Get ready for payday super

Around 95,000 employers currently pay their Super Guarantee (SG) contributions to Australian Retirement Trust (ART) quarterly.¹ If you’re among those not currently making SG contributions at the same time as you pay your employees, the introduction of payday super from 1 July 2026 may mean significant changes are needed to your processes and payroll software to make super payments more frequently and faster.

2.8 million Australians were underpaid $5.1 billion in super (for the year to 30 June 2022), according to an analysis of Australian Taxation Office (ATO) data by the Super Members Council.² Of those, 84% were paid their wages weekly or fortnightly, however only 17% received their super at the same time.

By aligning the timing of an employee’s super contributions to their pay cycle, a 25-year-old median income earner currently receiving their super quarterly and wages fortnightly could be around $6,000 or 1.5% better off at retirement according to government estimates.³

Payday super will also make it easier for employees to keep track of their super and help reduce the amount of unpaid and underpaid super.

The reporting requirements of Single Touch Payroll (STP) and investments by the ATO in ‘enhanced data and improved analytics capability’⁴ is helping the ATO use data to identify employers who don’t comply with the super obligations.  

In November 2024, the ATO reported the results of their compliance actions in the 2023-24 financial year. This included collecting and paying $932 million of SG entitlements into the super funds of 797,000 employees.⁵

Other results show that over $1.91 billion in Super Guarantee Charge (SGC) liabilities was raised from employers through ATO compliance actions and SG voluntary disclosures. The ATO also proactively contacted more than 167,000 employers, an increase of 24 per cent from the previous year, resulting in $240 million in SGC liabilities - still significantly less than the estimated unpaid amount.

The introduction of payday super from 1 July 2026 and alignment of pay with super contributions will further allow the ATO to monitor compliance with the employer’s SG obligations.

Here are some of the changes coming:

• SG contributions, in most cases, must be in an employee’s super account within 7 calendar days of payday.
• Super funds will have 3 days to allocate or return payments that are unable to be allocated.
• Changes are being made to the Super Guarantee Charge. It will become tax deductible (it is currently non-deductible) and the current $20 per person per quarter charge will be changed to a percentage of the shortfall, with the percentage being reduced for voluntary disclosures.
• Employers will be able to show employees their existing ‘stapled’ fund during their on-boarding as part of the choice of fund process.
• The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (the ATO’s clearing house) will no longer operate from 1 July 2026.

While the legislation has not yet passed through Parliament, there are things you can do now to prepare for payday super.

• Review the configuration and integrity of your payroll system with respect to super, checking that data reconciles between your super reports and what is shown in payroll (STP requires you to report an employee’s OTE and their total super liability).
• Review your super contribution processes and how they will respond to more frequent super contributions for both regular and irregular payment schedules.
• Raise the profile of payday super within your businesses to gather support for any changes to payroll software that may be needed to allow more frequent contributions – not to mention support for the people working in payroll!
• Review remuneration policy for employers who cap contributions either through the use of the Maximum Contribution Base or Concessional Caps.
• Consider implications for the first year in which payday super is introduced if the final quarter’s payment for year ending June 2026 will be paid in July 2026.

At ART, we continue to invest in our technology and processes to be ready for payday super. We already offer contributions solutions that allow employers to pay super the same time as wages and have the technology foundations in place to meet the new payday super requirements for employers, payroll software providers and members.

We have set up an internal Payday Super Project and have teams working to identify and address the impacts payday super will have for our employers and support them with any changes they need to make.

ART owns and operates its own clearing house, gateway and super payment technology (Beam Connect⁶), as well as connecting ATO services such as the Fund Validation Service and Stapling service. We are working to make sure we move seamlessly to the higher frequency super contributions and other changes proposed to start from 1 July 2026.

We are also involved in Industry and Government working groups with representation at a technical, policy and service provider level, putting us in a position to help shape policy. We will continue to keep you informed of our progress throughout 2025, provide insights from Industry and Government working groups, as well as providing you and your teams support to navigate payday super as legislation passes through parliament.

1. Source: Australian Retirement Trust as at November 2024

2. smcaustralia.com/app/uploads/2024/08/Fixing-unpaid-super-SMC-Report-August-2024.pdf

3. ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/jim-chalmers-2022/media-releases/payday-superannuation-design-details-ensure-super-paid

4. The reporting requirements of Single Touch Payroll (STP) and investments by the ATO in ‘enhanced data and improved analytics capability’ is helping the ATO use data to identify employers who don’t comply with the super obligations.

5. ATO Super guarantee annual employer compliance results

6. This is general information. It’s not based on the specific objectives, financial situation or needs of your business. So think about those things and read the Product Disclosure Statement before you make any decision about our products. Contact us or your payroll provider for a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).

Beam is issued by Precision Administration Services Pty Ltd (Precision) (ABN 47 098 977 667, AFSL 246 604). Precision is wholly owned by Australian Retirement Trust Pty Ltd (ABN 88 010 720 840, AFSL 228 975), trustee of Australian Retirement Trust (ABN 60 905 115 063).