in interest, bringing the total remediation to more than $10.08 million. Individual underpayments ranged from $2 to $91,837.

Commitment to Compliance and Cultural Change

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth acknowledged La Trobe University’s cooperation in addressing its non-compliance and taking steps to ensure future compliance.

“La Trobe University deserves credit for recognising its payroll failures and committing the necessary time and resources to fully remediate affected staff and implement lasting improvements,” Ms Booth said.

“The case highlights the risks employers face when they lack proper checks and balances in workplace compliance.”

To prevent future breaches, La Trobe University has committed to:

• Upgrading payroll and record-keeping systems.
• Strengthening central oversight of workplace relations processes.
• Establishing a consultative body with university management, employees, and unions.
• Providing workplace relations training for key staff.
• Conducting independent audits to ensure compliance.
• Implementing a formal complaints and review process for employee payments.
• Regularly reporting to the FWO on compliance efforts and employee concerns.

The university will also inform staff of the EU through internal communications and require its governing council to focus explicitly on workplace compliance.

Increased Scrutiny on University Sector

The Fair Work Ombudsman has made compliance in the university sector a top priority. Since 2022, it has secured Enforceable Undertakings with five other universities—including the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne—imposed penalties on the University of Melbourne, and launched legal action against the University of NSW.

With increasing regulatory scrutiny, universities are urged to take proactive steps to ensure payroll compliance and prevent similar underpayment issues.