From 1 July 2026, all employers must pay Super Guarantee (SG) contributions on an employee’s payday, rather than quarterly. This is now law and applies to all employers. This change represents a significant shift in how super is paid and reported.
It’s designed to improve transparency, reduce unpaid super, and ensure contributions are made accurately and on time. This Employer Payday Super Hub brings together everything you need to understand the new rules, meet your obligations, and prepare your business with confidence.
What is Payday Super?
Payday Super requires employers to pay SG contributions at the same time as salary and wages.
Under the new rules:
- SG contributions must be received by the employee’s super fund within 7-business days of payday.
- Contributions are based on qualifying earnings, which include Ordinary Time Earnings (OTE), salary-sacrifice super amounts, and other amounts already counted for SG.
- Super funds must allocate or return contributions within 3 business days, reduced from the previous 20-day timeframe.
Why the Government has introduced Payday Super
The legislation aims to:
- Reduce unpaid and underpaid super, estimated by the ATO at $6.2 billion in 2022–23*.
- Help employees build stronger retirement balances through earlier, more frequent contributions.
- Make it easier for employees to track when their super is paid.
- Strengthen compliance through a revised Super Guarantee Charge (SGC) framework.
- For employers, the changes support cleaner reporting, fewer lapsed payments, and more consistent payroll processes.
When does Payday Super start?
1 July 2026. From this date, all SG contributions must comply with the new payday requirements, with very limited exceptions.
New rules, new requirements: what they mean for your business
| Current rules | New rules from 1 July 2026 |
| Quarterly payments | Payments every payday |
| Funds allocate within 20 days | Funds allocate within 3 business days |
| No qualifying earnings concept | SG based on qualifying earnings (OTE plus Salary sacrifice amounts) |
| Flat SGC interest | Revised SGC with notional earnings, administrative uplift, and penalties |
How Payday Super works in practice
- SG contributions must be received by the super fund within 7 business days after payday.
- Employers are responsible for ensuring contribution data and payments are accurate so funds can allocate contributions on time.
Some limited exceptions apply, including:
- New starters: employers have 20 business days from the employee’s first payday to ensure the initial contribution reaches the fund.
- Small or irregular payments: may be added to the next regular pay cycle.
- First contribution to a new fund: when an employee changes super funds, the first contribution has a 20-business-day timeframe.
Payday Super is a compliance requirement, but it also supports:
- Smoother payroll administration, by aligning super with pay cycles.
- Reduced quarterly liabilities, as super is finalised progressively.
- Fewer employee enquiries, with contributions visible closer to payday.
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Stronger governance, through better alignment between payroll systems, STP reporting, and SG obligations.
Together, these benefits support a more organised, transparent, and reliable payroll environment.
- Timely super contributions
- Clear visibility of payments
- Fewer lost or unallocated contributions
- Better long-term outcomes through the power of compounding
Steps to prepare
Preparing early will make the transition simpler and help reduce compliance risk. We recommend:
1. Understand the legislation
Familiarise yourself with the new obligations, timeframes, and definitions such as qualifying earnings.
2. Review payroll systems
Confirm your software can support more frequent contributions and meet the 7-business-day timeframe.
3. Confirm clearing house arrangements
The ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closes on 1 July 2026, so employers using it will need an alternative solution.
4. Clean up employee data
Ensure fund details, member information, and SuperStream fields are accurate and complete.
5. Plan cash flow and resourcing
More frequent payments may change how you manage payroll cash flow.
6. Update onboarding processes
Capture super fund choice early, including stapled fund details.
7. Train payroll and HR teams
Set clear roles for processing contributions, managing rejected payments, and resolving data issues quickly.
Other legislative changes
Closure of the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House
- Closed to new employers from 1 October 2025.
- Fully retired from 1 July 2026.
SuperStream and STP updates:
- Faster payment options, including NPP-enabled processing.
- Improved error messaging to resolve issues sooner.
- New verification requests to confirm fund details.
- STP reporting must include OTE and total super liability.
We’re here to help
*ATO Latest estimate and trends for the super guarantee gap | Australian Taxation Office