The test of time for uni casuals

Australian Catholic U assessed 2759 casuals for conversion to continuing employment under the new requirements of the Fair Work Act – it made offers to ten

The problem for just about everybody was that they either had less than 12 months of service or they had not worked a “regular pattern of hours” for six-months, as required under the rules.

This isn’t only at ACU. Less low than barely above ground offers is just about the universal outcome at universities CMM knows about. Which is good for universities that rely on employing casuals but very bad indeed for people who can teach all year – but do not meet the six-month test because semesters are not long enough.

Be interesting to know if there is the makings of an appeal in this.

ACU’s offers according to the Act went to six professional staff and four academics. The university also converted 21 FTE sessional academics to fixed-term or continuing teaching-focused roles under its Enterprise Agreement. That’s full-time equivalents, not actual people.