Payday Super is coming: what employers need to do before 1 July 2026
From 1 July 2026, Australia moves to Payday Super. In plain terms: employers will need to pay super in line with each pay cycle, so that contributions reach an employee’s nominated fund within 7 business days of payday.
For businesses that have historically paid super quarterly (or relied on longer processing windows through clearing houses), this is a material operational change. Done well, it reduces underpayment risk, improves employee trust, and tightens payroll governance. Done poorly, it can create immediate non-compliance exposure even when the intent is to do the right thing.
This article breaks down what’s changing, what to watch, and the preparation steps that will save you pain later.
What is Payday Super?
Payday Super changes when super is due. Under the new framework, super is no longer a “quarterly compliance event”; it becomes a pay-run control.
The policy intent is straightforward: reduce unpaid super by aligning super payments to payroll, enabling earlier detection of missed contributions through improved data matching.
What’s changing (and what isn’t)
1) Super must be paid at the same time as wages (practically speaking)
Fair Work summarises the shift clearly: from 1 July 2026, employers must pay super “at the same time” as salary/wages so contributions reach the employee’s nominated fund within 7 business days.
Treasury also flags the key liability trigger: employers become liable for the Super Guarantee Charge (SGC) if the fund doesn’t receive contributions within that 7-business-day window.
2) There are exceptions you need to design for
One important operational exception: the first super contribution for a new employee will need to be made within 20 business days of the first wage payment.
(Your payroll/onboarding process needs to handle this cleanly, because “we’ll catch it next quarter” won’t exist anymore.)
3) The law has already been passed
The Parliamentary record shows the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Bill 2025 passed both Houses on 4 November 2025 and received assent on 6 November 2025.
So this is not speculative. The work now is implementation-readiness.
Why this matters for SMEs (beyond compliance)
Payday Super shifts risk from “end-of-quarter catch-up” to “each payroll run must be right”. Treasury’s rationale highlights benefits for employees and regulators (earlier visibility, earlier intervention, contributions invested sooner), but for employers it also means fewer hidden payroll liabilities building up in the background.
If your payroll function is lean (as most SMEs are), the real risk isn’t intention — it’s process failure: fund details wrong, clearing house delays, mismatched onboarding data, inconsistent pay items, or approvals bottlenecks.
The practical readiness checklist (what to do now)
1) Confirm your pay cycle mechanics and processing lead times
Map the full chain from payroll finalisation → payment file release → clearing house submission → fund receipt.
Under Payday Super, “we submitted it” is not the benchmark — fund receipt within 7 business days is.
2) Review pay items and ordinary time earnings (OTE) configuration
Over time, many payroll systems accumulate messy pay-item setups (allowances, loadings, bonuses, overtime, leave types, etc.). If your system misclassifies OTE, you can underpay super repeatedly and quickly.
Treat this as a data and rules audit: confirm which pay items attract SG and ensure they are configured correctly.
3) Tighten onboarding: super fund details and “first pay” controls
The new employee exception (20 business days) sounds generous — but only if onboarding data is right and the “first super payment” workflow is reliable.
In parallel, Treasury has also noted further measures tied to onboarding processes and consumer protections (including restrictions on advertising super products during onboarding).
4) Adjust cashflow planning
Quarterly super creates a lumpy liability. Payday Super spreads that liability across pay runs. That’s often healthier long-term, but it can pinch if your business has historically used the “float” between wages and quarter-end.
Build it into cashflow forecasts now, not in late June.
5) Put a simple governance control around every pay run
At minimum, build a repeatable sign-off that confirms:
SG calculation is correct for the run
contribution file is generated and submitted on time
exceptions are identified (new starters, out-of-cycle pays, rejected contributions) and actioned
This is the difference between a compliant pay run and a recurring liability.
What about “transitional leniency” from the ATO?
The Government has confirmed a first-year transitional approach via Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2026/1, with the intention that employers acting in good faith and doing what they can during system upgrades won’t be the focus of ATO action in 2026–27.
Two cautions, though:
Transitional compliance focus is not the same as “no consequences”.
The best protection is still operational readiness: accurate calculation + timely fund receipt.
The 3 most common traps I expect to see
Assuming clearing house processing time “counts”
If the fund doesn’t receive it in time, you can still be exposed. (Build buffer time into your process.)Incorrect pay item treatment (OTE errors)
Small configuration issues become large problems when repeated every pay cycle.New starter administration
The new starter window (20 business days) can lull businesses into thinking onboarding risk is lower — when it actually becomes more visible and time-sensitive.
Need help getting “1 July ready”?
If you want to treat Payday Super as a controlled implementation (rather than a scramble), the most efficient approach is:
a payroll + pay item review (OTE and SG applicability)
a process map of current payment steps and lead times
an onboarding workflow refresh (new starter controls)
a short compliance-ready checklist your payroll team can run every pay cycle
