Australia’s Super Guarantee is the law that requires your employer to pay 12% of your ordinary time earnings into a registered super fund on top of your wages. The 12% rate took effect on 1 July 2025 as the final scheduled increase and applies from the first dollar you earn.1Australian Taxation Office. Super Guarantee Payments currently run on a quarterly cycle, but from 1 July 2026 employers must pay super at the same time as wages under new Payday Super rules.
Who Is Covered
Almost every employee in Australia qualifies. Full-time, part-time, and casual workers are all included regardless of how much they earn. The old rule that required workers to earn at least $450 in a calendar month before any super was owed was scrapped on 1 July 2022, so even small or irregular earnings now attract contributions.2Australian Taxation Office. Work Out if You Have to Pay Super
Two groups face a different test. Employees under 18 only qualify if they work more than 30 hours in a week.3Australian Taxation Office. Work Out if You Have to Pay Super – Section: Employees Under 18 The same 30-hour threshold applies to domestic or private workers such as nannies, housekeepers, and carers employed directly by a household.4Small Business Tax, Super and You. Super Guarantee Employer Obligations – Section: Domestic Workers
Independent contractors can be covered too. If a contract is principally for the worker’s personal labour and skills, the hiring party owes super on the labour component. The pointers are that more than half the contract’s dollar value goes toward labour, the worker performs the job personally rather than delegating, and payment isn’t tied to a specific result.5Australian Taxation Office. Super for Independent Contractors Classifying someone as a contractor when they really work as an employee is a common source of back-payment liability.
How the 12% Is Calculated
The 12% is applied to ordinary time earnings (OTE), which covers wages or salary for standard hours plus items like commissions and shift loadings. Overtime pay is excluded.6Australian Taxation Office. List of Payments That Are Ordinary Time Earnings Bonuses and most paid leave generally count as OTE, though the exact treatment can depend on the employment contract or award.
A worker earning $2,000 in ordinary time in a pay period receives $240 of super. If they also work $500 of overtime, the employer still calculates 12% on the $2,000 base only.
The Maximum Contribution Base
Super isn’t owed on unlimited earnings. For the 2025–26 financial year, the maximum super contribution base is $62,500 per quarter, so the most an employer must contribute per employee is $7,500 per quarter.1Australian Taxation Office. Super Guarantee Earnings above that cap don’t attract compulsory contributions, though an employer can choose to pay more. From 1 July 2026, under Payday Super, the maximum contribution base is expected to shift to an annualised figure of $250,000.7Australian Taxation Office. Maximum Contributions Base
Salary Sacrifice Doesn’t Count Toward the 12%
If an employee salary-sacrifices part of their pay into super, those extra contributions sit on top of the 12%. They don’t reduce the employer’s super guarantee obligation. The employer must still calculate and pay the full 12% as though the salary sacrifice arrangement didn’t exist.8Australian Taxation Office. Salary Sacrificing Super
Payment Deadlines
Until 30 June 2026, super runs on a quarterly cycle. Contributions must reach the employee’s super fund as cleared funds by four dates each financial year:9Australian Taxation Office. Super Guarantee
- Quarter 1 (July–September): 28 October
- Quarter 2 (October–December): 28 January
- Quarter 3 (January–March): 28 April
- Quarter 4 (April–June): 28 July
Initiating a transfer on the due date isn’t enough. The money has to arrive in the fund by that date. Clearing house or bank delays don’t excuse a late payment, so most payroll advisers suggest sending contributions at least a week ahead.
Payday Super From 1 July 2026
The quarterly cycle ends on 1 July 2026. Under Payday Super, employers must pay super at the same time as wages, and funds must reach the employee’s super account within 7 business days of payday.10Australian Taxation Office. About Payday Super For a business running fortnightly payroll, that means around 26 super payments per employee each year rather than four.
Two narrow exceptions apply: the first contribution for a new employee, and the first contribution to a new fund for an existing employee, can be made within 20 business days instead of 7. Beyond those, the 7-business-day window is firm. The ATO has flagged new data-matching processes aimed specifically at detecting missed or late payday super payments.11Australian Taxation Office. Payday Super
Choice of Fund and Stapled Super
When a new employee starts, the employer must offer them a choice of super fund using the standard choice form, with the employer’s default fund details filled in. The employer can’t recommend or push a particular fund.12Australian Taxation Office. Superannuation Standard Choice Form
If the employee doesn’t nominate a fund, the employer can’t fall straight back on the default. Since November 2021, the employer must first ask the ATO for the employee’s stapled super fund details. A stapled fund is an existing account that follows the worker between jobs, which prevents duplicate accounts and duplicate fees. Contributions go to the stapled fund if one exists; only when the ATO confirms there isn’t one can the employer use its default. If the employee later nominates a different fund, the employer has two months to begin directing contributions there.13Australian Taxation Office. Stapled Super Funds for Employers
Tax on Super Contributions
Super guarantee contributions are concessional contributions and are taxed at 15% when they arrive in the fund. For 2026–27, the total concessional contributions cap is $32,500.14Australian Taxation Office. Contributions Caps Employer SG, salary sacrifice, and personal contributions claimed as a deduction all count toward that one cap. Anything over it is added to your taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate.
High-income earners face Division 293 tax. If your combined income and concessional contributions exceed $250,000 in a financial year, an extra 15% applies to the lesser of the excess over the threshold or your taxable concessional contributions, effectively doubling the contributions tax to 30% on the affected portion.15Australian Taxation Office. Division 293 Tax on Concessional Contributions by High-Income Earners
What Happens If an Employer Doesn’t Pay
Missing the deadline doesn’t trigger a late fee. It triggers a different and more expensive obligation called the Super Guarantee Charge (SGC), which has three components:16Australian Taxation Office. The Quarterly Super Guarantee Charge
- The shortfall, calculated on the employee’s full salary or wages rather than OTE. Overtime, normally excluded from the SG, is included in the SGC base.
- Nominal interest at 10% per annum on the shortfall, running from the start of the quarter the payment was due until the SGC statement is lodged.
- An administration fee of $20 per employee, per quarter.
Unlike ordinary super contributions, the SGC isn’t tax deductible. If the employer doesn’t lodge the SGC statement before the ATO starts an audit, an additional penalty of up to 200% of the SGC can be imposed on top.17Australian Taxation Office. Missed and Late Quarterly Super Guarantee Payments
Director Personal Liability
Company directors don’t get to hide behind the company. When a company owes SGC, the ATO can issue a Director Penalty Notice (DPN) that makes the director personally liable for the unpaid amount. The notice gives the director 21 days to pay the debt in full or place the company into administration or liquidation.18Australian Taxation Office. Director Penalties
If the SGC was never reported in the first place, the director faces immediate personal liability with no escape route through administration or liquidation. The only way out is paying the full debt.18Australian Taxation Office. Director Penalties
What to Do If Your Super Hasn’t Been Paid
Start by comparing your latest super fund member statement against your payslips. Look at both the amounts and the dates. Many shortfalls are administrative errors that get sorted out with a direct conversation with the employer.
If that doesn’t resolve it, you can lodge a formal report through the ATO’s online tool built for this purpose.19Australian Taxation Office. Report Unpaid Super Contributions From My Employer The ATO can then investigate and pursue the employer for the SGC, with any recovered super and interest directed into your fund. The process takes time and not every referral leads to a recovery, but the ATO has flagged unpaid super as a compliance priority and actively audits employers identified through reports and data matching.20Australian Taxation Office. Unpaid Super From Your Employer