Academic Workload Allocation
The University will allocate work to fixed-term and continuing academic employees in accordance with this clause and the terms of this Agreement.
The University will allocate a maximum workload of 1590 hours to academic employees in any calendar year and pro-rata for part-time employees. This annual figure is comprised of the weekly hours identified in sub-clause 4.2(a)(iii) and is exclusive of the leave provisions of sub-clause 4.2(a)(vi) below.
The University will allocate a maximum workload of thirty-five (35) hours to academic employees in a week and pro-rata for part-time employees.
For the purposes of allocating work to academic employees, the following pathway allocations apply within the yearly maximum as per sub-clause 4.2(a)(ii) above.
For an Education and Research Pathway allocation: 40% education, 40% research, 10% service minimum and 10% flexible allocation.
For an Education Focused Pathway allocation: 60-70% education, 20% research/scholarship minimum, 10% service minimum.
For a Research Focused Pathway allocation: 55-75% research range, 15-35% education, 10% service minimum.
Note: Academic Career Pathways Transitions are regulated by sub-clause 4.2(g) of this Agreement.
The allocation of work by the University to academic employees expressed in hours will reflect the time taken for a competent employee to complete the work.
In any year, an academic employee is entitled to the following recognition of the importance of work-life balance include health and wellbeing supported by taking breaks from work to rest and recuperate:
Annual leave: Comprising twenty (20) days or 140 hours.
Ten (10) public holidays: Comprising ten (10) days or seventy (70) hours.
University holidays: Comprising three (3) days or twenty-one (21) hours.
There will be a reduction in workload allocation for any additional period of leave.
The University will allocate a maximum of ten (10) teaching contact hours (in person or online) per week and a maximum of twenty-six (26) teaching weeks in a calendar year to a full-time academic employee allocated any pathway except an Education Focused Pathway.
The University will allocate a maximum of eleven (11) teaching contact hours (in person or online) per week and a maximum of thirty (30) teaching weeks in a calendar year to a full-time academic employee allocated an Education Focused Pathway.
An academic employee will not be required to teach in overlapping teaching/study periods without their written agreement. Written agreements will be de-identified, and the University will provide these agreements to the ACUSCC.
A full-time academic employee will not be required to work more than 1590 hours per year (pro-rata for part-time employees). In exceptional circumstances, an academic employee may be consulted and agree in writing:
To exceed the weekly hours limits in (iii) above for a maximum period up to four (4) weeks a year; or
To exceed the annual hours limitation by a maximum of forty-eight (48) hours.
In these circumstances the employee will be entitled to workload adjustment, in which an equivalent reduction will be made in the subsequent year or a period agreed to by the employee. Subject to mutual agreement, the employee may alternatively be paid at their normal rate of pay for every additional hour allocated and performed in a given year following a final annual workload adjustment at the end of the calendar year. This payment must be paid in the first pay of the subsequent year. The University will provide de-identified reports to the ACUSCC identifying the number of full-time and part-time employees who agree to exceed the annual limitation, the hours exceeding the annual limitation (to a maximum of 48) and the school the employee is employed in.
All work allocated by the University to employees must be recorded in a way that allows the employee to understand the task or duty to be performed and the time allocated.
Workload will be allocated in consultation with employees. The University will ensure the health and safety of employees in the allocation of workload.
The University will ensure employee workloads are published to all academic employees in a work unit. The University will retain these records to ensure clarity of work allocation records, and that errors or omissions are able to be identified by the employee and corrected by relevant employees.
Workload allocations (e.g. allocated duties and hours) will be distributed at least ten (10) working days prior to the commencement of a teaching/study period and cannot be amended after such time without consultation and written agreement with a relevant employee. Subsequent notification of the change will be published in updated publication of workload to the academic unit.
Academic Unit Workload
At the commencement of this Agreement, Academic Unit Workload is allocated in accordance with the Academic Workload Allocation Policy 10 March 2026 (the Policy) and this clause.
If the Policy requires expansion and/or amendment as it applies to a particular school or academic work unit, employees and the NTEU may make written submissions identifying the proposed changes and the requirement for such changes to the Executive Dean in accordance with this clause. An Executive Dean, or their nominee, may also propose changes to the Policy applicable to a school and or academic work unit, and will make written submissions to identify the change and the reasons the change is required.
If a change is proposed, within a fortnight of receipt of the proposal the Executive Dean or their nominee will commence consultation and collegial discussions with any employees affected by the proposed workload change and the NTEU for a period of two (2) weeks. Following collegial discussions, a summary of the proposed change(s) will be communicated to all employees impacted and the NTEU, who will then have a minimum period of two (2) weeks to provide feedback on the proposal.
When an NTEU representative is involved in preparing the proposed change and provides a written submission to the Executive Dean and/or Workload Resolution Group (WRG), the representative will be provided with reasonable working time to undertake this work, in addition to any entitlements at clause 1.12. The amount of reasonable working time in hours must be agreed in advance of commencing the work between the NTEU representative and the Head of School. The Executive Dean or their nominee will ensure all impacted employees are advised of the NTEU representative role in accordance with this clause.
