Flinders University apologizes for $965k underpayment of casual staff

Flinders University has apologized for underpaying over 1,400 casual staff by $965,827, with the higher education union labeling the incident a "massive breach of trust". The underpayments, which occurred between 2020 and 2025, affected current and former staff, with each person owed approximately $687.

In an all-staff email on Friday, Flinders University Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Stirling said the issue was identified by a university review into payment practices for casual employees. He said the university was now contacting affected staff, who would be repaid with superannuation and "applicable interest".

"We accept responsibility for it, and, on behalf of the University, I sincerely apologise to all those affected," Professor Stirling wrote.

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) SA said the underpayments affected professional, non-academic staff who were "precariously employed, low paid [and] predominantly women". The university disputes that characterization.

The repayments will "easily" exceed $1 million when factoring in superannuation and interest, the union said. The issue occurred because the university had not paid some casual staff their three-hour "minimum engagement period", a workplace clause that stipulates a casual employee must be paid for at least three hours, even if their shift ends up being shorter.

"This does not mean staff worked hours without being paid," Professor Stirling said. "Rather, some staff should have been engaged for a longer period of time to comply with the minimum engagement period."

Professor Stirling added that not all casual staff were subject to the three-hour requirements, with "multiple exemptions" under the university's enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA). The university has now introduced stronger controls, monitoring, oversight, and training, Professor Stirling added.

"This represents a massive breach of trust, a massive breach of entitlements and hardship for the staff throughout a period of time where there's been high inflation and cost of living pressures,"

Dr. Miller also rejected the university's reasoning around complex EBAs, saying "If they can't implement the enterprise agreements that they sign, there's a big problem in the governance of our universities". The NTEU SA and Flinders University are currently locked in enterprise bargaining negotiations.