Spoke · Pillar: Payroll Compliance

Super Guarantee 12%. Payday Super from 1 July 2026.

The 12% rate landed on 1 July 2025. Payday Super shifts contribution timing from quarterly batch to per-pay-run on 1 July 2026 — every pay run triggers a SuperStream contribution within 7 days. The cash-flow rhythm changes; the math stays.

Why this lives on XIntelliSync, not on a super fund's blog

12% Super Guarantee landed 1 July 2025. Payday Super lands 1 July 2026 and shifts contribution timing from quarterly batch to per-pay-run within 7 days of the pay date. The cash-flow shift catches SMBs unprepared. XIntelliSync calculates SG on every pay run, generates the SuperStream-compliant contribution file, and instructs you to authorise via your clearing house. The article below is the OTE base calculation, the Payday Super transition timeline, and the SG charge exposure on late contributions.

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Quick answer

The Super Guarantee rate is 12% of Ordinary Time Earnings (OTE), in effect since 1 July 2025. The total contribution amount does not change after Payday Super starts on 1 July 2026 — but the timing shifts from quarterly batches to per-pay-run SuperStream contributions within 7 days of every pay date. The Super Guarantee Charge for late or missing contributions is not tax-deductible.

SG rate history

9.5% to 12%. Half a percent at a time.

The 12% landing rate was legislated in 2020 and stepped up half a percent each year from 1 July 2021. The schedule completed on 1 July 2025.

  • 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2021

    9.5%

    Frozen rate during the legislated pause. SG base set at OTE.

  • 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022

    10.0%

    First step-up after the freeze. Half-percent annual increases legislated.

  • 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023

    10.5%

    Continued half-percent step-up.

  • 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024

    11.0%

    Continued half-percent step-up.

  • 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025

    11.5%

    Continued half-percent step-up.

  • 1 July 2025 onward

    12.0%

    Final landing rate per the legislated schedule. No further step-ups planned. Current rate as of 2026.

OTE base

What counts toward OTE. What does not.

The 12% rate applies to OTE — Ordinary Time Earnings — not all earnings. The most-frequent SG miscalculations come from getting this base wrong.

Ordinary hours base wage

Yes

The salary or wages paid for ordinary hours worked. Always counts toward OTE.

Most allowances (tool, height, qualification, first-aid)

Yes

Award allowances paid for ordinary work generally count toward OTE. Specific treatment depends on the allowance — check ato.gov.au super-OTE guidance.

Commission for ordinary work

Yes

Commission earned in the course of ordinary work counts toward OTE. Common in retail, real estate, finance, insurance.

Shift loading on ordinary hours

Yes

Afternoon, night, weekend shift loadings on ordinary rostered hours count. Public holiday loading on ordinary roster also counts.

Bonus payments tied to ordinary work

Mostly

Bonus payments referable to ordinary work generally count. Year-end bonuses and one-off payments need specific assessment — Christmas bonuses for goodwill generally do NOT count.

Overtime payments

No

Overtime — work beyond ordinary hours — explicitly excluded from OTE. Do not include overtime in the SG calculation base.

Genuine redundancy / termination payments

No

Genuine redundancy payments and other termination amounts do not count toward OTE.

Reimbursement of expenses

No

Reimbursement of work-related expenses (KMs, parking, meals) is not OTE — it is reimbursement, not earnings.

Workers compensation top-up payments

Mostly

Make-up pay during workers comp generally counts toward OTE if the employee is performing some work; pure compensation payments without work do not.

Payday Super — 1 July 2026

Quarterly to per-pay-run. The cash-flow rhythm changes.

Until 1 July 2026, employers may pay Super Guarantee in quarterly batches with a 28-day grace period after the end of each quarter. From 1 July 2026, every pay run triggers a SuperStream contribution to each employee's nominated fund within 7 days of the pay date. The change is timing, not amount — 12% of OTE remains the calculation.

  • •Cash flow: previously, super was held in the business for up to ~13 weeks before contribution. After Payday Super, super leaves within ~7 days of every pay run. Working capital implication is real for tight-cash businesses.
  • •SG charge exposure increases: a quarterly late payment is one SG charge event; per-pay-run lateness becomes one SG charge event per pay run, and SGC is not tax-deductible.
  • •Clearing house volume changes: if you currently submit one quarterly file, you will submit ~26 fortnightly or ~52 weekly files instead. Clearing house infrastructure must support the new cadence.
  • •SuperStream remains the channel: the standard does not change. The only change is the timing of when each contribution must travel through SuperStream.
Transition before 1 July 2026 — or face SG charge on every late contribution.

