Payday Super starts 1 July. Here's what actually changes for you.

From 1 July 2026, superannuation guarantee (SG) has to be paid at the same time as wages, not quarterly.

This is the biggest change to how super works in decades, and if you employ staff, it touches your payroll, your cash flow and your approval process. Here's what it means in practice.

Payday Super - What's actually changing

Nothing changes about how super is calculated. It's still 12% of qualifying earnings. What changes is timing.

Right now, you set super aside and deal with it once a quarter. From 1 July, super becomes part of every single pay run. Each time you pay wages, you're also paying super, and it needs to land in your employees' funds within 7 business days of payday (20 business days for a brand new employee or a first payment to a new fund).

There's no quarterly buffer anymore. No catching up at the end of the quarter if things got away from you. Super becomes a regular outgoing that moves with wages, every pay cycle.

Three things to get straight before 1 July

1. Approvals are no longer set-and-forget. If we manage your payroll, we can prepare the super calculations, but under the new rules there's no standing authority that lets us release a super payment on your behalf. Every payment needs your sign-off, every pay cycle. We'll work out a quick approval step with you so this doesn't become a bottleneck, but it does mean you need to be available to approve each time, not just review it once a quarter.

2. Cash flow needs a rethink. Super stops being something you plan for once a quarter and becomes something that leaves the business with every pay run. For most businesses this evens out fine, but July is the pinch point: you'll likely be paying your final June quarter super (due 28 July) and your first multiple rounds of payday super at the same time. If your cash flow is tight, talk to us now.

3. Check your payroll system can actually do this. Most modern payroll software has already been updated, but it's worth confirming rather than assuming. If you're using the ATO's Small Business Superannuation Clearing House, that closes on 30 June, so you'll need an alternative in place before then.

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Key dates

• 30 June – Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closes. If you use it, you need a new solution before this date.

• 1 July – Payday Super starts. Super must be paid alongside every pay run from here on.

• 28 July – Final quarterly super payment (April to June) is due. This is the last payment under the old system.

• 29 July onward – Any payment made from this point is treated as payday super, not a quarterly catch-up.

One thing worth knowing: if your June quarter super isn't paid by 28 July, anything you pay after that date gets applied to the old quarterly shortfall first, before it counts toward payday super. So getting that final quarterly payment (and any other overdue payments) in on time matters more than usual this year.

This is a genuine shift in how super works day to day, not just a compliance tweak. If you want to talk through what it looks like for your specific payroll setup, get in touch.