Employee Entitlement Remediation Program
The University of Western Australia, like several other Australian universities, is currently undertaking a review of past work practices and improving its processes to ensure employees are paid correctly in line with industrial agreements.
The University self-reported to the Fair Work Ombudsman in 2024 some known and suspected instances where employee entitlements were not correctly paid.
Since then, work has been under way to investigate and resolve identified discrepancies, and ensure employees are accurately reimbursed.
The University is committed to taking the steps necessary to ensure its valued people are paid correctly for the time, effort and commitment they give to our students, research and operations.
Key stakeholders, including the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), in addition to the Fair Work Ombudsman, are being kept informed of our progress.
Casual Review
The work underway includes a Casual Review, focusing on pay practices for casual employees across the University. The review covers the six-year period from 18 February 2019 to 9 March 2025, with the aim of ensuring payments have been made in accordance with our enterprise agreements and applying remediation where required.
This review is being conducted across four employee cohorts, covered by different industrial instruments, in two separate but concurrent tranches:
- Tranche 1 involves developing calculation models for casual Professional and General and casual Academic employees, which represent the majority of casual employees covered by the review. The calculation model is substantially complete based on electronic employee data and is being complemented by an assessment of available manual timesheet records.
- Tranche 2 involves developing calculation models for the smaller English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) and Childcare cohorts. This work is in progress.
Once the calculation models are finalised, they will undergo a comprehensive validation process. The outcomes of the Casual Review are expected to be shared in 2027.
The work also addresses casual long service leave, with the University continuing discussions with the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety (LGIRS) about the University’s approach to long service leave entitlements for casual employees. The University aims to confirm its approach following the outcomes of the Casual Review.
Remediation to former and current staff
Since the EERP was formalised in 2024, UWA has made remediation payments to:
- A cohort of former professional and general employees who were owed additional payments of vested long service leave following their termination. Payments of more than $285,400 were made to 94 former employees in 2025.
- A small group of current and former University Hall employees who worked as Emergency Contacts within the Residential Life team and were owed additional entitlements relating to on-call rostering and related recall to duty. Payments of more than $872,900 were made to 13 former and current employees in 2025.
- Some Early Childhood Teachers employed in the Early Learning Centre, as pay rates under the University of Western Australia Childcare Employees’ Collective Agreement 2015 fell below pay rates under the Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020 on 1 January 2022. This meant employees had been underpaid from this date and remediation was due. Payments of more than $210,000 were made to former and current employees in 2025.
- Some current and former University Hall employees, following a quality assurance review of some entitlements that were initially investigated in 2021. The initial investigation found some employees had been paid under an incorrect industrial instrument. They were remediated and moved to the correct industrial instrument at the time. In 2026, the University completed a further review of entitlements from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2020 to ensure all potential variances had been identified and correctly calculated. Additional remediation payments of more than $888,700 to 245 current and former employees began in March 2026. All current staff have been paid. Frequently asked questions for affected individuals follow.
If you think you might have been affected by any of these matters and have not been contacted by the University, please content the Employee Entitlement Remediation Program (EERP) team on +61 (08) 6488 0312 or [email protected].
University Hall employees - 2026 Remediation payments: Frequently asked questions
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How were payments calculated?
The University engaged independent external experts to calculate the pay and superannuation that would have been due for all University Hall employees for each fortnightly pay period from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2020, under the relevant Professional & General Agreement. Modelled outcomes were then compared to actual amounts paid during the same period to calculate any remediation payments owed.
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How and when will remediation payments be paid?
Current employees
The University paid all current employees affected by this matter in March and April 2026.Former employees
The University has paid most former employees affected by this matter. The University sent a letter, by email or by post, from February 2026, to affected former employees to advise them that they are owed a remediation payment and to request their current contact and payment details via a secure online form. Proactive efforts are continuing to contact former employees who have not yet responded. -
Where will superannuation remediation payments be paid?
Information for all current and former employees
Any payments relating to historical Superannuation Guarantee (SG) obligations have been made via the Australian Tax Office (ATO). The ATO will assess the amount, including interest, issue correspondence to affected employees and disburse the funds to your superannuation fund.
