Payday Super
The announced Payday Super (PDS) measure is not yet law and is subject to consideration by the incoming government.
An update from the Payday Super Working Group meeting on 6 June 2025.was provided including:
- Staged communication approach for the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) closure. The ATO provided the group with simplified data in relation to usage of the SBSCH.
- Feedback from the group suggested
- awareness was low with many employers unaware of this change
- public communication about the change will prompt consumers to question digital service providers about product readiness
- that the SBSCH will close prior to the quarter 4 2025–26 lodgment deadline and awareness of this is important.
- We intend to create a small working group to manage the transition of the SBSCH closure allowing industry members to provide insights and expertise on how to frame the communications.
Treasury advised briefings are underway in relation to the submissions received on the exposure draft and for any further questions email Treasury paydaysuper@treasury.gov.au
An update from the Single Touch Payroll (STP} working group included:
- Draft validation rule updates were shared with the working group before the caretaker period to allow time for finalisation.
- Updates to the business implementation guide and other key documents were prepared during the caretaker period and released to the group after caretaker ended.
- Feedback is being reviewed and we are considering the best way to publish this documentation to the broader digital service provider audience.
- Some items in the technical documentation, such as qualifying earnings and the maximum contributions base, are still subject to draft legislation.
A brief update was provided on the ordinary time earnings (OTE) guidance group that is not part of Payday Super but came about because of discussions from the STP Technical Group.
Improved guidance on ordinary time earnings is expected to be published because of the work of the OTE guidance group.
Members said publishing technical documentation so close to the end of the financial year could be problematic. The ATO confirmed they will be taking that into account when considering any publishing.
Payday Super changes
The following data was shared regarding current SBSCH usage:
- on average each financial year, there are approximately $1.2 million employer payments for $5 million employees, totalling over $5 billion
- 62% of regular users access the service and pay their super quarterly
- 45% of active SBSCH users have 2 or less employees
- approximately half of SBSCH lodgments is made by a tax or BAS agent.
SuperStream changes
Progress continues on improvements to the SuperStream standard for Contributions (v3.0) and Fund Validation Services (FVS).
Business guidance and technical documents were made available on the ATO Software DevelopersExternal Link website on 28 March 2025.
There may be further changes to the documents, or new documents added, and impacted stakeholders should regularly review the website for the current version.
The ATO is now focussed on the next round of documents that will support testing, cut over and implementation phases for Contributions and FVS changes.
Key changes to SuperStream have focussed on updates to the FVS to give greater visibility and traceability on fund mergers, track closed unique superannuation identifiers, and improve support information to resolve errors with contributions data and payments:
- improved SuperStream error processes that better clarify messages for employers, explaining why a fund rejected a contribution
- a new SuperStream message for employers to confirm an employee’s super fund will accept contributions that will significantly reduce the cause of common errors today.
The following document titles outlining the changes to the data and payment standards have been published:
- Change summary to schedules.
- Contributions message implementation guide – Schedule 4a version 3.
- Error code management – Schedule 6 version 2.
- Change summary fund validation services (FVS).
- FVS user guide version 2.
- Change summary response messaging framework guide version 1.2.
- Response messaging framework user guide version 1.2.
Members can email paydaysuper@ato.gov.au to provide feedback.
Better targeted super concessions Div 296
The ATO has recommenced work on the better targeted super concessions (BTSC) project as it's an announced priority of the federal government. We are continuing with the assumption that there is no change to the scope of the measure, nor to the start date which is 1 July 2025. If anything does change, we will adjust accordingly.
The measure, as drafted will change the way an individual’s total super balance is calculated and alter the amount that is included in an individual’s total super balance for some super interests.
We are cognisant that some industry stakeholders have readiness concerns and challenges in relation to valuing certain defined benefit interests under the proposed new method and reporting those values to us for 30 June 2025. This issue has been referred to Treasury.
We acknowledge that 30 June 2025 member balance reporting may be based on the old valuation method as law may not have passed by the annual balance reporting date, and funds may not have reporting systems built. We are working with Treasury on issues this may could cause and how they can be resolved.
We have confirmed that:
- The ATO needs additional information to be reported by funds to complete the Div 296 tax calculation.
- Funds that are not a self-managed super fund (SMSF) will report the additional Div 296 tax information to the ATO via bulk data exchange using Online services for business. Funds will have 10 business days to respond to a Div 296 request for information.
- SMSFs will report the additional Div 296 tax information to the ATO via 2 new labels on the SMSF annual return, this will be a change to the 2026 financial year.
- The successor fund transfer (SFT) protocol needs to be updated to accommodate the reporting of Div 296 tax information by funds involved in an SFT or intra fund transfer. We are in the position of having retrospective law and need to consider what this means if an SFT occurs between 1 July 2025 and when Royal Assent is received.
- Funds will need to have processes in place to identify and correct Div 296 tax reporting issues.
- The existing ‘Div 293’ and ‘Div Def’ 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.
We are focusing on:
- Finalisation of guidance material, for example web content
- Designing
- ATO online screens
- election and release authority process
- deferred Div 296 tax process
- Div 296 notice of assessments and notice of amended assessments.
The BTSC working group has been contacted and will continue to be a part of the co-design of this measure and will recommence in mid July 2025.
