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QUT entered into an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) on 24 November 2025.
We sincerely apologise for these errors and are committed to resolving them and ensuring all staff are paid correctly and receive their full entitlements.
Comprehensive External Review
As required by the Enforceable Undertaking, a Comprehensive External Review (CER) is underway.
The review examines six years of payroll and attendance data covering approximately 18,000 current and former professional employees, sessional academic employees and educators in QUT College/International College.
Any underpayments identified will be fully rectified including superannuation (where applicable) and interest.
The CER is being conducted independently by KPMG.
Timeline
The CER is progressing in stages through specific cohorts, based on guidance from the Fair Work Ombudsman.
We're working through individual reviews as quickly as possible. Due to the complex and thorough nature of this process, the review is expected to take up to two years.
Currently under review
Cohort 1: Current and former sessional academic staff
The review of Cohort 1 is complete. QUT is in the process of communicating CER outcomes by email (using the email address in our payroll system) or mail.
Cohort 1 includes current and former sessional academic staff (including educators in QUT College/International College) employed between 13 August 2019 and 24 November 2025.
What you need to do
If you're a former staff member for whom an underpayment has been identified, provide their payment details via the CER Portal as soon as possible so your remediation payment can be processed.
Current staff do not need to take any action.
If you have any concerns about your outcome or additional evidence, you can submit a formal review request via the Review Mechanism in the CER Portal.
For other enquiries, contact the KPMG Employee Hotline on 1800 950 631 or QUTEmployeeHotline@kpmg.com.au or submit an online enquiry to QUT.
To be reviewed
If you're in one of the following cohorts, you'll receive correspondence from us explaining the process once we begin reviewing your records.
In the meantime, we encourage you to:
- check your personal details are correct in StaffConnect (current staff)
- update your contact details using the online enquiry form (former staff).
- Cohort details
- Current professional ongoing and fixed-term staff (HEW1 to HEW10), including educators in QUT College/International College, employed between 25 September 2019 and 24 November 2025.
- Expected to commence
- Quarter 4, 2026
- Cohort details
- Current casual professional staff who were employed between 25 September 2019 and 24 November 2025
- Expected to commence
- Quarter 4, 2026
- Cohort details
- Current and former professional staff (including educators in QUT College/International College) employed between 25 September 2019 and 24 November 2025 who had multiple casual, fixed-term or ongoing contracts
- Expected to commence
- Quarter 4, 2026
- Cohort details
- Former professional ongoing and fixed-term staff (HEW1 to HEW10), including educators in QUT College/International College, who were employed between 25 September 2019 and 24 November 2025
- Expected to commence
- Quarter 4, 2026
- Cohort details
- Former casual professional staff who were employed between 25 September 2019 and 24 November 2025
- Expected to commence
- Quarter 4, 2026
Former staff
Former staff included in the Comprehensive External Review will be contacted using their last known email address. If an email address isn't available, we'll use the last known residential address or phone number from our payroll records.
To help ensure they can be contacted, former staff are encouraged to update their contact details through the online enquiry form.
Review process
An Enforceable Undertaking is a formal, legally binding agreement between an organisation and the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) that sets out specific actions to identify and rectify any underpayments, strengthen systems, and ensure compliance with Commonwealth workplace laws.
The Enforceable Undertaking formalises a broad and comprehensive review of entitlements paid to current and former professional staff, sessional academic staff, and educators in QUT College/International College covered by the relevant Enterprise Agreements and ensures the rectification of any further underpayments identified by the review.
Like many other universities, these underpayments have arisen partially due to the inability of the payroll system to ensure automatic payment of staff entitlements.
The attendance record for professional staff is not integrated with QUT’s payroll system meaning that a separate claim for overtime and any associated entitlements such as meal allowances is required.
Similarly, QUT systems do not ensure an automatic payment of minimum engagements for casual professional staff (minimum three hours) and sessional academic staff (minimum two hours).
Wage underpayment has been a sector-wide issue across Australian universities, reflecting the complexity of enterprise agreements and legacy payroll systems. The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has reported recovery of more than $218 million for over 110,000 university staff nationally.
