The Australian Parliament has passed two bills without amendment, being:
- Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Bill 2025 (Main Bill); and
- Superannuation Guarantee Charge Amendment Bill 2025 (SGC Bill)
This legislative package has introduced ‘Payday Super’ which will be effective from 1 July 2026.
The term ‘Payday’ means the date on which an employees “qualifying earnings” payment is made. This includes salary and wages, salary-sacrifice super amounts, and other amounts of which are currently captured under “ordinary time earnings” (OTE).
From 1 July 2026, employers will be required to pay superannuation guarantee (SG) at the same time as employees’ salary and wages are paid, replacing the existing quarterly SG contribution system.
Employers will be liable for the super guarantee charge (SGC) unless contributions are received by the employees’ superannuation fund within the required timeframe, which generally is 7 business days after payday. Once SGC is assessed, additional interest and penalties may apply if the SGC liability is not paid in full.
The purpose behind the Payday Super Bill is to reduce the “super guarantee gap”, which is the estimated billions of dollars of unpaid or late superannuation each year. Thus, the transition aims to improve transparency for employees, increase compounding returns in retirement savings, and simplify the monitoring of compliance.
To prepare for this, payroll systems, calculations and assurance activities should be reviewed to help identify risks and prepare for the transition.
If you would like more information on how these changes may affect your organisation, please contact us via the link below.