Payday Super is a change to how employers will calculate and pay their employees’ super guarantee. From 1 July 2026 an employer must pay their employees super guarantee on payday, at the same time as their salary and wages.
Super guarantee will need to be:
- calculated as 12% of an employee's qualifying earnings (QE), which is a new term that brings together ordinary time earnings (OTE) and other payments
- paid to an employees’ super fund on payday and received by the super fund within 7 business days (unless an extended timeframe applies, such as for new employees).
You can watch Supporting digital service providers to get ready for Payday Super for more information.
Key changes to systems include:
- DSPs will need to make sure systems and processes can handle the volume and speed of Payday Super transactions. This includes the functionality to resolve errors quickly ensuring employers can meet their obligation by getting contributions to super funds within 7 business days of payday.
- The SuperStream data and payment standards will be revised to:
- allow near real-time payments through the New Payments Platform
- improve error messaging so you can address errors faster
- provide a new member verification request, which enables employers to confirm that a super fund can match their employee contribution to the super fund for the first time and will accept a contribution for them.
- Improvements to the Fund Validation Service will also give employers early notice of key changes to large super fund’s details, such as fund mergers, that could affect their ability to make contributions to super funds.
- Super funds will have 3 business days to allocate or return contributions.
- DSPs offering STP will need to update products to enable employers to report QE under a new code, Q, from 1 July 2026.
Refer to Payday Super on ato.gov.au for additional details, including penalties and Super Guarantee Charge changes where an employer doesn’t meet their obligations.
Contact us
For more information or if you have questions, raise a ticket via the DSP service desk or email DPO@ato.gov.au.
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