Payday Super is the biggest change to how super is paid in years. From 1 July 2026, Australian employers must pay the 12% super guarantee at the same time as wages, on every payday, rather than once a quarter. The rate has not changed, and for most workers neither has the amount. What changes is the timing: your super now reaches your fund far more often. This report explains what Payday Super means for employees and employers in the 2026-27 financial year, in plain English.
Key takeaways
- From 1 July 2026 the 12% super guarantee is paid on every payday, aligned with your wages, not quarterly.
- Super is worked out on qualifying earnings, built on ordinary time earnings, so for most workers the dollar amount does not change.
- The maximum contribution base for 2026-27 is $270,830 a year. Super is taxed at 15% inside the fund.
- Paying super sooner means it is invested sooner, and it makes unpaid super easier to spot.
From quarterly to every payday
Until 30 June 2026, employers had to pay the super guarantee at least once a quarter. That meant super you earned in July might not reach your fund until late October. From 1 July 2026, Payday Super aligns super with your wages: whenever you are paid your ordinary earnings, your employer must send the matching super so it reaches your fund within seven business days. If you are paid fortnightly, your super arrives fortnightly. If you are paid weekly, it arrives weekly. The change is about frequency and timing, not about the 12% rate, which stays the same.
What super is calculated on
From 1 July 2026 the 12% is worked out on your qualifying earnings for each pay period. Qualifying earnings is a new term, but it is built on ordinary time earnings, the same base most employers already used, so for the vast majority of workers the amount of super does not change. Ordinary time earnings is broadly what you earn for your ordinary hours of work, including things like casual loading, shift penalties, most allowances and many bonuses. Overtime generally sits outside it. Because the base is largely unchanged, your per-payday super should simply be 12% of your ordinary earnings for that pay.
The rate, the cap and the tax
The super guarantee rate is 12% and stays at 12% for 2026-27, the final step of the legislated increases. There is a ceiling on the earnings that attract compulsory super. For 2026-27 the maximum contribution base is $270,830 a year under Payday Super. Once your qualifying earnings for the year reach that figure, your employer no longer has to pay compulsory super on earnings above it. Inside your fund, before-tax contributions such as employer super are taxed at 15%, which for most people is well below their marginal income tax rate. That 15% is paid by the fund, not withheld from your take-home pay. The annual limits on what you can contribute are in our note on the 2026-27 super contribution caps.
Why paying super sooner helps you
For most employees, Payday Super does not change your weekly take-home pay, because super is paid on top of or out of your package in the same way as before. What it changes is how hard your super works. Money that lands in your fund in July has months longer to earn investment returns than money that used to wait until the end of the quarter, and over a working life those extra weeks in the market add up. Paying super every payday also makes underpayment far easier to spot: if a contribution is missing from your fund, you and the ATO can see it within days rather than months. You can check the super you are owed on any salary with the superannuation calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
All figures verified against the named documents.
- ATO, Super for employers (Payday Super, qualifying earnings, and the seven business day rule).
- ATO, Key superannuation rates and thresholds (the 12% super guarantee rate and the 2026-27 maximum contribution base of $270,830).
Last verified 25 July 2026.