The Executive Dean, or their nominee, will collate the proposed change feedback from impacted employees and the NTEU, and provide their recommendation in a report to the WRG for their consideration.
A special meeting of the WRG will be convened where the next scheduled meeting is more than two (2) months’
away to review and determine the submission.
The WRG will meet and provide time for any parties seeking to be heard. If the party seeking to be heard is a regular member of the WRG, a substitute representative shall be found for all discussions about the workload amendment proposal to ensure no conflict or apprehension of bias. The WRG will negotiate and reach agreement on a new workload allocation for the school or academic work unit. Agreement will be reached by all members of the WRG within four (4) weeks of receipt or a further period of time agreed by all members of the WRG.
A new Academic Unit Workload will not apply and be published to all academic employees in the academic work unit until it has been reviewed in accordance with the above clauses and until it has been approved by all members of the WRG in accordance with sub-clause 4.2(c)(i) below.
For the avoidance of doubt, at all times this clause 4.2 and the workload protections of this clause and this Agreement apply to permanent and fixed-term academic employees.
Nothing in this clause prohibits the rights of employees to use of the Dispute Resolution Procedures to resolve disputes about workloads.
Workload Resolution Group (WRG)
The role of the Workload Resolution Group (WRG) is to provide guidance to work units and to receive, discuss and consider submissions on workload matters and proposals issues in accordance with sub-clauses 4.2(b)(iv) to (viii) above. WRG will ensure fairness in general and gender equity in particular. When a submission is received in accordance with these clauses, the WRG will alter the Policy in the relevant academic unit when expansion or amendment is required and mutually agreed by the University and the NTEU.
The membership of the WRG comprises three (3) nominees of the University, including two (2) academic employees nominated by the Provost, one (1) of whom is an Executive Dean, and a People and Capability representative, and three (3) NTEU nominees. The WRG will have Executive Officer/Project Officer(s) to provide executive and other support.
The WRG will provide input into the evaluation of the supporting electronic workload system and receive, discuss and consider submissions on issues referred by academic employees, NTEU representatives, National Heads of School or Executive Deans relating to the operation of this clause and make recommendations to the Provost.
The WRG will normally meet at least three (3) times per year or as required by sub-clause 4.2(b)(vi) above. Issues arising from the implementation of this clause will be dealt with in a timely manner or in accordance with times stipulated in this clause. The WRG will monitor workload across the University to consider whether workload allocations are manageable, being made equitably and in accordance with this clause, and report review findings to the Provost.
Other Academic Workload Protections
Academic workload will be recorded in the Academic Workload Planning system (or its successor or equivalent)
and transparently reported annually by the Provost’s Office to the ACUSCC.
The University will take all reasonable steps to ensure gender equity, not only in terms of the amount of work allocated, but also the types of work allocated.
An academic employee (including casual academic employees) will not be required to:
Teach prior to 8:00 am or after 9:00 pm on weekdays without agreement with the employee;
Teach on more than two (2) evenings on a weekly basis during any semester;
Teach for longer than four (4) hours without an unpaid break of at least thirty (30) minutes, and for no longer than seven (7) hours in one day; or
Commence teaching within ten (10) hours of the conclusion of a teaching session conducted on the previous day.
No employee will be required to make up time, take on additional duties or alter the duties that would normally be undertaken as a result of taking leave. For example, no employee will be required to perform additional teaching duties as a result of taking additional leave during a teaching/study period.
Where an employee is required to undertake a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (or an equivalent course of study) as an incident of their employment or term of their probation, they will be provided with a workload allocation equal to the expected required hours expressed in the course guide or unit outline (howsoever named).
Workload allocations for continuing and fixed-term academic employees will be reported annually to the ACUSCC in a manner that allows comparison across employee groupings in terms of amount and type of work (e.g., by gender, Academic Career Pathway, academic level, organisational units, and campus).
Broad Definition of Academic Work
Education, Research and Scholarship, Service and Engagement, and related academic activities are considered together under the broad headings below.
Education may include:
preparing teaching materials;
developing and reviewing units and courses, including online, off-campus and off-shore learning materials;
conducting lectures, laboratory classes, tutorials, seminars, workshops, field or practicum supervision or clinical education;
undertaking mandatory and approved learning related to teaching;
developing and/or delivering online learning;
supervising honours year and postgraduate coursework students’ projects;
designing, reviewing, and preparing student assessment;
marking and student feedback;
assessment moderation; and
student consultation regarding academic matters, in person or online, including email.
Research and Scholarship may include:
undertaking and publishing research outputs;
preparing and submitting research grant applications;
presenting research papers, addresses to conferences and the like;
curating exhibitions and directing performances other than those related to teaching responsibilities along with other non-traditional research outputs;
conducting research engagement and impact activities;
undertaking mandatory and approved research training;
developing industry partnerships related to research;
supervising research higher degree students; and
building research capability and capacity.
keeping up to date with advances in the field;
activities that lead to new understanding and insights into a discipline;
preparing peer-reviewed scholarly outputs; and
other outputs and activities that support contemporary approaches to teaching and learning, or research training.
