The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has won a wage theft case against Monash University.
On 4th July, the Federal Court found Monash had broken workplace laws by failing to pay academics for student consultation work.
The payout is unknown but expected to be millions of dollars.
The court has not yet ruled on what penalties would be applied to Monash for contravening these laws.
Monash had claimed that the NTEU had no right to enforce an expired enterprise agreement, which the court dismissed. This claim would have contravened a long-held precedent for unions taking actions on behalf of workers.
The case follows a scandal in January 2025 when Monash admitted to a $7.6 million wage theft in underpayments for staff. Earlier, Monash had admitted to $10 million in previous underpayments.
NTEU Monash Branch President, Dr Ben Eltham, commented “This is the third different tranche of wage theft at Monash University since 2021. So far, the University has admitted to underpaying more than 9,000 staff members more than $17.6 million.
“This case raises serious issues about the governance of Monash University.
“We say to Vice-Chancellor Pickering: don’t appeal this decision. Don’t waste any more staff and students’ money on lawyers: instead, do the right thing and pay back your teachers what they are lawfully owed.”
NTEU National President Alison Barnes added that “Monash has been one of the epicentres of the $400 million national wage theft earthquake that has rocked public universities.”
NTEU Victorian Division Secretary Sarah Roberts said “This is a massive win that sends a clear message to every university in Victoria — the NTEU will expose and fight wage theft every step of the way.”
“Monash has an appalling track record on underpaying staff that makes it one of the state’s worst university wage thieves. It’s time to stop trying to use every legal trick in the book to dodge responsibility and pay up.”
