Global Daily Tax News, Australia To Increase Super Requirements On Employers, (Oct 16, 2025)
The Australian Government has tabled legislation in parliament to overhaul the rules regarding superannuation contributions.
Providing the legislation is passed by parliament, the legislation would take effect from July 1, 2026.
The so-called Payday Super reform will bring about the following key changes:
Employers must pay superannuation guarantee (SG) at the same time as salary and wages;
SG contributions will generally need to reach employees' super funds within seven business days;
Updates will be made to the super guarantee charge (SGC) calculation, including penalties;
A new concept will be introduced called "qualifying earnings" (QE), which will be used to calculate both SG contributions and the SGC;
The deadline for super funds to allocate or return contributions that cannot be allocated will be reduced to three business days, down from 20.
In addition, the SuperStream data and payment standards will be updated to improve error messaging to ensure tax agents can better understand why a client's super contribution was rejected and what must be done to fix the issue. This will also include faster payments and new services, like the Member Verification Request, which is intended to reduce the likelihood of rejected contributions.
Alongside the reforms, the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) will be closed to new registrants from October 1, 2025, and all users from July 1, 2026.
Employers will need to report both QE and Super Liability via Single Touch Payroll (STP).
The Australian Taxation Office has published draft guidance on its compliance approach for employers for the first year of Payday Super. PCG 2025/D5 sets out the factors the agency will consider when deciding how to apply the ATO's compliance resources to investigate employers in relation to the first year of Payday Super. The ATO said: "Our proposed compliance approach will recognize that employers who try to do the right thing from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027, and resolve any issues quickly, should not be the focus of ATO compliance action."