Identify eligible employees
Your employee is eligible to choose their super fund if they are:
- employed under a federal award
- employed under a notional agreement preserving state award (NAPSA)
- employed under an award or industrial agreement that does not need super contributions
- employed under an enterprise agreement or workplace determination made on or after 1 January 2021
- not employed under any state award or industrial agreement – this includes contractors that are eligible employees for super purposes.
Existing eligible employees can change their choice of fund as often as they like. However, you only have to accept a new choice from them once in any 12-month period.
Your employee is not eligible to choose their super fund if:
- their super fund undergoes a merger or acquisition
- they're on a temporary working visa.
However, your employee has the right to ask you for a Superannuation standard choice form.
If you're not sure what award or industrial agreement covers your employee:
- visit the Fair Work websiteExternal Link
- phone the workplace relations department in your state or territory
- check with your employer association.
Provide a Superannuation standard choice form
You must provide eligible employees a Superannuation standard choice form within 28 days of their start date.
You must also provide one if:
- your employee asks for one
- you can't contribute to their chosen fund or it's no longer a complying fund
- you change the employer-nominated fund into which you pay the employee's contributions.
You must provide your employee with details of your nominated default super fund. On the Superannuation standard choice form, this information goes in Section C.
You don't have to use our form, but any alternative document must cover the same information. Your software provider should follow our data specificationsExternal Link for the Superannuation standard choice form, which outlines which fields in the form are mandatory to be replicated in software.
Employees can complete pre-filled standard choice forms through ATO online services linked to myGovExternal Link. They will need to print out the summary of their choice and give it you.
Giving your employees information and advice
You can give your employees information about choosing a fund, such as:
- why they need to choose a super fund
- the process of choosing a super fund
- your obligations to pay super guarantee and provide a default fund
- how they nominate their chosen fund.
You cannot provide recommendations or advice about super to your employees, unless you are licensed by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) to provide financial advice.
Examples of recommendations or advice include:
- which super fund employees should choose
- their level of super contributions
- consolidating their super.
For more information on how you can communicate to your employees about superannuation choices without breaking the law, visit ASIC’s Communicating with employees about choice of superannuation fund: What you can and cannot doExternal Link.
If your employee would like further information about how they can find their super fund details and complete the Superannuation standard choice form, encourage them to visit Getting your super started.
Record keeping
You must keep a copy of the completed form or ATO online printed summary for 5 years.
Your records must show:
- how much super guarantee you paid for each employee and how it was calculated
- that you offered each eligible employee a choice of super fund
- details of employees who are not eligible for choice.
You do not need to send a copy of these records to us or to your employee's chosen super fund.
Act on your employee's choice
If your employee provides their choice of super fund, you must pay their contributions to that fund.
You may need to pay the super guarantee charge, including a choice loading, if you don't:
- offer your eligible employees a choice of fund
- pay their super to their chosen fund.
From 1 July 2026, your super guarantee contributions need to reach your employee's super fund within 7 business days after payday. This timeline is extended to 20 business days for the first eligible contribution you make:
- for a new employee
- to a new complying super fund for an existing employee (after you have stopped making contributions to another super fund for them).
If you have obligations to contribute before this time and cannot pay to the chosen fund, see Employee has not provided fund details.
Employee has not provided fund details
If your employee does not choose a fund, or has not provided information about their choice of fund by the time their first super guarantee contribution is due, you need to pay to:
- their 'stapled super fund' (unless they joined you before 1 November 2021)
- your employer default fund (if we advise you that your employee does not have a stapled super fund).
A stapled super fund is an existing super account which is linked, or 'stapled', to an individual employee so that it follows them as they change jobs.
You can request your employee's stapled super fund details from us via ATO online services. For new employees, you can make a request once they accept the offer of employment and until they choose their own fund.
You will also need to request stapled super fund details for employees who aren't eligible to choose their own fund, including:
- temporary residents
- those covered by an enterprise agreement or workplace determination made before 1 January 2021.
If the employee started with you before 1 November 2021, you're not required to pay their super into a stapled super fund. You can pay to your employer default fund (or another fund that meets the choice of fund rules).
Help and support
- Ask ATO CommunityExternal Link – our online community-driven forum
- Contact us.