Any other (non- historical SG) superannuation remediation payments identified will be paid by the University into your superannuation account.
Additional information by employee type
Current employees:
All superannuation payments will be paid directly into your superannuation fund as held on record by the University.
Former employees based in Australia:
The University has sent a letter, by email or by post, to affected former employees to advise them that they are owed a remediation payment and request updated superannuation details. Once these details are provided, the University will process the superannuation payments directly into your superannuation fund.
Former employees based overseas:
Where your superannuation will be paid will be guided by your responses to section 4 of the secure form. Superannuation remediation payments will be paid to your superannuation account or self-managed super fund, if you have one. If not, and we are required by the Australian Tax Office to pay your superannuation remediation payment into a superannuation account, you may elect for the University to create a superannuation account in your name with UniSuper, or you can create an account with your choice of superannuation fund and provide the details.
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How is interest applied to remediation payments?
For underpayment of wages, interest has been applied using the Federal Court pre-judgement rate as at 1 January 2026, which is the relevant Reserve Bank of Australia cash rate target for each half year period plus 4%.
For these payments, interest is 7.6%, applied as a flat interest amount.
Under Australian Tax Office (ATO) legislation, the University has an obligation to apply interest in accordance with the ATO’s requirements for Superannuation Guarantee (SG) shortfalls. This is calculated and applied by the ATO on the shortfalls. The rate applied is currently 10% per annum nominal interest.
While there is no obligation for interest payments to be made on Enterprise Agreement shortfalls, the University determined that the Federal Court pre-judgement rate of 7.6% per annum would be applied as a flat interest amount, as compensation for the period since these issues arose.
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Will remediation affect government benefits?
If you receive government benefits and are notified of a remediation payment, it is recommended that you contact Services Australia (Centrelink) and seek their advice based on your individual circumstances. You can contact Services Australia by making an appointment.
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I think I might have been affected but have not been contacted by the University, what can I do?
If you are a former employee and your contact details have changed, please update your details via this secure form to make sure we have your current email address and mailing address.
If you think you may have been affected by this matter and have not been contacted by the University, please contact the People and Culture Service Centre on +61 (08) 6488 0312 or [email protected].
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How will the University deal with deceased estates?
If a payment is owed to a deceased person, the University will make efforts to contact the executor or administrator of the estate. Any outstanding amounts will be disbursed to the estate of the deceased or their legal representative, as dictated by law.
If you are the administrator or executor of the estate of a deceased person who you think may have been affected by this matter and have not been contacted by the University, please contact the People and Culture Service Centre on +61 (08) 6488 0312 or [email protected].
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How do I determine my tax residency status?
Your tax residency status is crucial and may differ from your migration or citizenship status. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) provides guidelines and an online tool to help you work this out. Factors considered include your physical presence, purpose of visit, family and business ties, and location of assets. Generally, you are a foreign resident for tax purposes if you live overseas permanently and have no intention of returning to Australia to live.
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What income am I taxed on as a foreign resident?
As a foreign resident, you are generally only taxed on income derived from Australian sources, such as Australian wages, rental income from Australian property, or capital gains on Australian land and buildings. You typically do not need to declare any Australian-sourced interest, dividends, or royalties if the payer has already withheld tax.
For more information, visit the Australian Tax Office Foreign and temporary residents page.
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I am an International Resident with an open Australian bank account, can the payment be paid into my Australian account?
In most cases, remediation payments for non-Australian residents can be paid into their active Australian bank account.
Tax is withheld using foreign resident tables for Australian-sourced employment income (duties performed in Australia).
For more information, visit the Australian Tax Office Foreign and temporary residents page.
Further information
Current staff can find more information about Employee Entitlement Remediation Program on the EERP intranet page.
This website was updated on 12 October 2026 to make it easier for stakeholders to find current information relating to the Employee Entitlement Remediation Program. Content previously available is in this EERP webpage archive [DOCX 109 KB]– 4 December 2025 .