A bid by the workplace watchdog to toughen action against dodgy employers has been successful, with more than $500 million recovered for underpaid workers.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker, who ends her five-year appointment in July, told a Senate hearing on Wednesday the banking royal commission, migrant workers' task force and media reports on wage theft had all played a role in the watchdog hardening its approach.
Since 2019, the body had shifted its approach away from a reliance on mediation to using court-enforceable compliance notices as its main compliance tool.
"Last year we issued more than 2300 compliance notices, compared to 200 when I started at the FWO," she said.
Ms Parker said more than $532 million had been returned to 384,805 underpaid workers last financial year.
A focus on corporations and universities had led to more than 100 investigations leading to them "paying back many millions of dollars including interest owed to workers", she said.
Litigations had risen four-fold, with 137 started in 2021/22 compared to 23 in her first year at the ombudsman.
An independent review has been launched into the ombudsman which she said would "ensure the agency is well placed to continue to be a highly effective regulator".
She paid tribute to FWO employees whose work "can be difficult and often involves conflict".
