One of Australia’s most prestigious universities, RMIT University in Melbourne, has been accused of significant and systemic wage theft by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). The union alleged hundreds of casual academic staff were affected over several years. In a media release on Sept. 20, the NTEO said according to its calculations, RMIT allegedly underpaid hundreds of academic casual staff over $17 million (US$12.36 million), and noted it had requested that Wage Inspectorate Victoria investigate whether RMIT’s alleged underpayment of staff amounted to criminal wage theft under Victoria’s new wage theft legislation. Victoria’s new wage theft law states that employers who deliberately and dishonestly underpay employees could face a fine of up to $218,088 or up to 10 years in jail for individuals and a fine of up to $1.1 million for companies. An RMIT spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the university is “committed to ensuring that employees receive their full …