In short
From 1 July 2026 employers will need to make the super guarantee contribution on 'payday'.
Super guarantee
The super guarantee requires a contribution of 11.5% of an employee’s ordinary time earnings. From 1 July 2025 it will increase to 12%.
Special rates apply for employees in Norfolk Island.
Employers must contribute to their eligible employees’ superannuation each quarter. If they don’t contribute in full and on time, they’re liable for the super guarantee charge.
Changes to super guarantee legislation
The government has proposed changes to the super guarantee legislation from 1 July 2026. The changes mean employers must make the contributions when they pay salary or wages, instead of the end of a quarter.
Employers are liable for the super guarantee charge if the fund doesn't receive the contributions within 7 days.
For employees this means contributions will go to their nominated fund sooner for investing for their retirement.
Other changes will:
- enable the ATO to detect unpaid super sooner by matching data reported by employers and super funds
- update the super guarantee charge calculation to suit the new payday system
- improve the rules and standards for super funds so that contributions can be processed quickly
Visit the Federal Register of Legislation website to view the:
Reason for the change
These changes aim to reduce the amount of super guarantee that employers fail to pay each year. The ATO estimates that $5.2 billion of super went unpaid in 2021–22.
Aligning super payments with employees’ paydays will:
- help employees track whether they’ve been paid super
- help the ATO intervene earlier to recover unpaid super
- allow super funds to invest contributions sooner to increase employees’ retirement savings
- prevent employers building up large payroll liabilities.
Updating the super guarantee charge will also make sure:
- employees are accurately compensated for late or incomplete contributions
- employers quickly identify and fix any instances of unpaid super
- repeat offenders receive bigger penalties.
The changes will benefit around 8.9 million employees.
See the Payday super
Announcements
9 October 2023
- Joint media release by the Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP, Treasurer and the Hon Stephen Jones MP, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services – Consulting on payday super
2 May 2023
- Joint media release by the Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP, Treasurer and the Hon Stephen Jones MP, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services – Introducing payday super