Where to authorise the super contribution

XIntelliSync prepares the SuperStream file. Your clearing house authorises.

XIntelliSync is not a registered ATO Digital Service Provider and does not initiate super contributions. Once XIntelliSync prepares the SuperStream-compatible contribution file, authorise the payment externally via one of these official portals or your nominated commercial clearing house:

Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) — ato.gov.au

Free ATO clearing house for employers with 19 or fewer employees OR aggregated turnover under $10M. Lodge SuperStream-compliant contributions to multiple funds via a single ATO portal upload. Access through the ATO Business Portal.

ATO Business Portal — bp.ato.gov.au

Access SBSCH, lodge SG charge statements (when contributions are late), reconcile fund-level acknowledgements, and view employer super obligations. Required for all SBSCH operations. Requires myGovID + RAM access.

ATO Super for Employers — ato.gov.au/business/super-for-employers

Authoritative ATO source on SG rate (12% from 1 July 2025), OTE base treatment, choice of fund + stapling rules, the Payday Super transition (per-pay-run from 1 July 2026), and SuperStream Standard requirements.

SuperStream Standard Compliance — ato.gov.au

SuperStream is the mandatory data-and-payment standard for super contributions. Confirm your fund is APRA-regulated or SMSF-eligible, and that your contribution file format meets SuperStream Standard before authorising payment.

Super Fund Lookup — superfundlookup.gov.au

Official ATO + APRA fund register. Verify fund USI / ABN / regulatory status before contributing — required for SuperStream compliance + SG-deduction eligibility. Use to confirm a stapled super fund returned via the ATO request.

All 22+ industries served

Super contribution nuances by industry.

Default-fund nominations, OTE treatment of industry-specific allowances, and award-default fund references vary by industry. Below: the most-relevant super-contribution feature for every industry XIntelliSync serves. Stapling overrides the award default whenever the employee already has a super account.

  • Construction

    MA000020

    Industry default funds include CBUS. RDO hours count toward OTE for super; overtime does not.

  • Healthcare

    MA000027 · MA000031 · MA000034

    Industry default funds include HESTA. Salary-sacrificed CPD payments may or may not count toward OTE depending on arrangement.

  • Hospitality

    MA000009 · MA000119

    Industry default funds include HostPlus. Tip income generally does not count toward OTE; salary-equivalent does.

  • Retail

    MA000004

    Industry default funds include Rest Super. Commission generally counts toward OTE.

  • Consulting / Professional Services

    MA000065 · MA000089

    No industry-default fund — employee chooses, or stapled fund applies. Salary-sacrificed amounts may or may not count toward OTE per arrangement.

  • Digital / Tech

    MA000065

    No industry-default fund — stapled fund applies. ESS amounts generally do not count toward OTE.

  • Finance

    MA000019

    No industry-default fund — stapled fund applies. Commission and bonuses generally count toward OTE.

  • Legal

    MA000116

    No industry-default fund — stapled fund applies. Practising-certificate reimbursement does not count toward OTE.

  • Childcare

    MA000120 · MA000077

    Industry default funds include HESTA. Qualification allowances count toward OTE for super.

  • Education

    MA000076 · MA000077

    Industry default funds include UniSuper. Sessional payments count toward OTE; one-off honoraria generally do not.

  • Manufacturing

    MA000010

    Industry default funds include AustralianSuper. Shift loadings count toward OTE; overtime does not.

  • Transport

    MA000039 · MA000038

    Industry default funds include TWUSUPER. Per-kilometre allowance and overnight allowance count toward OTE.

  • Mining

    MA000011

    Industry default funds include Mine Super (now part of TWUSUPER). Site allowances count toward OTE.

  • Agriculture

    MA000045 · MA000028

    Industry default funds include AustralianSuper or Mine Super (regional variation). Piecework counts toward OTE if it represents ordinary work.

  • Fitness

    MA000094

    No industry-default fund — stapled fund applies. Personal-trainer commission generally counts toward OTE.

