WHAT IS A PAYDAY SUPER?
Payday Super was introduced into parliament on 9th October 2025.
It was passed on 4th November 2025 and received the Royal Assent on 6th November 2025.
The bills commence on 1st July 2026. The bills apply to SG contributions in respect of the Qualifying earnings day.(QEDay)
Superannuation Guarantee (Administration)Act 1992 was amended to require employers to make superannuation guarantee (SG) contributions at the same time salary, or wages are paid.
Super is paid on qualifyingearnings (QE). Qualifying earnings are the amount of earnings an employeeis paid on which individual SG amounts are calculated. This is a new term, which relies on and streamlines existing concepts such as OTE.
Some payments are excluded from qualifying earnings. For e.g, certain lump sum payments made to the employee on the termination of their employment will continue to be excluded for SG purposes for Qualifying earnings. Similarly, payment in lieu of unused sick leave, unused annual leave, and unused long service leave payments are also excluded for QE.
There is a new term, “QE day,” in legislation. QE day is the day on which the employer makes the payment of qualifying earnings to or for the employee.
As per legislation, all eligible contributions should be made on-time.
On-time eligible contributions are those that are made by the due datewithin7business days after the QE day.
An eligible contribution is made when it is received by the relevant superfund (not when it is paid by employer,) and it is able to be allocated to the relevant employee’s account.
If a contribution is rejected, for example, if the TFN provided is incorrect, it cannot able to be allocated and is not an eligible contribution. On-timeeligiblecontributionsreduce the individual base SG shortfalls for a QE day including to nil.