Torrens University has applied for special leave to appeal to the High Court in a bid to avoid paying money owed to casual academics, following a Full Federal Court ruling last month which confirmed that the university systematically underpaid its staff.
Last month, the Full Federal Court confirmed Torrens had unlawfully required casual academics to perform marking work without additional pay, relying instead on a rolled-up lecture rate that was never designed to cover it.
Rather than accepting the verdict, Torrens has engaged four barristers - led by prominent High Court silk Bret Walker SC - to pursue a High Court challenge.
In an email to staff on April 13, the university said it would comply with the Fair Work Ombudsman's interpretation "on an interim basis" but warned it would "revisit" those arrangements if its High Court bid succeeds.
Torrens' own special leave application acknowledged the Full Federal Court's decision exposed universities to "potentially significant remediation costs and penalties".
It agreed with the NTEU's assessment that "thousands of casual academics are owed millions of dollars in backpay."
NTEU General Secretary Dr Damien Cahill said the move set a new low for wage theft tactics in the sector.
"Wage-thieving universities have always used legal tactics to delay paying their staff, but applying to the High Court to avoid accepting a Full Federal Court decision is a new low," Dr Cahill said.
"For every month this university uses the legal system to run down the clock, fewer of those workers will ever see their stolen wages. Records are lost. Staff leave the sector.
"This is an unconscionable act aimed entirely at protecting Torrens' bottom line at the expense of vulnerable workers who were directed to perform work they were never paid for."
NTEU Victoria Division Secretary Sarah Roberts said Torrens' conduct since the ruling was as revealing.
"Torrens has now spent years fighting this case, while thousands more wait for backpay they're legally owed," Ms Roberts said.
"The email to staff said they take their workplace obligations seriously. Taking your obligations seriously means paying your staff - not hiring more lawyers to find another escape hatch.
"Special leave to the High Court is reserved for exceptional cases of genuine public importance. Torrens is arguing its exceptional case is that it shouldn't have to pay its workers. That tells you everything."
Nationally, underpayments across the higher education sector exceed $284 million, with universities having made provisions for a further $168 million - taking the total beyond $450 million.
