An examination of governance failures in public universities that finds a decline in accountability and transparency, resulting in poor workforce planning, excessive executive pay, and systemic wage theft. The report recommends a federal parliamentary inquiry and a new regulatory framework.

This report outlines new data showing confirmed underpayments to university staff are now standing at more than $203 million in recent years. Additionally, universities’ annual reports reveal a further $168 million has been set aside to repay workers for suspected wage theft incidents.

This report reveals a staggering $159 million in underpayments across Australia’s higher education sector.

This report provides a brief background of the HECS (Higher Education Contributions Scheme) and its successor HELP (the Higher Education Loan Program), followed by projections for future student repayment times in selected fee bands, and case studies of specific degrees and careers that will be most affected by HECS-HELP indexation.

Wage theft has shamefully become an endemic part of universities’ business models. This report uncovers the staggering value of wages stolen in the university sector.