Payday Super is here: what Australian employers need to do now.
If you run payroll for even one employee, you've probably heard the term “Payday Super” thrown around a lot over the last year. As of 1 July 2026, it's no longer a future change — it's the law, and if your business hasn't adjusted, this is the moment to catch up. We're a small accounting firm in Canterbury, Victoria, and over the past few months almost every business client we work with has asked some version of the same question: “Do I actually need to pay super every payday, or just make sure it's processed every payday?” The answer trips a lot of people up — let's go through it properly.
Payday Super is here: what Australian employers need to do now.
If you run payroll for even one employee, you've probably heard the term “Payday Super” thrown around a lot over the last year. As of 1 July 2026, it's no longer a future change — it's the law, and if your business hasn't adjusted, this is the moment to catch up. We're a small accounting firm in Canterbury, Victoria, and over the past few months almost every business client we work with has asked some version of the same question: “Do I actually need to pay super every payday, or just make sure it's processed every payday?” The answer trips a lot of people up — let's go through it properly.
What is Payday Super, in plain English?
Payday Super changes when employers have to pay superannuation guarantee (SG) — not how much. The SG rate is still 12%, and you still don't pay super on the same group of employees you didn't before. The change is timing. Under the old rules, you had until 28 days after the end of each quarter to pay super. From 1 July 2026, super has to be paid in line with your normal pay cycle, and it has to actually land in the employee's fund within 7 business days of payday — not just be initiated or sitting in a clearing house queue. That last part is the detail most business owners miss.
"Our partners bring together the right expertise and the right relationships to deliver real results for your business, your family and your future."
The 7-business-day rule: what actually counts
This is the part worth getting exactly right, because it's the part the ATO is most focused on. It's not enough to hit “pay” in your payroll software within 7 business days. The rule is that the super fund must receive the contribution and have enough information to allocate it to the employee's account within that window. If your payment goes through a slow intermediary, or the employee's fund details are wrong or incomplete, the clock doesn't stop for you — it's still your obligation to get it there on time. A few exceptions get a longer runway: for new employees, employers get 20 business days after a new starter's first payday to sort out their choice of fund and get the first contribution through. Outside of those situations, 7 business days is the standard, and it applies to every pay run — weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
How we help you make it happen.
From compliance to optimisation — pick a topic to explore how we work with you.
Payday Super isn't just a payment timing change — it changed what you report too. From 1 July 2026, each STP report needs to include, for every eligible employee, the fields below. Qualifying Earnings is what determines the minimum SG you owe for that payday. It's worth knowing that once an employee's YTD QE hits the annual Maximum Contribution Base ($270,830 for 2026–27), you generally don't need to keep paying minimum SG on further QE for that employee for the rest of the financial year — but Super Liability can still include extra amounts owed under an award or enterprise agreement, so don't assume the two figures are interchangeable.
- Year-to-date Qualifying Earnings (QE) — a new measure that has effectively replaced Ordinary Time Earnings (OTE) as the field used for Payday Super reporting
- Year-to-date Superannuation Liability