The FWO has reported that since late 2020 it has been in contact with 38 institutions in the university sector in relation to potential underpayments, with sixteen Enforceable Undertakings with universities published since 2019.
As part of the Enforceable Undertaking, we will continue to progress a number of activities to ensure our ongoing compliance with workplace laws, including system improvements and training.
What we've done
Implemented improvements to strengthen payroll compliance and recently introduced an interim attendance record system to better capture overtime and penalty entitlements.
What we're doing
To address the main causes of the staff underpayments, the EU also requires QUT to develop and implement an Integrated Timesheet in which attendance records for professional, casual, sessional, and educators in the QUT College will be integrated into the payroll system to automatically calculate and pay staff entitlements. Progress on this is underway.
The EU also has requirements to strengthen oversight of compliance with workplace laws and enterprise agreements by the University’s Council and Risk and Audit Committee
The Comprehensive External Review commenced in February 2026 and is being undertaken in cohorts. The review is expected to take up to two years.
This two-year review period reflects the scale and complexity of the work, which involves analysing six years of payroll and attendance data across multiple enterprise agreements.
QUT will keep staff updated throughout the process and communicate any findings or payments as they are confirmed.
Current and former staff members employed under one or more of the following arrangements during the period specified will have their pay and relevant entitlements reviewed:
- casual professional staff members employed at QUT at any time between 25 September 2019 and 24 November 2025
- sessional academic staff members (including educators in QUT College/International College) employed at QUT at any time between 13 August 2019 and 24 November 2025
- ongoing or fixed-term professional staff members (HEW1 to HEW10, including QUT College Educators) employed at QUT at any time between 25 September 2019 and 24 November 2025
If your entitlements were reviewed as part of internal audits since 2019, they won't be assessed again as part of the CER.
Once review of your cohort commences, we'll email you to explain the process and let you know if any underpayments are identified.
The Comprehensive External Review will examine a six-year period, consistent with the Fair Work Act's period for recovering underpayments. This timeframe, agreed by the Fair Work Ombudsman, ensures all potential entitlement errors within the statutory period are identified and rectified.
We have agreed with the FWO to review relevant employee entitlements specific to the two current Enterprise Agreements and the most recent previous agreements. The timeframe for review is aligned to the commencement of the previous Enterprise Agreements and signing of the Enforceable Undertaking.
The commencement of the previous Enterprise Agreements are:
- From 13 August 2019 - Queensland University of Technology Enterprise Agreement (Academic Staff) 2018-2021
- From 25 September 2019 - Queensland University of Technology Enterprise Agreement (Professional Staff) 2018-2021
In October 2021, following an external payroll and superannuation compliance assessment audit, as well as internal audits of staff attendance records, QUT voluntarily disclosed contraventions of the Queensland University of Technology Enterprise Agreement (Professional Staff) 2014-2017 and the Queensland University of Technology Enterprise Agreement (Professional Staff) 2018-2021 to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO).
Since then, we undertook internal audits in organisational areas and faculties where staff were most likely to work overtime, together with staff who accepted the invitation to have their attendance records reviewed if they had concerns.
Records for 529 current and former professional employees were audited resulting in $1,916,271.58 in payments.
All underpayments identified as part of this initial review have been rectified with interest (and superannuation, where applicable), and staff impacted received email notification at the time of back payment.
This groundwork supported the development of the Enforceable Undertaking and a robust methodology for how QUT and KPMG will review and remediate appropriate entitlements from the Enterprise Agreements. This methodology has been approved by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
The FWO has approved for KPMG to be engaged by QUT to independently complete the Comprehensive External Review of relevant employee entitlements.
KPMG has also been engaged to establish a dedicated Employee Hotline where current and former staff can ask questions, seek clarification or raise issues about their pay review.
When review of your records begins, you'll receive an email to explain the process.
If the review identifies that you’ve been underpaid, you'll receive an email with details of the underpayment, how it was calculated, and how the payment will be made.
Staff who have already had their entitlements reviewed as part of the internal audit will not be assessed again as part of the Comprehensive External Review.
