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Following a Fair Work Ombudsman inquiry in relation to one casual staff member, the University conducted investigations which led to the discovery of two separate issues affecting staff payments.

This review identified two issues that resulted in some staff not being paid their full entitlements, including unprocessed casual timesheets and on-call allowances.

The University has voluntarily self-reported these findings to the Fair Work Ombudsman, and will maintain contact with the Ombudsman as we remedy these issues.

Unprocessed casual timesheets

The University’s system requires casual professional and casual sessional academic staff to manually enter timesheets in the online staff portal to claim hours/units worked. After submission of a timesheet by a staff member, it is routed to their supervisor for review and action.

If hours/units are submitted but not actioned and approved, the hours/units are not automatically included in payroll for processing. The error occurred because the timesheets were only visible to supervisors for a period of two weeks. After this time, timesheets were no longer visible and consequently could not be actioned by supervisors.

The University has taken immediate steps to rectify this system error.

Emergency and on-call availability allowances

The University’s investigation also identified a secondary issue regarding on-call availability allowances, affecting a smaller number of staff. Staff who were required to be available to respond to emergency requests may not have received the correct allowance. Additionally, we are investigating inconsistencies in the payment of on-call allowances, particularly regarding overtime eligibility for staff required to work outside regular hours.

We have identified up to 120 staff who may be affected by this secondary issue regarding allowances.

The University is taking this matter seriously and thoroughly investigating to ensure all remediation payments are made as soon as possible.

Yes. Immediate remediation has begun. All staff identified will be paid in line with the employment arrangements applicable at the time, including superannuation, and with interest.

The University has taken proactive steps to review and enhance our timesheet processes to prevent any unactioned timesheets from being accidently overlooked.

The University is also exploring longer term system solutions to assist with timesheet submission and approval workflows.

A review of the application of the Availability Allowances across the University is being undertaken. Guidelines will be developed and distributed to support the consistent application of this provision throughout the University.

ANU has engaged independent advisers, including KPMG to perform recalculations and ensure that we get this right. We have worked with employment, tax, superannuation, and payroll calculation specialists who all have extensive experience in payroll remediation programs.  
 

Current and former staff identified during the review as being underpaid will be contacted directly by the ANU.  Affected staff will be provided with a statement showing the breakdown of any remediation amount owing, and detailing next steps required before payment can be processed. 

Initial communication will be sent via email from the ANU Payroll Assurance and Compliance team at paymentenquiry@anu.edu.au

Once the reconciliation is completed, you will receive a personalised statement outlining the calculations that have been completed. This will outline the payment of amounts owed, superannuation and interest on both wages and superannuation, and the amount of tax that is being withheld from your payment.

ANU has calculated interest on back payments to compensate you for the time value of money. Interest has been calculated at a nominal rate of 8.35 per cent per annum from the time the payment should have been made to you.

Further, interest on superannuation has been assessed at a nominal rate of 10 per cent per annum.

Yes. Tax will be applicable to payments made to staff as per Australian Taxation Office (ATO) requirements. Superannuation will be paid on amounts owed in line with the employment arrangements applicable at the time.

Yes. If you are a former employee currently residing overseas, you can still receive your remediation payment. Please complete the ANU Payroll Remediation Details Form and follow the instructions to provide your overseas banking details and any required supporting documentation. Once your information has been received and verified, payment will be processed as soon as practicable.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) generally assesses income in the financial year in which it is paid and received. Due to this, all previous tax returns remain unchanged. As a result, any remediation payments made to you during the 2026-27 financial year will be reported as income for that year. Previous income tax returns are not amended solely because a payment relates to an earlier period of employment.

For your 2026-27 income tax return, please note that any interest payments made to you do not constitute employment income. Accordingly, ANU has not withheld Pay As You Go (PAYG) tax from these amounts, and they will not be reported on your year-end Income Statement. Interest payments may, however, be assessable income for tax purposes and should be taken into consideration when preparing your personal income tax return.

If additional superannuation contributions are made to you that result in your total income and concessional superannuation exceeding $250,000 in the personal income tax year, you may be subject to an additional 15 per cent Division 293 tax.

ANU recommends that employees seek qualified, independent financial and taxation advice to help make informed decisions about your personal affairs.

Please complete the ANU Payroll Remediation Details form to provide your updated details.  A link to this form will be provided in the communication sent by the ANU Wage Remediation team.

Please complete the ANU Payroll Remediation Details Form and follow the instructions provided. The form includes guidance on how to locate your TFN and superannuation details. 

If additional information is required, the Payroll Remediation Team will contact you.

For existing staff, these payments will be made as soon as practicable. 

For former staff, we require updated details to make these payments. The link to complete the details will be provided to former staff as part of our communications. Payment would then be made as soon as practicable.

You can verify the Payroll Remediation Program by visiting the ANU Wage Remediation webpage and using the contact details published on the ANU website. The Payroll Remediation Program team may contact you via email at paymentenquiry@anu.edu.au or phone at +61 2 6125 3346. 

If you are unsure whether a communication is legitimate, please contact the team using the details published on the ANU website before providing any personal information.

If you believe you may be affected by this review, but have not yet received any communications from the ANU, please contact the ANU Wage Remediation Team at paymentenquiry@anu.edu.au.