NEMA staff still waiting for $1.8 million backpay after May scandal
The National Emergency Management Authority spent $923,000 on consultants. They fixed a payroll system that shortchanged 600 staff of $1.8 million.
Staff at the federal National Emergency Management Authority are still waiting for backpay. This happened months after the agency admitted it underpaid them.
About 1.8 million dollars went missing across 600 workers. NEMA coordinator-general Pat Hetherington told a Senate estimates committee on Tuesday that the agency is switching to a new payroll system.
He expects to finish payments this financial year. Pat Hetherington revealed the underlying problem.
Payroll complaints went to multiple inboxes. Some went to personal email addresses.
Some went to the home department. Nobody could see the full picture of what was going wrong.
NEMA paid consultants Korda Mentha $300,000 for fixing work. They paid another $252,164 for payroll review.
They paid KPMG $372,500 for internal audit checking.
- $1.8 million
- Total backpay owed
- 600
- Staff affected
- $923,000
- Consultant costs
- May
- Discovery date
Why it mattersPoor systems and slow responses left hundreds of public servants out of pocket for months. This shows a problem. Government agencies may have similar hidden payroll issues.
AustraliaA federal agency failed to pay Australian public servants correctly for months, raising questions about accountability in government administration.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 3 h ago
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