You don't need to take any action at this stage. You'll receive an email when the review of your records is commencing with information to explain the process.
The CER commenced in early 2026 and will be undertaken in cohorts. The review is expected to take up to two years.
If you're in scope, you'll receive an email when the review for your cohort commences. This email will explain the process, identify the records we've already collected from our systems and request any other relevant documents you may have that can support the review.
We are working through individual reviews as quickly as possible. Due to the complex and thorough nature of this process, it is expected to take up to two years for this review to be fully complete.
All staff will receive an email on commencement of the review of their records to explain the process and request any relevant documents a staff member may have to support the review. The University will also undertake its own searches for relevant records.
If the review identifies a staff member has been underpaid, QUT will contact them again directly via email with details of the underpayment, including how it was calculated and how the payment will be made.
Staff in scope for the CER will receive an email on commencement of the review for their cohort. This email will explain the process, identify the records QUT has already collected from QUT systems and request any other relevant documents a staff member may have to support the review.
Staff are encouraged to wait for this email to understand the attendance records which QUT has located and if additional information is required.
To support the audit, QUT is currently collecting relevant data and attendance records saved on all QUT digital systems. QUT will also contact supervisors of professional staff to collect attendance record data stored locally.
In the absence of any written attendance records being located on QUT systems or stored locally by supervisors, QUT will consider any reasonable evidence a staff member may provide including but not limited to emails, notifications, submissions.
You don't need to take any action at this stage.
To support the audit, QUT is currently collecting relevant data and attendance records saved on all QUT digital systems. QUT will also contact supervisors of professional staff to collect attendance record data stored locally.
Supervisors are encouraged to wait for an email to understand which attendance records and additional information are required.
All underpayments identified as part of this initial review have been rectified and staff impacted received email notification at the time of back payment.
Staff who have already had their entitlements reviewed will not be assessed again as part of the CER.
The University must prioritise those staff in the scope of the CER.
However, if any staff member has concerns about wage integrity, they are encouraged to contact QUT via the online enquiry form.
QUT understands that you may wish to confirm that correspondence about the Comprehensive External Review is legitimate. You may access any links included in correspondence related to the Enforceable Undertaking directly from this webpage rather than using the links provided in an email or letter.
If you have received correspondence from QUT and want to verify its legitimacy, you can use one of the following verification options:
- view QUT’s Enforceable Undertaking on the Fair Work Ombudsman’s website
- contact KPMG, which operates independently, by calling 1800 950 631 or emailing QUTEmployeeHotline@kpmg.com.au
- contact QUT directly through the online enquiry form.
If you are concerned that correspondence may be fraudulent, do not reply or provide personal or financial information until you have verified it through one of these channels.
If you have held multiple roles in the last six years, your entitlements will be assessed in two separate cohorts. Your sessional academic entitlements will be reviewed in Cohort 1. Professional entitlements will be assessed in Cohorts 2 to 6, with staff who held a mixture of professional contracts (i.e., casual, fixed-term and/or ongoing), having their contracts assessed in Cohort 4.
If an underpayment is identified, it will be communicated and remediated following completion of the review for each cohort.
Through the CER Portal, you will be able to view and complete actions for each applicable cohort. The portal will display the relevant actions for each cohort independently.
If you are already in scope of the CER, leaving QUT will not affect your inclusion in the review. Before your contract ends, please ensure your personal email address and other contact details in StaffConnect are up to date. Ensuring these details are current will help us to contact you throughout the CER process.
Updating your personal details (current QUT staff only)
If you are unable to update your details before your QUT access ends, you can do so via QUT’s online enquiry form.
KPMG is assessing relevant employee entitlements using the methodology approved by the Fair Work Ombudsman for the CER. For the purposes of the CER, the methodology may include assumptions or approaches that are applied in the staff member’s favour.
If an underpayment is identified, QUT will provide information about the relevant Enterprise Agreement provisions and the sources relied upon to identify the underpayment.
Review outcomes and payments
How we'll notify you
When the review of your cohort is complete, we’ll notify you and explain your CER outcome. You will be notified whether an underpayment is or is not identified.