  • Non-profit

    MA000100

    Industry default funds include HESTA or AustralianSuper. Sleepover allowance counts toward OTE.

  • Events

    MA000058 · MA000080

    No industry-default fund — stapled fund applies. Per-event payments count toward OTE if part of regular engagement pattern.

  • Creative

    MA000080 · MA000087

    No industry-default fund — stapled fund applies. Residual payments generally do not count toward OTE.

  • Marketing

    MA000089 · MA000065

    No industry-default fund — stapled fund applies. Performance bonuses count toward OTE.

  • Human Resources

    MA000089 · MA000065

    No industry-default fund — stapled fund applies. Performance bonuses count toward OTE.

  • Insurance

    MA000019

    No industry-default fund — stapled fund applies. Commission and trail count toward OTE.

  • Real Estate

    MA000106

    Industry default funds include REI Super. Commission generally counts toward OTE.

Super-OTE treatment verifiable on ato.gov.au. Stapling rules and clearing-house mechanics confirmed via the same source.

Super Guarantee. Questions answered.

What is the Super Guarantee rate in 2026?+
12% of Ordinary Time Earnings (OTE), in effect since 1 July 2025. The Super Guarantee rate is the percentage of an employee's OTE that the employer must contribute to the employee's nominated superannuation fund. The 12% rate is the final landing rate per the legislated step-up schedule that began with 9.5% in 2014 and increased by half a percent each year from 1 July 2021. There are no further step-ups planned.
What is OTE and what counts toward it?+
OTE — Ordinary Time Earnings — is the base on which Super Guarantee is calculated. It includes ordinary hours wages, most award allowances paid for ordinary work, commission, shift loading on ordinary hours, and bonuses tied to ordinary work. It excludes overtime, redundancy/termination payments, and reimbursement of expenses. The treatment of bonuses, workers compensation top-ups, and one-off payments needs case-by-case assessment per ATO super-OTE guidance.
What is Payday Super and when does it start?+
Payday Super shifts the Super Guarantee contribution timing from quarterly batch to per-pay-run, starting 1 July 2026. From that date, every pay run triggers a SuperStream contribution to each employee's nominated fund within 7 days of the pay date. The total contribution amount does not change (still 12% of OTE), but the cash flow shifts. Employers still on quarterly SG must transition before 1 July 2026 or face SG charge exposure on every late contribution.
What happens if I pay super late or not at all?+
The Super Guarantee Charge (SGC) applies. SGC has three components: (1) the original SG shortfall amount, (2) interest on the shortfall, (3) an administration fee. SGC is NOT tax-deductible — even if you pay it. It must be lodged on a Super Guarantee Charge Statement with the ATO by the 28th day after the end of the relevant quarter (or per-pay-run after Payday Super takes effect). Repeat or wilful non-payment can attract additional penalties up to 200% of the SG shortfall under the Director Penalty Notice regime.
What is SuperStream and is it mandatory?+
SuperStream is the ATO-mandated electronic standard for super contribution payments and data. Mandatory for all Australian employers since 28 October 2015. Employers cannot send super contributions by paper cheque or via direct deposit alone — the contribution data must travel via SuperStream-compliant channels (clearing house, payroll software with SuperStream integration, or the ATO's Small Business Superannuation Clearing House for businesses with under 19 employees).
Do I need to use the employee's default super fund?+
No. Since 1 November 2021, the "stapling" rule applies. New employees who do not nominate a fund have an existing super account "stapled" to them — your contributions go to that stapled fund, NOT a default fund of your choosing. The ATO's online services let you look up an employee's stapled fund using their TFN and date of birth. Some industries still have a default fund nominated under the applicable Modern Award (e.g., HostPlus for hospitality, REST for retail) — but stapling overrides this when the employee already has a fund.
Does XIntelliSync send super contributions on my behalf?+
No. XIntelliSync calculates the Super Guarantee component on every pay run based on each employee's OTE, generates the SuperStream-compliant contribution file (in the ATO-required format), and instructs you to authorise the contribution via your nominated clearing house (or the SBSCH for under-19-employee businesses). Your clearing house actually moves the money to each fund. XIntelliSync records the authorisation timing for audit-log purposes. Honest separation: XIntelliSync prepares; your clearing house executes.

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SG calculated on every pay run. SuperStream-ready.

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