The opening paragraph on the ATO website page referring to Payday Superannuation states:
On 2 May 2023 the Australian Government announced that from 1 July 2026, employers will be required to pay their employees’ superannuation guarantee (SG) at the same time as their salary and wages
On 9 October 2025, the Government introduced the bill with the new rules and it is now law (passed on 4 November 2025 and Royal Assent granted on 6 November 2025).
So, it took almost 2 ½ years to introduce the bill, and taxpayers will have just over 6 months to get on top of the rules and be ready by 1 July 2026.
How many times in the past 10 or 15 years has there been a news headline about an employer getting superannuation payments wrong for their employees?
Too many, and while some of these may refer to employers that have been in financial difficulty, this is not always the case. Partly such errors occur due to complexity in employee entitlements (particularly where employees are covered by multiple different awards, etc).
How many of your clients have identified situations where they have incorrectly dealt with a superannuation payment for an employee (or a number of employees)?
More than you think. If employers can’t get superannuation payments right under a system that has been in place for many years, there is a good chance that moving to a new system is going to likely result in increased errors.
The reality is that paying and complying with compulsory superannuation (along with withholding and paying PAYGW) for employees is critical for employers. The PAYGW is tax being paid to the ATO on behalf of the employee. Compulsory superannuation payments are also amounts being paid for the benefit of the employee. To protect these payments that are made on behalf of employees, the compliance obligations are imposed on the employer – as they are the entity in control of making such payments. For this reason, there are significant penalties imposed on an employer if they do not accurately meet these obligations.
The software will handle it!
Most employers rely on payroll software to help getting these obligations done correctly. Faith is placed on the software providers to get the calculations right. This is likely to be the situation (and solution) for a significant proportion of cases. However, this neither eliminates all errors nor is it a guarantee. That we continue to see errors under the current regime is testament that an employer cannot rely solely on the software – the ultimate responsibility rests with the employer (along with penalties when not getting it right!).
What could possibly go wrong?
Surprisingly, a lot. Employers not only need to understand what the new rules are, but they also need to navigate those rules and ensure systems are updated and tested before the start date.
Also, employers should be mindful of all the ‘special’ cases that may arise that could potentially result in not meeting their obligations.
Next steps?
Getting the new/updated software is one thing, but not the only thing! We strongly recommend employers (and accountants) get on top of this as early as possible.
One way of doing this is to register and attend our webinar on this very topic, which will not only run through the new rules, but will also provide practical guidance on what employers need to do to give themselves the best chance of complying with these new rules and obligations.
——-
Join our Payday Super: the new SG regime webinar to abreast of the latest developments.
Found this article insightful? Subscribe to our newsletter “The Assessment” and receive more articles like this every month!
Need more advice? Contact us via email or on 03 8662 3200
