Murdoch University has entered an Enforceable Undertaking after underpaying casual and professional staff
Murdoch University has signed an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) after underpaying more than 2,100 current and former staff a total of over $4.9 million, including interest and superannuation.
It's the second Australian university to be penalised by the regulator this week, after the University of Queensland signed its own EU on 1 September 2026 over roughly $11 million in underpayments to more than 16,000 staff, as reported in HRD Australia's coverage of the University of Queensland's $11 million back-pay.
All affected employees worked at the university's Perth campus and were underpaid between 2015 and 2025, under Murdoch's 2014, 2018 and 2023 enterprise agreements, and the Fitness Industry Award 2010 and 2020.
The FWO said most of the underpayments stemmed from incorrect classifications and missed step-increments, which led to underpaid overtime rates, shift loadings and minimum engagement entitlements for professional staff, along with underpaid PhD, tutoring and other academic activity rates for casual academics.
Of those identified so far, 81 per cent were professional services staff in non-teaching roles and about 19 per cent were casual academics. Individual payments have ranged from $4 to $40,600, with an average of $2,578.
Murdoch has already repaid more than $4.7 million to 1,830 employees. As at August 2026, $195,875 remained outstanding to 271 affected employees, with calculations still under way for a further 256.
Murdoch self-reported its non-compliance to the FWO in March 2022, following the regulator's 2020 correspondence urging all universities to review their compliance with workplace laws. Under the EU, the university must pay a $125,000 contrition payment to the Commonwealth Consolidated Revenue Fund and complete its back-payments within 240 days.
It's also committed to improved payroll and record-keeping systems, staff training, up to two independent compliance audits, a dedicated employee complaints hotline, and reporting to its Senate Audit and Risk Committee.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said Murdoch University "deserves credit for engaging with us and committing substantial resources to identify and rectify underpayments and strengthen its systems," adding that the regulator does not want systemic non-compliance to remain "a feature of the higher education sector going forward."
Murdoch is the 16th Australian university to sign an EU with the FWO over underpayments, following a run of similar cases across the sector – including at the University of Wollongong, which repaid $6.6 million to underpaid employees
