Why Australian Employers Must Generally Pay Super Within Seven Business Days of Payday

From 1 July 2026, Australian employers must generally get superannuation guarantee contributions into an employee’s fund within seven business days of each payday. The change is known as Payday Super. The Commonwealth legislation register lists the enabling law as the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Act 2025, Act No. 57 of 2025.

For a founder who pays staff weekly, fortnightly or monthly, the rule changes when super leaves the business, what payroll data must show, and how late payments are penalised. The sections below set out the deadline, the exceptions, fund choice, clearing houses, penalties and the payroll changes.

What Payday Super Requires From 1 July 2026

Payday Super applies to super guarantee contributions for qualifying earnings from 1 July 2026. Hall & Wilcox says that from that date, contributions must generally reach an employee’s fund within seven business days of payday.

Qualifying earnings replace the older base for the 12 per cent guarantee. Hall & Wilcox says the rate applies to all salary and wage payments made from 1 July 2026, including payments for earlier work. Its list of qualifying earnings covers ordinary time earnings, all commissions, certain salary sacrifice amounts and specified earnings paid to deemed employees.

Most qualifying earnings would generally already count as ordinary time earnings, Hall & Wilcox says. Hall & Wilcox advised employers to review their pay codes before 30 June 2026. The same article says the maximum super contributions base now applies annually rather than quarterly.

The Core Deadline
HESTA says super is due within 7 business days of the employee’s payday, not calendar days, and that clearing-house processing time counts toward that window.

How the Seven-Business-Day Clock Works

HESTA’s Payday Super FAQ defines a business day as one that excludes weekends and public holidays that apply to the whole of an Australian state or territory. Paying super on the same day as wages gives the employer the full window, HESTA says.

Out-of-cycle payments such as bonuses, commissions and back-pays fall due seven business days after the employee’s next regular payday. HESTA says that if the employee has no further regular paydays, for example after leaving, the standard seven-day rule applies from the original payment date.

New employees get 20 business days for the first contribution. HESTA says the same allowance applies to the first payment to a new fund when an employee changes funds, and Hall & Wilcox gives the same 20-business-day figure for first payments to new employees.

Hall & Wilcox also says funds have three business days to allocate a contribution or return it.

Choice of Fund and Stapled Funds

Before the first payment, HESTA advises employers to request an employee’s stapled fund from the ATO where the employee has not nominated a fund. HESTA says that if no stapled fund exists and the employer’s default fund is HESTA, contributions go to HESTA.

Hall & Wilcox says choice loadings, which are penalties for breaching choice-of-fund rules, form one component of the super guarantee charge.

Clearing Houses and Payment Timing

Hall & Wilcox says the seven-business-day window includes the time a clearing house takes to process a payment. HESTA says the same, and it gives its QuickSuper clearing house as an example that pays contributions to the fund on the same day.

Hall & Wilcox gives 30 June 2026 as the closing date for the ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House. It says final FY26 payments through the service had to be made by 24 June 2026, and that contributions made later may not reach funds before closure and may be rejected.

HESTA sets out steps for rejected payments. Employers should check the member verification outcome response before sending a contribution transaction request, send that request on the same day as the payment, and use a new payment reference number when resubmitting, because a used number causes the payment to be rejected.

For a founder, super now falls due with every pay run, not on a separate schedule.

What Late Payment Can Cost Under the New Penalty

Hall & Wilcox describes the super guarantee charge as having four components: the SG shortfall, notional earnings, an administrative uplift and any choice loadings. It says the administrative uplift is 60 per cent of the shortfall and notional earnings, and that it replaces a previous 200 per cent Part 7 penalty.

The same article says the uplift is reduced to a net 40 per cent where the ATO has not started an assessment or estimate in the past 24 months. A voluntary disclosure made within 30 days of the qualifying earnings day reduces the uplift by a further 40 per cent. Later disclosures may receive smaller reductions.

Hall & Wilcox also says some or all SG liabilities and certain SG contributions may become tax deductible from 1 July 2026, following the repeal of sections 26-95 and 290-95 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

HESTA advises paying any outstanding amount as soon as possible, even if the full sum cannot be paid at once.

Payroll and Cash-Flow Changes to Make Now

Hall & Wilcox says employers should have reviewed payroll systems, pay codes and payroll processes before 30 June 2026 to ensure compliance.

Single Touch Payroll reporting must also show both qualifying earnings and the super liability, according to Hall & Wilcox.

Cash planning changes as well. Because clearing-house time counts toward the seven business days, a slow payment route uses up part of the window. HESTA notes that skipping the verification step can lead to a refund or a potential SG charge for a late payment.

For a founder, super now falls due with every pay run, not on a separate schedule.