If an underpayment is identified, the correspondence will include:
- the total shortfall amount (including interest)
- superannuation and interest on superannuation (where applicable)
- the relevant Enterprise Agreement clause(s).
If you have any concerns about your outcome or have additional evidence to submit, you can submit a formal review request in the CER Portal.
If the review of your cohort has been completed and you have not received a CER Outcome, contact the KPMG Employee Hotline or contact QUT using the online enquiry form.
How remediation payments are calculated
QUT will remediate any identified underpayment plus superannuation (where applicable) and interest.
The Enforceable Undertaking outlines that:
- any identified underpayment will be in accordance with the rate of pay of the applicable Enterprise Agreement at the time
- interest will be calculated at 8% using the simple method
- superannuation is calculated at the rate payable as at the time of making the payment and interest on the superannuation amount will be included.
Tax will be paid on any remediated payments in accordance with ATO requirements and superannuation payments will be made to the nominated superannuation fund.
Receiving a remediation payment
In accordance with the EU, QUT is committed to making payment within 90 days of CER outcomes being communicated, subject to all required payment details being provided.
Current staff do not need to enter payment details in the portal. Your payment will be processed according to the primary payment details held in QUT’s payroll system.
If you've nominated multiple accounts in StaffConnect, the primary account is the bank account that does not have a fixed dollar amount or percentage allocation assigned to it.
Former staff with an identified underpayment will be granted access to the Payment Details Collection module in the CER Portal to provide their current payment information. To provide your banking details:
- If you haven't already, register to use the CER Portal.
- Log in to the CER Portal and select 'Payment Details'.
- Select your cohort.
- Complete the step-by-step form to enter:
- bank account details
- Tax File Number (TFN) declaration
- superannuation details (where applicable)
- Review your summary on the final screen, accept the declaration, and select 'Submit'.
Payment questions and answers
The University will notify any staff identified as having an underpayment in writing, of:
- the reason for any underpayment including the relevant provisions within the applicable Enterprise Agreement/s that were contravened
- the methodology applicable to the review
- the source(s) relied upon to identify the underpayment.
If your bank, tax, or superannuation details cannot be processed, you will receive a 'Payment Rework Required' email identifying the details you provided which have not been successfully processed.
The email will contain a secure link to the CER Portal that points directly to the details requiring correction.
QUT is treating a review undertaken for each cohort, or as part of a Review Mechanism request, as a separate process.
We expect there may be some time between when payments are made to former staff following the completion of each review process.
For this reason, and to ensure we have accurate banking information each time a payment is due, QUT will ask you to provide the bank details you wish for the payment to be made to each time a review is completed.
You can provide your international banking information through the Payment Details option in the CER Portal.
To receive a payment to an international bank account, you may be required to provide:
- Beneficiary full name
- Residential address
- Mailing address
- Bank name
- Branch name and address
- Bank account number
- Country-specific bank code
- SWIFT/BIC code
To help your payment to be processed successfully, ensure you provide accurate banking information. You can usually find these details on your bank statement, through online banking, or in your banking app.
If you are unsure of any of the required details, including your country-specific bank code and how it should be entered, contact your bank before submitting your information.
Country-specific bank codes
Depending on the country in which your account is held, you may need to provide a country-specific bank code. Along with your bank account number, a country-specific bank code is a unique identifier used by banks in certain countries to route international payments to the correct financial institution.
Examples of country-specific bank codes:
| Bank code | Country/region |
|---|---|
| CPF Number | Brazil |
| CNAPS Code | China |
| IFSC (Indian Financial System Code) | India |
| Routing Code / ABA Routing Number | United States & Canada |
| IBAN (International Bank Account Number) | Many countries in Europe, Middle East and other regions |
QUT is required to pay superannuation entitlements into a superannuation account, in line with Australian superannuation legislation. Where your superannuation account has been converted to a pension phase (retirement income stream) account, superannuation legislation does not permit further contributions to be made into that account.
This means that QUT is unable to remit the superannuation component of your Remediation Payment to your existing pension phase account.
