Private provider Torrens University is preparing to defend what the ABC describes as the first known wage theft class action in the Federal Court, as new union figures show universities have now repaid more than $341 million to underpaid staff.

The claim

Lawyers for the staff estimate that more than 1,000 casual academics were not paid for marking student work and other routine tasks for at least six years, despite provisions in their award, ABC News reported on 10 November. The class action has not yet been determined by the court.

The ABC reported that the Fair Work Ombudsman, with the support of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), has already established in a case before the Full Federal Court that Torrens staff were not paid for marking in breach of their award, and that Torrens was declined leave to appeal to the High Court.

The provision

According to earnings reports filed in the United States by its owner, Strategic Education Inc, the university has set aside more than $20 million to compensate staff directly, the ABC reported. Strategic Education did not estimate its potential liability in the class action, but told the market it intended to defend the claim “vigorously”.

Torrens declined to comment to the ABC, citing the court action, but pointed to a statement on its website saying it was “working to remediate staff”. The statement said staff had been paid for marking since March 2026. The university has operated in Australia since 2014, but back-pay claims are limited to six years.

The lawyers’ view

Hayden Stephens, the lawyer running the class action, said the $20 million figure appeared “grossly inadequate”. “The devil is in the detail, and so far Torrens has given casual academics none of it. Will Torrens pay for the hours people actually worked? Will lecturers get access to the records they need to check their own figures?” he said. “Any remediation of this scale should be independent and verified under the supervision of the court.”

The lead plaintiff, who taught at Torrens between 2023 and 2025, told the ABC that not being paid for marking, moderation, meetings and student consultations left him struggling to pay his rent.

A sector-wide bill

The NTEU said 205,235 staff had now been repaid $341,092,552 since the ABC first revealed wage underpayment at four universities in 2020. Most cases have involved public universities. “We’re looking at really industrial-scale wage theft that’s been baked into their business models,” NTEU president Alison Barnes said. “I suspect Torrens is the tip of the iceberg.”

Why it matters for employers

The case shows how underpayment risk can move from regulator action to private litigation once a breach has been established in court. For any employer relying on casual or sessional staff, the lesson is that tasks performed outside scheduled hours, such as marking, preparation or meetings, need to be checked against award entitlements.

Sources: ABC News, “Australia’s university sector facing wage theft reckoning as class action showdown looms” (10 November 2026).