Making your super contributions
Making your super contributions
We have the information you need to ensure you’re meeting your contribution and payment requirements.
Superannuation Guarantee (SG) law sets out who you need to pay super for, how much, when and more.
Who to pay super for
You’re generally required to pay super for employees who are:
- Employed on a full-time, part-time or casual basis (even if they’re only working in Australia temporarily)
- 18 and over, or
- Under 18 but working more than 30 hours per week.
You can use this ATO tool to work out if your employee is eligible for SG contributions.
How much you need to pay
You must pay a minimum of 11% of your employees’ ordinary time earnings.
Ordinary time earnings (OTE) usually refer to how much you pay employees for their ‘ordinary’ hours of work. It includes things like commissions, shift-loadings and allowances, but not overtime payments.
In some circumstances, you may need to pay a different amount. Find out more in our Employer Guide.
When you need to pay
You’ll need to pay super guarantee (SG) contributions for eligible employees at least four times a year. We’ve outlined the dates below. We will follow up with you if SG contributions are overdue, to ensure the obligation is met.
| Financial year quarters | Payment period | Australian Tax Office (ATO) legislative due date | SG statement lodgement and SG charge payment deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter 1 | 1 July to 30 September | 28 October | 28 November |
| Quarter 2 | 1 October to 31 December | 28 January | 28 February |
| Quarter 3 | 1 January to 31 March | 28 April | 28 May |
| Quarter 4 | 1 April to 30 June | 28 July | 28 August |
Here are some important things to remember:
- Payment deadlines refer to when your contributions are received by your super fund – not made by you – so check how long your payments take to process
- Super payments received on time can be claimed as a tax deduction
- There is a penalty for late payments, called the superannuation guarantee charge (SGC)
- Any after-tax (non-concessional) contributions you make on behalf of your employees must be received by us within 28 days of the end of the month to which they apply.
Staying SuperStream compliant
Under the government’s Super Stream legislation, you can only send data and make payments electronically, using approved options. You can’t pay by cheque or send contributions breakdowns by post or email.
There are many ATO-compliant options to enable you to make super contributions for your employees, such as using our clearing house solution, QuickSuper.*
If you’re unsure call us on 1300 360 149 or get in touch with your client partnership manager.
Putting the right super info on payslips
Your employee payslips must include:
- The amount of contributions made during the pay period (or the amount of contributions that are due to be made)
- The name of the super fund that the contributions were paid into.
*QuickSuper is issued by Westpac Banking Corporation (ABN 33 007 457 141, AFSL 233714). An offer to issue this product may be made to you by Westpac, subject to completion of the application process. The Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for QuickSuper is available on the Westpac website. You should consider the PDS before deciding to accept any offer made by Westpac to issue the product.