To enable QUT to make the required superannuation contribution on your behalf, you will need to open a new superannuation account with your preferred fund and provide your account details.
If you previously held a temporary visa and claimed a DASP after leaving Australia, where superannuation is owed as part of the remediation payment, QUT is still required to make superannuation contributions on your behalf to a superannuation fund account.
Through the CER Portal you will be asked to provide your superannuation account details. At this time you can choose for QUT to make contributions to a new superannuation account opened for you with QUT's default superannuation fund UniSuper. You will be notified once these contributions have been made.
Once QUT has made the superannuation contributions to your new account, you may be eligible to apply for a further DASP in respect of those funds. To do so, you will need to submit a DASP application to the superannuation fund or through the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) online application system. We recommend that you seek independent financial advice regarding your individual circumstances and any tax implications of claiming a DASP.
Because your remediation payment (including any back payment and interest on back payments) is assessable income in the financial year in which it is paid to you, it may increase your taxable income for that year.
As a result, you may pay more income tax, Medicare levy and Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS). However, depending on your circumstances, you may be eligible for certain tax offsets and exemptions that reduce this impact.
To assist you in understanding how the remediation payments may affect your specific entitlements and whether any steps can be taken to manage the impact, we recommend that you seek advice from the relevant government department which administers these payments and/or independent financial or legal advice, having regard to your individual circumstances.
No. QUT does not have a direct role in calculating or managing the impact of the payment on your individual government entitlements. The effect on your entitlements will depend on your personal financial circumstances.
To assist you in understanding how the Remediation Payments may affect your specific entitlements and whether any steps can be taken to manage the impact, we recommend that you seek advice from the relevant government department which administers these payments and/or independent financial or legal advice, having regard to your individual circumstances.
Division 293 tax may apply if your combined income and concessional (before-tax) superannuation contributions exceed $250,000 in a financial year.
If your remediation payment results in additional concessional superannuation contributions being made on your behalf, this may affect your individual tax position and could contribute to a Division 293 tax liability. The ATO assesses whether Division 293 tax applies after receiving your tax return and contribution information from your superannuation fund.
QUT cannot provide tax advice or determine whether Division 293 tax will apply to your circumstances. To help you understand whether the remediation payment may affect your tax position and whether any steps can be taken to manage the impact, you may choose to seek independent financial or tax advice having regard to your individual circumstances.
For more information, visit the ATO's guide on Division 293 tax on concessional contributions.
If you wish, you may elect to donate your identified shortfall payment to the QUT Learning Potential Fund. The QUT Learning Potential Fund supports initiatives that improve access to education, enhance the student experience, and provide financial assistance to students in need.
Contact payassurance@qut.edu.au within five working days of receiving your outcome to ensure your request is received before payments are made to your account.
Requesting a review of your outcome
If you have received your final CER Outcome and believe an error was made, you have additional information to be considered, or have concerns regarding your entitlements assessment, you can submit a formal review request through the Review Mechanism module in the CER Portal.
The Review Mechanism becomes available in the portal immediately after you are notified of your CER outcome, regardless of whether an underpayment or no underpayment was identified. It remains accessible until the conclusion of the CER program.
If you believe an error has been made or have concerns about your entitlements assessment, you can submit a request for further review through the Review Mechanism in the CER Portal.
All staff within cohorts for which their CER has been completed, are eligible to request a further review of their outcome via the Review Mechanism, regardless of whether an underpayment was identified.
To request a review:
- If you haven't already, register to use the CER Portal.
- Sign in to the CER Portal and select Review Mechanism >New Review Request.
- Select the cohort you are requesting a review for.
- Complete the mandatory 'Justification' field (up to 3,000 characters) explaining why you are seeking a review.
- Upload any supporting documentation.
- Select 'Submit'.
You will receive an email confirmation with your unique Review Request ID (e.g., RM-123456).
In accordance with the Enforceable Undertaking, review requests are managed under a 30-day resolution timeframe.
If further information is requested of you by the KPMG Assessor, this information needs to be provided within seven days.
If the information is not provided within the required timeframe your Review Mechanism request will time out and close. If your request times out, you can submit a new review request at any time and select your previous Request ID from the “Related Request” field so KPMG can access your prior submissions, including supporting documents.
