The Fair Work Ombudsman Recovered $453 Million Last Year. Are You Owed Back Pay?

On 14 September 2026 the Fair Work Ombudsman reported that it recovered $453 million in unpaid wages and entitlements for more than 181,000 workers in 2025-26. That is about $95 million, or 27%, more than the year before, and it takes recoveries over the last six financial years to almost $2.5 billion (FWO media release).

Where it came from, in the regulator's own breakdown:

• Large corporates: $217.3 million for more than 110,000 workers, almost half the total, across 1,161 matters. Most were disputes rather than self-reports; the FWO also signed an Enforceable Undertaking with Westpac and issued 23 Compliance Notices and 13 Infringement Notices to big employers.
• Proactive investigations: more than 2,680, up 86%, recovering over $45 million for 13,803 workers.
• Disability support services: nearly $24 million for 10,546 workers, 53 Compliance Notices and three Enforceable Undertakings, with a sector-wide inquiry still running.
• Building and construction: $6.8 million for 932 workers, nearly 3,000 matters and 14 court cases started.

Three matters announced this month show how underpayment usually looks. The University of Queensland signed an undertaking after about $11 million in underpayments to 16,382 staff between 2017 and 2026; the average was $564, the largest $41,643, and the causes were payroll configuration and clerical errors against three enterprise agreements (FWO, 1 September). Murdoch University will back-pay more than $4.9 million to over 2,100 staff, mostly casuals, after misclassifying professional staff and underpaying casual academic rates for tutoring and marking (FWO, 3 September).

At the other end, a Sydney accounting firm and its director were fined $177,000 for a cashback scheme that made a migrant worker on a graduate visa pay back her entire wage (FWO, 1 September). Deliberate underpayment of that kind has been a criminal offence since 1 January 2025: see what counts as wage theft.

Across $2.5 billion of recoveries the mechanisms barely change:

• Wrong classification. You are paid as a Level 1 when the duties are Level 2 or 3, or a junior rate continues after a birthday.
• Missing penalties and loadings. Weekend, evening, public holiday and overtime rates not applied; casual loading absorbed into a "flat rate".
• Unpaid time. Set-up before the shift, meetings, training, marking, travel between sites.
• Superannuation. Not paid at all, paid late, or calculated on the wrong earnings.

Most of the money recovered by the FWO last year was owed by employers who did not set out to underpay. That is why the check is worth doing even if you trust your boss.

1. Find your award and level. Your payslip should name them. If it does not, use what award am I on.
2. Compare the rate. Our award pay rates pages carry the 1 July 2026 figures from the Fair Work Commission's pay database, by level, age and casual status.
3. Check the extras. Run a typical week through the payslip checker to see whether penalties, overtime and loadings are showing.
4. Add it up. The back-pay calculator totals a shortfall over the period, with interest and super.
5. Ask in writing. The underpayment enquiry letter asks your employer for a written breakdown. Many underpayments are fixed at this step.

You can ask the Fair Work Ombudsman for help on 13 13 94 or report the problem online, anonymously if you prefer. Underpayments can be recovered for up to six years, and the small claims process in the Federal Circuit and Family Court handles claims up to $100,000 without a lawyer. For larger or more complex claims, our underpayment claim guide explains the options and how a lawyer's no-win, no-fee arrangement works. If your employer is a university, the two undertakings above show that the FWO expects the institution itself to find and repay the money; ask whether a review is under way.