One of the most significant changes to Australia's employment and superannuation framework in decades took effect on 1 July 2026. Under the Payday Super regime, employers must now pay superannuation guarantee contributions within seven business days of each payday, replacing the quarterly payment cycle that has been in place since the superannuation guarantee was introduced in 1992.

If you employ staff, these changes affect you directly and immediately. This article explains how the new rules work, what happens when payments are late and what the Australian Tax Office's approach to first-year enforcement means in practice

How Payday Super works

Under the new rules, every time you pay an employee their wages or salary, a superannuation guarantee contribution must be made for that employee. The contribution must be received by the employee's super fund within seven business days of the payday.

This is a significant change from the previous system, where contributions were required quarterly, by the 28th day after the end of each quarter. Under the old system, an employer could hold onto a worker's super entitlement for up to three months before it was required to be paid. That buffer no longer exists.

The seven-business-day window begins on the payday itself. The contribution must actually be received and allocated by the super fund within that window, not simply sent. This means employers need to allow adequate processing time through their clearing house or payment provider.

The super guarantee charge under Payday Super

The super guarantee charge (SGC) is the penalty that applies when contributions are not made correctly.

Under Payday Super, the SGC applies when a contribution is:



• Not paid within seven business days of the payday
• Paid to the wrong fund
• Calculated incorrectly on qualifying earnings.

The SGC is not simply the unpaid amount. It also includes an interest component (currently 10% per annum) and an administration charge. It is also not tax-deductible, unlike ordinary super contributions. The financial cost of a missed or late payment under Payday Super is therefore materially higher than simply making the contribution late.

The Small Business Super Clearing House has closed

The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House – the free service operated by the ATO for employers with 19 or fewer employees – closed permanently on 1 July 2026. It accepted its last contributions on 30 June 2026 and is no longer available for any purpose.

Employers who were using the clearing house must already have transitioned to an alternative payment solution. The most common alternatives are:

• Payroll software with integrated super payment: Most modern payroll software packages now include Payday Super-ready functionality that can calculate, lodge and pay contributions automatically within the 7-business-day window.
• Commercial clearing houses: Providers such as SuperChoice, Beam and others offer commercial clearing house services that are SuperStream-compliant and designed for the new regime. These typically charge a fee per transaction or employee.
• Direct payment to super funds: Some super funds accept direct employer payments, though this is generally less practical for employers whose staff hold accounts with multiple funds.

The ATO's first-year compliance approach

The ATO has published its compliance approach for the first year of Payday Super, acknowledging that some employers will face genuine difficulties transitioning. The approach is pragmatic: the Tax Office will focus on supporting employers who are making genuine efforts to comply rather than penalising those who experience minor teething issues.

However, the ATO has been clear that this leniency has limits. Employers who are consistently late, who have not transitioned their systems, or who are simply continuing under the old quarterly model will be subject to the full consequences of the super guarantee charge.

Qualifying earnings – an important new concept

Payday Super introduced a new concept called qualifying earnings. Qualifying earnings are the ordinary time earnings of an employee for the relevant pay period on which the super guarantee rate applies. This concept requires employers to correctly identify which components of an employee's pay attract the super guarantee for each specific pay run.

For most employees on simple salary or wage arrangements, qualifying earnings will be straightforward to calculate. For employees with variable pay, commissions, bonuses or allowances, the calculation may require more careful attention. Errors in calculating qualifying earnings can trigger the super guarantee charge even where a payment is made on time.

If you are still using the Small Business Super Clearing House or have not yet transitioned your payroll

The clearing house is closed and cannot be used. If you are not currently able to make super contributions through an alternative method, this is an urgent matter. Contributions for July pay runs are already due. Please contact us immediately and we will help you identify an appropriate payment solution and manage any compliance exposure that may have arisen.

Please contact us if you have any questions - email us or phone our team on 02 9899 3044.