Yes, KPMG may request further information or records from you to support the assessment of your review request.
If KPMG requires further details to assess your review, you will receive an email alert directing you to log into the portal and respond by adding a portal comment to your Review Request using the Portal Comments within seven days.
If you do not respond within seven days, the review case will automatically time out due to inactivity.
If your request times out, you can submit a new review request at any time and select your previous Request ID from the “Related Request” field so KPMG can access your prior submissions, including supporting documents.
Self-service platform (CER Portal)
The CER Portal is a secure self-service platform designed to support you through each stage of the review that requires you to take action, such as providing payment details (if you're a former staff member), uploading documents, and requesting a review.
You will only be able to access the portal when there is an action to complete. QUT will contact you if you need to take action through the portal.
Instructions for completing specific tasks can be found earlier on this page.
Register to use the portal
The portal does not use your QUT username and password, so all users, including current staff, need to register before logging in.
- On the CER Portal home page, select 'Register here'.
- Enter your verified email address (the address your CER correspondence was sent) and your date of birth (DOB).
- Select 'Send verification code' to send a One-Time Code (OTC) to that email address.
- Enter the OTC to verify your identity.
- Create a password for future access to the portal.
OTC codes expire after five minutes. If your code expires, you can request a new one on the sign-in page.
Once you've registered, each time you sign in to the portal you'll be prompted to enter a new One-Time Code.
Troubleshooting
If you can't access the CER Portal:
- confirm you are using the same email address to which your CER correspondence was sent
- check your inbox and junk or spam folders for the OTC email
- if the passcode has expired, request a new OTC from the sign-in page
- check that the date of birth entered matches the details held by QUT and is formatted as DD-MM-YYYY.
If you still cannot access the portal, contact the KPMG Employee Hotline and include your full name, QUT employee ID if known, the email address you used and a description or screenshot of the error. Do not include your password, One-Time Code, Tax File Number or banking details.
If your email address or any other details have changed, provide your updated contact details through QUT’s online enquiry form.
If your email address changes, provide your updated contact details through QUT’s online enquiry form. Once your details have been updated, future CER correspondence and portal access will be linked to your updated email address.
Once your email address has been updated in the CER Portal, you will need to register for the CER Portal with the new email address. Allow two business days for this update to be reflected in the CER Portal.
For your data security and privacy, portal sessions automatically expire after 30 minutes of inactivity. Any unsaved entries will be lost upon timeout.
If you need to step away, select 'Save & Exit' or submit your form first.
If your session times out, you can sign in again using your registered email and password.
The portal displays only the activities that are open for your cohort’s current review stage. If no modules are available, this means there are no activities for you to complete.
Activities may include:
- the Review Mechanism module, which will only appear once the review of your cohort is finalised and communicated
- the Payment Details module, which will only appear for former staff members for whom an underpayment has been identified and communicated
- the Document Upload module, which will only appear if you are in Cohorts 2, 4 and 5 and are asked to provide Attendance Records and IFAs (if your cohort's document upload window has closed, the module will be set to read-only while KPMG conducts calculations).
If you believe your access is incorrect, contact the KPMG Employee Hotline for assistance.
QUT collects and uses personal information only for the purposes of conducting the Comprehensive External Review (CER), including reviewing staff entitlements, identifying potential underpayments and processing remediation payments where applicable. This information may include employment and payroll information, attendance records, contact details and any supporting information provided through the CER Portal.
Information is protected through security measures such as encryption, restricted access controls, audit logging and secure storage within QUT-managed systems. Where information is shared with contracted service providers supporting the CER, they are bound by strict privacy, confidentiality and security obligations and may only use the information for CER-related purposes. Information is retained in accordance with QUT's records retention requirements, and in accordance with QUT's Information Privacy Policy.
Information updated
- Wednesday, 14 October 2026
Contacts
Employee Hotline (independently operated by KPMG)
| Phone: | 1800 950 631 |
|---|---|
| Email: | QUTEmployeeHotline@kpmg.com.au |