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Payday Super starts on 1 July 2026 The information on this page applies to super guarantee payments from 1 July 2026. Some regulations and law for Payday Super are still being considered by Parliament. For progress updates see Payday superannuation legislation. |
When to pay
You must pay super guarantee (SG) for your eligible employees to avoid the super guarantee charge (SGC).
A contribution is on time if it is received by your employee's super fund (with all the necessary information to allocate the contribution to the employee's member account) within 7 business days after paying your employee. If you use a commercial clearing house, allow enough time for them to process your payment. It is best practice to make your SG contributions on payday. This is also known as the 'QE day' – that is, the day you pay qualifying earnings, or QE, to your employees.
For super purposes, 'employee' includes workers who fall under the extended definition of employee for SG purposes, such as independent contractors, sportspeople and performers.
Definition of 'business day'
A business day is any day other than:
- a Saturday or Sunday
- a day that is a public holiday for the whole of any Australian state or territory.
This means if there is a state or territory-wide public holiday, that day is not a business day for the purposes of Payday Super, even if you are not in that state or territory.
If a public holiday applies to only part of a state or territory (for example, Royal Hobart Show Day), that day is still a business day for Payday Super purposes.
Extended due dates
You may be allowed more time to make an on-time contribution in the following situations:
- First contribution for a new employee or super fund
- Out-of-cycle payments
- Exceptional circumstances affecting multiple employers
- Extension of one due date overlaps the next due date
First contribution for a new employee or super fund
The payment deadline is extended for the first eligible SG contribution you are making:
- for a new employee
- to a new complying super fund for an existing employee after you have stopped making contributions to another super fund.
In these situations, the contribution must be received by the super fund within 20 business days after the relevant QE day. A QE day is the day you pay your SG employees (payday).
Example: new SG employee
Hannah runs a business and has just engaged a new SG employee, Mary, who has been engaged as a contractor for her labour. When she makes her first payment of qualifying earnings to Mary on 9 July 2026 (QE day 1), Hannah's first contribution to Mary's super fund has an extended due date of 7 August 2026, which is 20 business days after QE day 1. The extended due date includes an additional day because the Picnic Day holiday in the Northern Territory is not counted as a business day.
Hannah's next payment of qualifying earnings to Mary is on 30 July 2026 (QE day 2). For Hannah to make the SG contribution on time for QE day 2, the contribution must be received by Mary's super fund within 7 business days of 30 July 2026, which is 11 August 2026. The normal due date includes an additional day because the Picnic Day holiday in the Northern Territory is not counted as a business day.
End of exampleOut-of-cycle payments
If you make a payment of qualifying earnings to an employee that is out of cycle with their regular payday, your SG contribution must be received by the super fund within 7 business days after the next payment of qualifying earnings to the employee that is not out of cycle.
The ATO can determine what payments of qualifying earnings are out of cycle and the associated criteria.
Example: out-of-cycle payment
Virgil runs a business. He pays his employee Luca a Christmas bonus of $1,000 on 7 December 2026. Luca is normally paid weekly and Virgil's next payment of Luca's regular wages is made on 10 December 2026. The bonus payment meets all the criteria outlined by the ATO to be an out-of-cycle payment.
The SG contribution for Luca's Christmas bonus is due on the same day as the contribution for the next regular payday – 21 December 2026.
End of exampleExceptional circumstances affecting multiple employers
The ATO can determine that a class of employers are affected by an exceptional circumstance and the period for which the employers are impacted.
If an exceptional circumstance determination covers you and the current payday, your SG contributions must be received by super funds before the later of:
- 20 business days after the current QE day
- 20 business days after the day that the determination is made.
QE day is the day you pay your employees (payday).
Example: exceptional circumstances
Christen runs a business and usually pays her employees fortnightly. The next payday is 4 August 2026 (QE day 1).
Over the weekend Christen's local area is impacted by a flood. A number of businesses, including Christen's, close for safety and clean up reasons.
The ATO issues an exceptional circumstance determination on 7 August 2026 for the period 4 August 2026 to 24 August 2026. The determination applies to all employers in Christen's local area.
Christen has until 4 September 2026 (20 business days after 8 August 2026) for contributions to be received by her employees' super funds for QE day 1.
For QE day 2 on 18 August 2026, Christen has until 15 September 2026 (20 business days after QE day 2) for contributions to be received by her employees' super funds.
End of exampleExtension of one due date overlaps the next due date
Sometimes you may have an extended due date to make contributions for one QE day (first QE day) but the due date for the next QE day is before the extended due date for the first QE day. QE day is the day you pay your employees (payday).
In this situation, the due date for the second QE day is the same as the extended due date for the first QE day.
Example: extended due date overlaps next due date
Aitana runs a business and has just hired a new employee, Ellie. After she makes her first payment of wages to Ellie on 9 July 2026 (QE day 1), Aitana's first contribution to Ellie's super fund has an extended due date of 7 August 2026 (20 business days after QE day 1).
Aitana pays her employees fortnightly. Her second payment of wages to Ellie is made on 23 July 2026 (QE day 2). The second contribution of SG would ordinarily be due on 4 August 2026.
The extended due date includes an additional day because the Picnic Day holiday in the Northern Territory is not counted as a business day.
Because the contribution for QE day 2 is due earlier than the extended due date for QE day 1, the contribution for QE day 2 is also due on the extended due date of 7 August 2026.
The due date for the contribution for QE day 3 will follow a normal 7 business day timeframe, unless other extensions apply.
End of exampleLate contributions
A contribution for a payday is considered late if it is received by the fund more than 7 business days after paying your employee but before an assessment for the SGC is made.
Late contributions can reduce the SGC. However, you may still be liable for the notional earnings, administrative uplift and choice loading components even if you pay the individual SG base shortfall in full.
For more information see The new super guarantee charge.
Paying faster with the New Payments Platform
From 1 July 2026 you, or your service provider, can use the New Payments Platform (NPP) to make contributions. The NPP is a real-time payments platform used across Australia. It increases the speed and efficiency of payments to super funds.
Using the NPP, contributions made through payroll systems or clearing houses could be received by the super fund on the same day you make the payment. Payments made through some service providers may still take longer to reach the super fund.
The availability of the NPP will be accompanied by other improvements to SuperStream, such as improved member verifications, better error messaging and faster visibility of fund status changes. These initiatives are intended to help employers and clearing houses to meet the Payday Super deadlines.
Managing cashflow
Moving to paying super at the same time as salary and wages may impact your cash flow.
If you start making changes now, your business will be Payday Super ready for the 1 July 2026 start date.
Check out our cash flow tips and guidance:
If you use a registered tax or BAS agent, they can also help.