Payday super
When the government announces the date of the federal election, all government agencies are required to operate in caretaker mode. This means the ATO must immediately cease consultation on Payday super and any other announced but unenacted measures.
During caretaker, the ATO may continue to consult on limited matters where discussions relate to items under the ATO's existing administration, but no consultation on Payday super will occur.
If you have any questions, please contact the Payday team via paydaysuper@ato.gov.au
Further information is available:
- Payday superannuation. This page will be updated when the Exposure Draft is issues.
- Key messages from the Payday Super Working Group are available here.
- Guidance on Caretaker ConventionsOpens in a new window issued by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Payday super: SuperStream workshop
A group meeting on the 5th and 6th February was held with the main discussion points including:
- Reviewing updates to the contribution message implementation guide and error schedule to address priority irritants and problems within the ecosystem.
- Currently there are less than 0.5% of rejected contributions. This could extend to 5 to 8% with Payday super timeframes, and funds only having 3 days to return payments that cannot be allocated, down from 20.
- Of the errors today, 99% are the result of
- members no longer in the fund
- fund cannot match the member with data supplied or
- fund cannot accept contributions from that employer.
- A new Member Verification request message is being explored that will allow employers and funds to front-load errors and take corrective action before a payment is made.
- Error messaging is being enhanced and we have reviewed the existing 37 error codes to determine if they are still relevant and helpful for employers/providers. We have found most of the errors are still relevant, with some needing an update in language and definitions, and 5 that are no longer needed to be removed.
- We are looking at how we can ensure the right information is passed through the supply chain to the employer and removing ambiguity and free text.
- Our team is working on timelines and is aiming to share as much as possible before caretaker period commences. Feedback can be received during caretaker period.
- Sequencing for contributions is a large piece of work that we are trying to do prior to 1 July 2026.
Fund validation service (FDS) key points include:
- Significant gain for industry as it provides us with the opportunity to enhance the FVS to deal with existing irritants and remove fields that are no longer required.
- New data will be captured to support transparency of successor fund transfer (SFT) and intra-fund transfer and closing of unique superannuation identifier (USI)s. This will be done by adding a closure reason code and the new funds Australian business number/USI for transferring products.
- This will allow prompting and tracking for employers for high impact changes. SFTs account for half of all errors in the last year.
- New payments platform (NPP) readiness was mentioned. NPP will be included as an approved payment measure. The group will be advised when more details are clarified.
- Fund validation service Get service was mentioned. Earmarked from 1 July 2026.
- Removal of nil certification to be replaced by new certification value 'RESP' as an appropriate and workable solution with guidance to follow.
Members are advised to email paydaysuper@ato.gov.au to share any specific feedback they have.
System in operation – Current environmental scan
It was acknowledged that this is a time of uncertainty for super funds. Any election announcement and subsequent caretaker period will have impacts.
Members of the group have made 15 high level suggestions for improving aspects of the super operating system since August 2024. The main issues relate to commutations, departing Australia super payment online processes, member account attribute service and unclaimed super money reporting, Government contributions sent to super funds and tax file number issues.
It was acknowledged there are limitations from an IT and policy perspective so it was agreed to review this list and identify if there are areas that can be progressed with group input.
To assist with this review and refresh the list for 2025, members were asked to identify issues they would like to be bought to the ATO’s attention.
Members are to forward any new suggestions to Darrell Cunnington, via email at Super&EmploymentConsultation@ato.gov.au by 17 March 2025.
Sue Pearce from Aware Super will work with the group chair and determine what items we can address.
Better Targeted Super Concessions
The bills were introduced and read in the senate on 10 October 2024, it may be debated when the senate sits in early February 2025.
Post meeting update - The bills were not debated.
In 2024 we worked closely with the Better Targeted Super Concessions Working Group to design the administrative solution for this measure.
Since our last update the design decisions that have been made include:
- The existing ‘Div 293’ and ‘DivDef’ product type codes in SuperStream will be used for Div 296 release authorities and release authority statements. This removes the need for a SuperStream change.
- Instead, we will develop a solution that will use a reference number when sending the release authority to the fund which will identify the release authority as a Div 296 release authority (for example, 2514 000 25262 Div 296). When funds respond they will repeat the reference number back to the ATO.
- Finalisation of the additional Div 296 information that will be reported by funds including self-managed super funds and the reporting process.
- Finalising the process for amendments to Div 296 additional information.
- Finalisation of fund reporting of contribution split and family law split amounts.
We are currently working through what consultation with the Better Targeted Super Concessions Working Group will look like for 2025, which will be subject to passage of the law.
Mid-year and economic fiscal outlook 23–24 announcement
Capped defined benefit income stream. Transfer Balance Cap technical changes for a SFT
To date we have successfully remediated most member accounts impacted by this change. We are working closely with the remaining funds to correct accounts which are challenging due to the retrospective nature of the change, particularly where there are reversionary income streams.
The next step for the project will involve completing the final corrections of some data fix work, and verification that the system has correctly calculated the amounts and issued amendments if required. Once these milestones are achieved, we will look to close the project in April 2025. From that point on, any further work to be corrected will be actioned by the ATO business owners.
