Ask Us Anything: Your payday super questions answered

From July 1, Payday Super will change how Australian businesses manage super payments, with employers required to pay super at the same time as salary and wages rather than quarterly.

To help businesses prepare for the changes, We asked the Australian Taxation Office‘s Deputy Commissioner and Senior Accountable Officer for the Payday Super Program, Emma Rosenzweig (picture above), to answer some of the biggest questions employers are currently facing.

From what businesses need to do now to how the ATO will approach compliance in the first year, we hope Emma’s answers help you prepare for the transition ahead.

It’s important to get it right when Payday Super starts. 1 July and the start of Payday Super isn’t far away. The clock is ticking. Acting now will set your business up for success.

A good place to begin is by using the ATO’s resources at ato.gov.au/paydayresources. We have designed a number of factsheets, videos and practical tools to help businesses understand what’s changing and what they need to do. The Payday Super checklist for employers is a particularly useful starting point, stepping you through the key actions in a clear and practical way.

It’s important to look at how the changes will work in your business. Payday Super is often seen as a payroll change, but in practice it involves payroll, HR, finance and tax working together.

Key steps to focus on include:

• Reviewing your July pay cycle now to help you understand what super payments are due and when.
• Checking your payroll software can support SuperStream changes and report qualifying earnings through Single Touch Payroll.
• Reviewing employee super fund details to ensure they are up to date and reduce the risk of rejected payments.
• Knowing where payment errors will appear and how to act on them quickly. If you’ve paid on time and don’t receive an error message, you should assume you’ve met your obligations.
• Keeping clear and accurate payroll and super records so you can track what’s been paid.

There is still time to get ready, but using the resources available and starting now will put your business in a strong position for a smooth transition.

With a new super system, there’s a lot you need to know, so we’re here to help.

With 1 July looming, we know that some employers may not have left themselves enough time to make the changes needed within their payroll systems and business processes to accommodate Payday Super.

But while they may not be entirely ready on day one, there is still an expectation employers are paying their employees’ super. Employers who demonstrate they are doing everything they can to pay SG contributions in line with payday cadences are likely to be low-risk and won’t be the focus of ATO compliance activity. This also applies to those employers who make honest mistakes and take steps to rectify them quickly.

You can read more about our compliance approach for the first year.

If employers do not pay the right amount of super, on time and to the correct fund, they are liable to a Super Guarantee Charge.

From 1 July, that means paying super every payday so they can ensure contributions are received by the fund within seven business days after payday. If that does not happen, the Super Guarantee Charge, or SGC, may apply.

What Payday Super changes is the pace and visibility of the system. With more frequent payments and updated reporting, it becomes easier to identify when something has not been paid as expected and address it quickly. At the same time, it becomes harder for non-compliance to go unnoticed.

We recognise that most employers are trying to do the right thing. In the first year, our approach will focus on supporting businesses to understand the new requirements and fix genuine errors quickly. Employers who are making a genuine effort to comply will not be the focus of our compliance activity.

The way the SGC is calculated is also changing. It will move from a quarterly calculation to one based on each pay cycle, which puts more emphasis on getting payments right the first time.

The best way to avoid additional costs or penalties is to act now and make sure your systems and processes are ready, so you can pay accurately and on time from day one. You can read more about the SGC and how it applies under Payday Super on the ATO website.

To help employers prepare, we’ve also released a new video explaining what’s changing for super guarantee and the Super Guarantee Charge, and how these changes will affect payment processes.

If you’re currently using the ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House, it’s important to plan and start your transition now ahead of its closure on 1 July 2026.

We’ve previously recommended that employers move away from the clearing house after the third quarter ending on 28 April, and many have already moved to a new provider. Taking that step now will give you more time to test your new processes and avoid last-minute pressure.

A good place to start is with the ATO’s factsheet on how to transition from the SBSCH. It steps through what you need to do in a structured way.

The first practical step is to plan for your final payments. If you intend to use the clearing house for the April to June quarter, contributions will need to be submitted by 30 June 2026, as the service will no longer be available for payments after that point.

You’ll then need to move to an alternative solution. In many cases, your existing payroll software may already support super payments, either built-in or as an add-on. If not, there are commercial clearing house providers and super funds that offer this functionality, so it’s worth exploring what best suits your business.

It’s also very important to download your records before the service closes, as you won’t be able to log in to the SBSCH to submit instructions or view records after 11:59 pm AEST on 30 June 2026.

Finally, take the opportunity to review your payroll processes and cash flow. Payday Super will require more frequent payments, so your systems need to be set up to support paying super on each payday.

Starting early gives you time to test your new arrangements and make the transition smoothly.