Australia’s workplace watchdog secured a total of AUD 74,590 (USD 49,405) in penalties in court against the University of Melbourne for taking adverse action against two casual academics because they exercised workplace rights to make complaints or inquiries about their work.

Under the Fair Work Act, it is unlawful for an employer to take adverse action against a person because a person exercises a workplace right or to prevent them from doing so.

Australia’s Federal Court imposed AUD 37,295 (USD 24,705) in penalties after the university threatened to not re-employ the two casual academics in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education because they made complaints about being required to work more hours, without more payment, than the anticipated hours per subject in their contracts.

The court imposed a further AUD 37,295 (USD 24,705) penalty after the university offered no further teaching work to one of the casual academics after she made a complaint or inquiry to the university by claiming payment for extra work.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the University of Melbourne’s conduct, which it admitted, impacted on fundamental employee rights.

“There is zero place for adverse action in our workplaces. Adverse action directly undermines workplace laws and the ability of employees to exercise their lawful rights – and this is unacceptable,” Booth said. “These adverse actions in this case are exactly the kind of workplace conduct that inhibits people speaking up about their rights.”

“We are investigating other allegations involving underpayment issues in a number of universities nationally, including failures to pay casual academics for all hours worked. The university sector is a regulatory priority for the agency,” Booth added.

In imposing the penalties, Justice Craig Dowling said the casual academics “were entitled to complain or inquire about their ability to perform their work within the “anticipated hours” contained in their contracts of employment. Those complaints should have been free of consequence.”

“The threat, that if they claimed additional hours they would not receive future work, was a serious contravention of the Act. The penalty must be sufficient to deter any repetition by the University or any other person in a position to contravene the Act,” Dowling said.

Dowling also said there was a need for specific deterrence given that the university employs “a significant percentage of casual employees and an even greater percentage of fixed term employees”.

In his ruling, Dowling noted the 89% increase in casual and fixed-term employees in higher education between 2010 and 2021.

The university compensated one academic AUD 4,000 (USD 2,649) and the other AUD 10,000 (USD 6,624) for their “non-economic loss”. In submissions to the court, the University apologised for its contraventions and acknowledged the need to improve.

National Tertiary Education Union National President Alison Barnes said, “Rampant casualisation has fuelled an insidious culture of exploitation, which leads to workers’ livelihoods being threatened for simply asking to be paid properly.”

“A 75,000 fine is welcome, but shocking incidents like this will keep happening unless there’s major changes to universities’ broken governance model,” Barnes added.