The university has signed an enforceable agreement with the Fair Work Ombudsman to repay thousands of employees who were underpaid due to systemic faults.

About 16,400 staff were underpaid on average $564, with some individual underpayments exceeding $41,600 and others under $1, affecting mostly casual workers who make up nearly half the workforce.

Union leadership is pushing for higher casual entitlements, including equal superannuation contributions and a larger pay rise than the university’s 2.8 percent offer, pointing to a recent half‑billion dollar surplus.

University of Queensland staff plan to halt work for half a day next week as pay negotiations stall and concerns over entitlements grow.

The issues first came to light in early 2024 after a review that began in 2021, with about 9,743 staff owed backpay at that time, and problems persisting across multiple campuses into 2026.

More than $9.6 million has been repaid to current and former employees, with a total expected payout around $11 million when including interest, superannuation, and newly identified underpayments.

Vice-Chancellor Deborah Terry apologized to affected staff and outlined measures such as improved systems, compulsory training, enhanced assurance checks, and an independent audit to prevent recurrence.

Underpayments stem from system errors that breached enterprise agreements from 2014, 2018, and 2021, including missing base pay for casual PhD staff, unissued overtime, and missing minimum engagement times.

UQ has already paid a $175,000 penalty to the ombudsman and is the 15th university to sign an undertaking under the program.