Payday Super

Instead of quarterly super payments, super must be paid each payday.

Payday Super also includes changes to:

• how super guarantee (SG) is calculated
• when it must be received by
• reporting
• the SG charge
• data and payment processing.

The ATO Small Business Super Clearing House also permanently closed on 1 July 2026.

The Payday Super legislation aims to ensure more workers receive their full super entitlements and improve retirement outcomes. While most employers meet super guarantee (SG) requirements, some employees were missing out due to late or incomplete payments. This reform intends to address unpaid and underpaid super, helping employees grow their balances sooner and giving employers a clearer, more consistent process.

The main benefits for employees include:

• increased visibility – employees will have better visibility over their super, making it easier to track their SG contribution payments
• less risk of missed or delayed contributions and more confidence that super has been paid on time
• more time for super to grow because super will be paid more frequently and reach super funds sooner, which will help it grow over the long term
• reduced unclaimed funds – more frequent payments will help reduce the amount of unclaimed super, boosting retirement savings.

Integrating super payments with payroll creates a more efficient, automated process, reduces the risk of large quarterly liabilities, and helps you avoid penalties like the super guarantee charge (SGC).  

Yes it applies to all employees eligible for superannuation guarantee contributions, including full-time, part-time, and casual employees. It also applies to some independent contractors, even if they have an ABN and invoice you for their work, they may be classified as employees for SG purposes.

Find out more on the ATO website.

Under Payday Super, super guarantee is calculated as 12% of qualifying earnings (QE), which includes OTE and other payments. This is instead of using ordinary time earnings (OTE).

 

You’ll need to use Qualifying earnings (QE) as the base to calculate the SG amount payable. QE will also be used to calculate the super guarantee charge (SGC).

For many employers, the new concept of QE doesn’t change the amount of SG you are currently paying for your employees.

For more information see the qualifying earnings fact sheet on the ATO’s Payday Super resources page. 

 

Yes. As part of the Payday Super reform, the ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) closed on 1 July 2026. Small businesses needed to transition to alternative solutions before it closed.  See the ATO's Payday Super resources page for more information.

You can take advantage of our free¹ clearing house platform, QuickSuper², provided by Westpac. QuickSuper² offers a secure, compliant, and easy-to-use solution for managing super payments.

To get started with our free¹ clearing house, simply complete our online application or calling us on 1800 005 166.  
You can also read our clearing house start up guide.  

Yes, the SGC is assessed by the ATO and calculated based on QE. The SGC will apply when amounts aren’t received by a super fund within 7 business days of payday (unless an extended timeframe applies, such as for new employees). The SGC is also now tax deductible.

To avoid penalties, make sure you pay super each payday and ensure your payments are received by the super fund within 7 business days of payday. If your employees' SG contributions are not paid at the same time as their pay and aren't received by their super fund within 7 days of payday, you'll be liable for the SGC. The government has also noted, the longer the period of non-compliance, the larger the SGC will be.  There may also be general interest and penalties for not paying SGC.

 

Updates to SuperStream mean that if a super fund cannot accept an employee’s contribution, the messages you receive with the returned money will be:

• clearer and more specific
• standardised across all funds
• structured with both a short and detailed description

The goal is to make it easier for employers to understand what went wrong and how to fix it.

The SuperStream data and payment standards have been revised to increase super fund acceptance of real time payments and provide better error messaging to help employers address errors faster.

 

If you receive an error message such as ‘Fund no longer active and cannot accept contributions’ (or a similar message) when submitting a Super Guarantee (SG) contribution through your payroll software or clearing house, you might need to check the fund’s USI and ABN are still correct. To resolve this issue, you’ll need to update the employee's super fund details in your payroll system and resubmit the contribution as soon as possible.

For CareSuper members, ensure the fund USI is recorded as: USI: MTA0100AU.
Depending on your payroll system, once you have the fund's new details you may need to:

1. Create a new super fund using the updated details.
2. Mark the old super fund as inactive.
3. Update the employee's existing super membership to reflect the new details.

This issue may be due to payroll providers and super systems updating their processes and validation checks to support the introduction of Payday Super. In some cases, these validation checks can identify outdated or incorrect super fund details that were previously accepted. This may be because the fund has updated its ABN or USI, or has merged with another fund.

¹ We provide a free clearing house platform to employers through CareSuper’s QuickSuper portal at caresuper.com.au/quicksuper-apply through a direct arrangement with Westpac. Employer use of the portal is subject to the PDS and terms and conditions for QuickSuper. We reserve the right to revoke or amend the provision of the portal.

² The QuickSuper service is issued by ©Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141 AFSL and Australian credit licence 233714 (“Westpac”), at the request of CareSuper Pty Ltd (ABN 14 008 650 628), trustee of CareSuper (ABN 74 559 365 913). Westpac terms and conditions apply to the QuickSuper service which you will be asked to accept. 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.