Fair Work Ombudsman
Citation: FWO-2022-12-19-australian-unity-eu-media-release
At a glance
- Respondent
- Australian Unity Limited
- Penalty
- $6,800,000
- Awards cited
- MA000100
What happened
Australian Unity Limited, the ASX-listed health, wealth and care company, signed an Enforceable Undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman after back-paying staff in Victoria and New South Wales more than $6.8 million. Australian Unity self-reported in November 2020 after identifying payroll errors in its Independent and Assisted Living arm, which operates retirement communities and provides aged care, allied health and disability services. Between 2014 and 2021, employees were underpaid entitlements owed under 10 current and former enterprise agreements, two state awards, and the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (SCHADS). Breaches related to penalty rates, minimum engagements, overtime, travel time, higher duties, leave accruals and superannuation. Affected staff included nurses, cooks, catering staff, residential care workers, lifestyle workers, administrative staff, gardeners, laundry and maintenance workers.
What was decided
Australian Unity entered an EU with the FWO and completed more than $6.8 million in back-pay across Victoria and New South Wales. The figure is remediation, not a civil penalty. Australian Unity agreed to a compliance program under the EU.
What it means for employers
Care organisations often sit across multiple enterprise agreements, state awards and the SCHADS Award at the same time. Running one payroll template against that patchwork is a guaranteed source of breach. Treat multi-instrument compliance as a dedicated payroll workstream with audit, not an HR side task.
What it means for employees
Australian Unity Independent and Assisted Living staff in Victoria and New South Wales between 2014 and 2021, including nurses, care workers, lifestyle, catering and administrative staff, may be owed back-pay. Australian Unity is contacting affected staff through its remediation program.
Want this applied to your situation?
Reading the decision is free. FairWork Mate goes further — it reads the full case library and applies precedents like this one to your specific facts, citing the cases as it reasons. General information, not a guaranteed outcome or legal advice.
Every statement above is drawn from the published decision. Read the original here:
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/2022-media-releases/december-2022/20221219-australian-unity-eu-media-releaseSend your details to Liquid Employment Lawyers
Liquid Employment Lawyers is a paid legal service and our referral partner, not free Fair Work advice. Tell them what has happened and a member of their team will call you back. For free general guidance, use our tools or call the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94.
Prefer to read first? About Liquid Employment Lawyers · Not sure if you need a lawyer? Read the legal help guides
Want more cases like this?
FairWork Mate tracks Fair Work Ombudsman, Fair Work Commission and Federal Court decisions across Australia. The AI advisor answers plain-English questions grounded on the full corpus — awards cited, industry, penalty amounts and affected employee counts — with a citation to the underlying decision on every answer.
Individual case summaries on this site are free. The full FWC and Federal Court library behind every advisor answer is on Pro.
FairWork Mate AI
This is one decision. Pro reads all of them.
Free case pages cite the top 250 decisions. Pro opens the full Fair Work Commission and Federal Court library, cross-references your own situation against it, and cites the decision behind every answer — plus document upload, so it can read your letter or contract line by line. 150 questions a month, cancel anytime.
Just need this week sorted? A 7-Day Pass is 50 questions over 7 days, no account. Get a 7-Day Pass — $14.99
Get notified on new Fair Work cases
Free email alerts when we publish new underpayment decisions, penalty orders, and workplace law updates.
Free forever. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
This summary was drafted from the published decision and reviewed before publishing. It is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, speak to the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) or a qualified lawyer. About these summaries & corrections