Superannuation on government funded paid parental leave
The primary legislative changes to enact this measure are contained in the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Adding Superannuation for a More Secure Retirement) Act 2024, which received Royal Assent on 1 October 2024. The measure commenced 1 July 2025.
Consequential amendments relevant to the measure were registered 12 June 2025, Treasury Laws Amendment (Paid Parental Leave Superannuation Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025External Link.
Further parameters for the ATO’s administration of the payments will be contained in paid parental leave (PPL) rules to be made by the Social Services Minister via legislative instrument. These rules are now final, with the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Adding Superannuation for a More Secure Retirement) Rules 2025External Link registered on the Federal Register of Legislation 30 June 2025.
The payment is known as the Paid Parental Leave Superannuation Contribution (PPLSC).
The first PPLSC payments for the measure, relating to the 2025–26 financial year, are expected to be made from July 2026.
The ATO will send and recover PPLSC amounts using existing functionality as follows:
- via a super guarantee (SG) contributions message
- using a full financial year in the period dates, the year in which PPL was received
- reporting the ATO’s Australian business number (ABN) as the employer identifier
For Member account transaction service (MATS) reporting to the ATO, existing requirements are to be followed. Super funds need to report back PPLSC as originally sent by the ATO, that is as SG with the full financial year period dates and ATO ABN.
Superannuation guarantee compliance approach
Data mismatches – the ATO has plans and strategies in place that will involve future campaign work. We are ramping up our compliance activities and will contact relevant funds that require more attention in this regard. We are aiming to finalise our proactive strategies before the implementation of Payday Super.
Transparency and how we use data – the ATO is aiming to be more transparent in this regard. We want to make best use of the data we currently have, and the data supplied to us from funds. With Payday Super on the horizon, our data usage will increase.
Client account services
The super enquiry service received 1,198 queries during the period 1 February 2025 to 31 May 2025. The main topics were:
- Div 293
- reconciliations and suspended payments
- unclaimed superannuation.
Fund administrators are encouraged to ensure that they send data messages and payments as per the data and message standards. ATO initiated requests continue to increase, with 176 requests created during this period, relating mostly to failed validations, suspended payments and unclaimed super money (USM).
We have recently issued news articles and updated the following web content to address some queries received:
- Avoid errors and delays with release authorities
- Tips for avoiding common errors in member account attribute service (MAAS) and MATS reporting
- New SES features – Team accounts and ATO-initiated requests.
Refer to the Super fund newsroom to search current and archived alerts.
Small Business Superannuation Clearing House
In the lead up to closure of the ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) we will be working in our frontline area to review any discrepancies on super fund SBSCH payment variation advice remittance roles, as these must be resolved prior to closure.
Fund administrators may be approached for information about specific transactions/payments. In all cases we will provide advance notice of a request for information as soon as possible. No action is required unless we specifically contact you due to a discrepancy that needs to be resolved.
Early release of super benefit approval letters
Fund administrators are reminded to ensure that early release of super benefit (ERSB) approval letters are downloaded regularly to avoid them being archived. ERSB approval letters can be downloaded through Online services for business.
USM 1:1 reporting lodgments
Fund administrators are reminded to send us an SES JIRA request if lodging more than 30,000 USM 1:1 messages (excluding Section 20c responses), to advise the expected lodgment dates and volumes. This will allow us to monitor large files from a system perspective.
Post meeting update – the figure above has been updated from 30,000 to 5,000 after the meeting.
Client relationship service offering and APRA fund survey
Client relationship management
The fund advice and support team within data and services has changed its service offer relating to the client relationship manager functionality for Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) funds.
The name ‘client relationship manager’ implies a centralised entry point to the ATO for all fund queries and does not accurately reflect the scope of our service offer.
The fund advice and support team within data and services assist funds with issues related to member reporting via MAAS and MATS.
Funds engage with the ATO via the super enquiry service to seek assistance for most of their superannuation reporting matters.
The frontline client relationship team assesses incoming requests for assistance from funds and directs them to the appropriate resolver for action, ensuring efficient resolution based on the topic and issue raised.
By clearly defining the scope of our service offering, we can deliver a more modern and adaptable solution for funds, ensuring that support is provided efficiently and precisely where it is needed for issues within our remit. This ensures that funds are promptly directed to the appropriate channel, allowing their issue to be escalated to the relevant ATO resolver based on the specific topic.
For matters unrelated to superannuation member reporting matters, funds will be directed to the appropriate channels, such as the Online services for business, to ensure efficient resolution.
Annual APRA fund client experience survey
The annual APRA fund client experience survey has traditionally launched in May of each year and remains open for a 2-week period.
The ‘working together’ measure will not be reported in the ATO 2024–25 annual report, as a result it has been decided to cease the annual APRA fund client experience survey.
We appreciate and thank you for the valuable feedback provided by previous survey respondents, which has been instrumental in reviewing and enhancing our engagement with you.
Although the survey is no longer active, we encourage you to provide feedback through other forums or working groups.
Other business
Discussion points included:
- SFT and funds continuing to report amendments where required.
- Deactivation of ABNs – ATO reopening of ABNs.
- SFT timelines and SFT protocol contents.