PERTH'S Murdoch University has sacked a lecturer found by a corruption watchdog to have pressured Asian students for sex at another university.

Western Australia's Corruption and Crime Commission, in its report tabled in parliament yesterday, found that then Curtin University tutor Dr Nasrul Ali had pressured the four students in exchange for higher marks.

The CCC said Dr Ali, who was employed as a casual at Curtin University in 2004 until the allegations were raised last year, had targeted “young, vulnerable, full fee-paying overseas female students”.

It was revealed Dr Ali had since been hired by Murdoch University to lecture at its business school.

Murdoch's Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Gary Martin said today that until the report was released, the university had been unaware of the allegation and was now “extremely concerned about its findings”.

“The university has concluded that the actions admitted by Dr Nasrul Ali in his evidence to the CCC are incompatible with his obligations as an employee of Murdoch University,” Professor Martin said in a statement.

“For that reason we have decided to terminate the employment of Dr Nasrul Ali with immediate effect.”

Professor Martin said Dr Ali's misconduct had made news around the world and a number of Murdoch's Chinese university partners had expressed concern with the findings of the report.

Three of the students were Chinese and one was Malaysian.

The CCC found that in one case, Dr Ali had asked a Chinese student in her early 20s back to his home to discuss how they could address her low marks.

“According to (the student), it was then that he told her that she could live with him. At this time Dr Ali had his arm along the back of the couch behind her which made her feel uncomfortable.”

The academic then said “he wanted her to try and satisfy him, that he wanted her to stay the night (but) she told him that she did not have time” and left.

Dr Ali had also conducted night-time meetings with two other Chinese students in which he suggested they could make up for their low marks through “non-academic” means.

The CCC said the three Chinese women were being financially supported by their families and had to pass the courses or risk losing their student visas.

As a result of Dr Ali's actions one of the students was too frightened to sit the final examination, which meant she failed the course.

In its report the CCC noted there was a significant power imbalance between students and university lecturers, who had control over the assessment of units.

“This imbalance is always present and there is an ever present risk that it will be exploited,” it said.

The CCC said the type of misconduct Dr Ali engaged in was likely to be more widespread across the university sector in Australia and not isolated to Curtin University.