Casual Employment at UniSA

Casual staff make a valuable contribution to the University of South Australia (UniSA), and we want your experience with us to be rewarding and fulfilling. Information and resources relating to casual employment is available below and further support is available from our People Central team. .

From Monday 26 August 2024, the change to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) introduced a definition of casual employment and UniSA has adapted the way in which we engage casual staff in support of this legislative change.

 

For casual staff engaged from 26 August 2024, there is a two-step process which will be used to contract staff and offer them work. Both the Casual Contract of Employment and the casual Offer of Work will be offered in our online Casual Administration System.

Step 1 will be for UniSA to offer a Casual Contract of Employment which has no end date and outlines general employment terms with UniSA. Step one must be completed prior to step two being commenced.

Step 2 is commenced when we have casual work activities available. These activities will be offered in a casual Offer of Work, either professional or academic. The casual Offer of Work will also outline the classification and pay rate associated with the casual work activities.

A casual staff member can choose to accept or reject the casual Offer of Work, and if their availability changes and they are no longer able to complete the activities offered in a casual Offer of Work, they must immediately notify their supervisor. The casual Offer of Work does not have a firm advanced commitment to continuing and indefinite work.  

After a Casual Contract of Employment is approved, the prospective casual staff member will receive an email containing a link to Casual Contract of Employment in the UniSA Appian system, and they must carefully review all details prior to accepting.

Upon acceptance, the casual staff member receives an email containing a PDF copy of the Casual Contract of Employment.

When casual activities become available, these are offered through a casual Offer of Work. The casual Offer of Work is separate to the Casual Contract of Employment.

The casual Offer of Work outlines the details of the casual activities that may be available for the casual staff member to perform. A staff member can be issued multiple casual Offers of Work under the same Casual Contract of Employment contract for different activities. 

Prior to accepting the casual Offer of Work, the staff member should carefully review the details, which include: 

  • The kinds of casual activities the casual staff member may be offered. 
  • The potential hours that may be available. 
  • The applicable hourly/sessional rate of pay. 

A casual staff member can choose to accept or reject the casual Offer of Work and if their availability changes and they are no longer able to complete the activities offered in a casual Offer of Work, they must immediately notify their supervisor. The casual Offer of Work does not have a firm advanced commitment to continuing and indefinite work.  

When a casual staff member completes activities offered under a casual Offer of Work, they must submit their casual timesheet via Appian at the end of each fortnight, in accordance with the Payroll Calendar, in order for payment to be made.

 

 

If a casual staff member is required to attend mandatory training as part of their employment at UniSA, they will be paid by their Academic / Professional unit to attend.  If casual staff wish to attend professional development activities in their own time, they are able to do so.

Below are some quick resources to get you started:

Frequently Asked Questions

To view the Frequently Asked Questions, please click on the button below and log into your UniSA account. 

View the FAQ's