Service and Engagement may include:
mandatory and approved professional learning related to leadership and service activities;
undertaking a role with formal employee supervision;
Roles on committees, including leading or contributing (e.g. Academic Promotions Committee, Academic Board);
organising and/or attending meetings, forums and/or seminars;
quality assurance activities;
attendance at School meetings;
independent benchmarking;
mentoring;
conference organisation or professional association leadership;
examining theses or reviewing academic programs at other universities;
developing guidelines with professional associations or industry bodies;
supervising HDR students at other universities;
examining theses at other universities;
reviewing courses at other universities;
articles/chapters, presentations in symposia at a local/state conference, contributions to a local/state professional association or peak industry body;
attending University events such as graduations, orientation, open days and the like;
contributing to and involvement with professional associations, business, industry and unions;
contributing to and involvement with relevant government, professional and community bodies and associations;
promoting the University in the community; and
other administrative and relevant activities that occur from time to time.
Individual Workload Allocation and Review
The allocation of individual workload will be in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and will be fair and consistent, involving clear and transparent process that allows employees to understand the rationale for the decisions made, assessing achievement relative to opportunity, and provides for a robust and transparent review process.
On this basis, following discussion with the National Head of School and/or delegate, an employee or group of employees may seek a review of matters relating to the implementation of this Agreement and/or matters such as:
Total required hours, including hours allocated to marking and feedback;
Proposals to travel between campuses to undertake teaching;
The number of days of the week during which teaching and/or required duties are scheduled;
Health and wellbeing issues;
The incidence of night work;
An academic employee’s general workload; and
An academic employee’s family needs and responsibilities.
An academic employee should normally raise an issue with their supervisor in the first instance. Where the issue is not resolved or it is not possible to reach agreement by this means, the academic employee may make a written application to the Executive Dean for a peer review.
The employee’s application to the Executive Dean must identify:
Steps taken prior to the application for peer review;
What evidence has been provided;
Any solutions/proposals considered; and
What outcome they are seeking from the review.
The Executive Dean will assemble a panel of three (3) academic peers, at least one (1) of whom will be familiar with the employee’s academic discipline or specific work area, and an academic employee within that Faculty nominated by the NTEU. The peer review panel will provide a written recommendation to the Executive Dean regarding the issue. The Executive Dean will consider the matter, document a decision, and will take action as they consider appropriate in the circumstances.
If the Executive Dean’s decision differs from the recommendation made by the panel, the employee may request that the Provost review their written application and the panel’s written recommendation. The decision of the Provost is final and is not open to challenge via the Disputes Settlement Procedure of this Agreement. However, any failure to comply with an obligation in this clause may be resolved by the application of the Dispute Settlement Procedure.
Nothing in this clause will be construed as excluding the jurisdiction of any external court or tribunal which, but for this subclause, would be competent to deal with the matter.
Academic Career Pathways
ACU has three Academic Career Pathways:
Education and Research (E&R);
Education Focused (EF); and
Research Focused (RF).
The Academic Career Pathway for an employee is based on the operational and strategic requirements of the University, as appropriate for their discipline.
The allocation of academic workload duties for each pathway will be made in accordance with sub-clause 4.2(a)(iv).
Over the life of the Agreement, the University will increase the proportion of employees on an Education and Research Pathway.
Academic Career Pathway Transitions
A variation to an Academic Career Pathway may be made by an Executive Dean, who will provide reasons for their proposal to change an employee’s Academic Career Pathway. An employee may seek a review of this proposal as per sub-clause 4.2(g)(xi) below. Consultation will occur with the employee to develop a twelve (12) month transition plan.
In circumstances where an academic employee secures substantial external funding, a secondment agreement may be put in place for a period in which the employee will perform a research-only role. In this case, the
employee’s underlying Academic Career Pathway will be retained. An employee will have the right to revert to their prior Academic Career Pathway allocation at the expiry of this period.
An academic employee may request a permanent or temporary variation of their Academic Career Pathway. Employee-initiated pathway changes will be by application to the Executive Dean or their delegate, following the employee’s annual development and performance review. In exceptional circumstances, an application may be made outside of this process. All applications will be reviewed consistent with criteria below and in a fair and transparent manner within twenty (20) business days.
Where an employee seeks to move to a new Academic Career Pathway, it is expected that they will have met the following:
Employees seeking to move to an E&R from an EF pathway will be required to evidence:
Employees seeking to move to an EF pathway will be required to evidence:
Approval for a pathway change application will not be unreasonably withheld.
At the commencement of this Agreement, the University will conduct a program open to all EF employees who wish to apply to transition from an EF allocation to an E&R allocation. Transition under this program will not be unreasonably withheld, and a written agreement will be provided to the employee.
Applications will be made to the Executive Dean or their delegate. If the application is unsuccessful, the employee will be entitled to seek a review of the decision through the Office of the Provost. The review will be conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
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