Superannuation portability arrangements with the Cook Islands.
The intent of this measure is to expand Australia’s current bilateral trans-Tasman superannuation portability agreement, allowing portability of retirement savings between an Australian complying superannuation fund and the Cook Islands National Superannuation Fund.
The Memorandum of Understanding between the Cook Islands and Australia was signed on 13 November 2024. No further updates surrounding the required legislation to support the measure have been received. Legislative change in both the Cook Islands and in Australia is required for this measure to take effect. As a result, no further design or project deliverables are being progressed until there is more clarity with the legislation.
Access to offenders super for victims and survivors or child sexual abuse.
The measure was announced as part of 13 December 2023, Mid-year and economic fiscal outlook announcements. There is currently no project activities underway whilst we await progression of the relevant legislation.
Super on government funded paid parental leave
Work is progressing on the measure with Services Australia. The data exchange payload between agencies has been endorsed, and the system build is commencing for the data feed. Relevant governance surrounding the data exchange including data stewardship, privacy assessments and data ethics is underway.
Services Australia will commence pre-claim activities at the end of March 2025. As such interagency communication products are being developed. The ATO key message is for individuals to ensure their details are up to date with their fund, ATO records and Services Australia.
There is still some outstanding legislative clarification in relation to the paid parental leave rules, which are currently under development. We will continue to move forward and the upcoming caretaker period, won’t hamper any progress. The ATO are still working through the information and communication technology build work, and we will provide more detail to the group when appropriate.
Members will be kept up to date of all matters pertaining to this measure as the project progresses.
APRA funds website content refresh
The content for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) regulated funds is being aligned with the ATO content experience strategy to provide a consistent and clear experience for users of ato.gov.au
The experience focuses on 3 key pillars:
- Findability
- Usability
- Comprehension
The first 2 pillars of this process have commenced which involves the reorganisation of information architecture into primary content and ensuring accessibility for users with varying needs. Regular users may have noticed a different look and feel in how information is displayed, aimed at improving the user experience.
The changes are intended to ensure that content can be found quickly and easily using a wide range of internet search engines, and meet the needs of diverse users, including those with vision impairments.
We are moving into the third phase which involves reviewing our web content to ensure it meets the comprehension pillar of being easily understood and actionable. There are over 180 pieces of content to manage and updates will be made progressively, with an initial focus on popular or critical content. Due to the volume, we will not be sharing tracked changes for each update.
However, for popular content, we will share a news article with a link to the new content and a high-level overview of the changes, like what was recently done for the successor and intra-fund transfer reporting protocol.
Members are encouraged to provide feedback for specific webpages or content improvements, as well as identifying issues that need rectification such as page not found or broken links via the super enquiry service.
Client account services update – Super enquiry service insights
The super enquiry service (SES) received 914 enquiries since our meeting in October 2024. The main topics were:
- Div 293 queries
- suspended payments
- reconciliations
- unclaimed super money.
ATO initiated 103 requests which have been sent to funds since the introduction of this feature into the SES. The majority have been in relation to SuperStream inbound failed validations and suspended payments.
Members should note they will start to see an increase in ATO initiated requests as other areas start to use the service. This feature will not replace other communication platforms such as Online services for business. It is being used primarily to replace emails initiating from within the different ATO superannuation areas to funds.
It is important to ensure team mailboxes are monitored closely to respond to our requests by the due date. We have noticed some funds are yet to create their team mailboxes. If you need assistance, please contact the Client Relationship Team (CRT).
A question was raised about the security of the SES and whether it is appropriate to use this channel for sensitive information such as TFNs. It was advised that the SES is a secure channel for sending member information, but it should be limited to only data relevant for the query and it is preferrable to remove identifiers such as date of birth and TFNs.
SIGBOX is a secure data transfer tool purpose built for government use and is suitable for transferring data such as TFNs and other sensitive information. SIGBOX is our preferred method for transferring data and should always be used if funds are transferring multiple member records.
The main issues the CRT are dealing with include:
- Suspended payments and failed validations - please ensure that you are sending data messages and payments as per the data and message standards.
- Successor fund transfers - please notify us as early as possible, especially if there are accounts to be reconciled. For all parties concerned, it is easier to reconcile accounts when the unique superannuation identifier (USI) is still active. Once the USI is closed, it becomes a manual, time-consuming process.
- An increase in duplicated or incorrect payments - please be careful when making payments as this does create significant reverse workflow.
Funds receiving ATO refunds - this can relate to other accounts such as income tax. Check Online services for business to ensure that these refunds are not ‘other’ accounts before lodging a request via the SES.
Other business
Justin Micale discussed the caretaker period protocols when the government calls an election and its likely impact on the timing of the next meeting. He explained that while consultation groups can continue to meet for matters concerning business as usual topics, they cannot discuss any policy related issues.
He advised as many of the current group topics are policy related, further meetings are likely to be postponed until after the election. Members will be notified of the next meeting date.