Australian Payday Super Changes

Commencement Date: 1 July 2026

Current Status: Bill introduced 9 October 2025 was passed in House of Representatives on 30 October 2025

ATO Overview

Hear from Emma Rosenzweig, Deputy Commissioner about what Payday Super means for employers. Get ahead of these changes now to be ready for 1 July 2026 Employers – get ready for Payday Super.

Key changes effecting EMPLOYERS

1. Payment Timing

Currently, Super must be paid 28 days after quarter end at the latest.

Effective from 1 July 2026, Super must be paid at the same time as wages. Depending on the scenarios, this will result in differences in payment deadlines.

As the change of when you need to pay super may have an impact on your business cashflow, some of you may be considering changing your current salary/wage pay frequencies. I.e. from weekly, or fortnightly to monthly. Please see “Changing pay frequency” for more details.

How can I make payments to Super using PayGlobal?

You can use our Direct Credit Schedule report(s).

• If you plan to pay and include super contributions with your salary and wages payments - use PGPRPRIM202 (this new report is in development and will be available with 2026 AU tax release).

• If you need to keep super and salary and wages as separate files - use PGPRPRIM202B (this new report is in development and will be available with 2026 AU tax release).

Prerequisite your Super allowances and deduction records must have “Direct Credit” = Yes for the transactions to be included these reports.

2. Qualifying Earnings (QE) - New Concept

What is QE?

QE replaces OTE (Ordinary Time Earnings) as the base for super calculations. It brings together multiple super-able amounts into one term.

The introduction of QE does not fundamentally change the calculation of the minimum superannuation guarantee (‘SG’) contribution an employer must make to avoid becoming liable to the SG charge ('SGC').

How are QE and OTE different?

QE includes all payments that are currently treated as Ordinary Time Earnings (‘OTE’) for the purposes of the Super Guarantee Administration Act (SGAA), but also includes additional amounts that are not currently OTE.

The key differences between QE and OTE are:

1. The definition of QE includes all commissions. Whilst the ATO accepts under the current law that commissions paid solely for work performed entirely outside ordinary hours are not OTE for the purposes of the SGAA, they will be included in QE; and

2. The definition of QE includes amounts paid to employees under the expanded definition of employee in the SGAA that are not OTE for the purposes of the SGAA.

Defining ‘Qualifying Earnings’

QE Includes:

• Ordinary time earnings (OTE) - wages for ordinary hours, most paid leave, most allowances, bonuses

• ALL commissions (KEY CHANGE - includes commissions for work outside ordinary hours)

• Salary sacrifice amounts (included then credited back in calculations)

• Amounts paid to contractors treated as employees for SG purposes

QE Excludes:

• Amounts excluded by regulations

• Amounts exceeding maximum contribution base

• Paid parental leave, workers compensation (same as current OTE exclusions)

Key Difference from OTE: QE now includes ALL commissions, even those paid for work outside ordinary hours. Previously, ATO accepted these were not OTE for SG purposes.

Further information on the amounts that comprise OTE is available on the ATO website (List of payments that are ordinary time earnings | Australian Taxation Office) and in Superannuation Guarantee Ruling SGR 2009/2 (SGR 2009/2 | Legal database).

How will PayGlobal support QE?

The current plan is to add a new field to Allowances.

On upgrade, if an existing allowance record is already flagged as OTE, it will be auto-set to be identified as QE. All remaining allowances will need to be reviewed/updated inline with ATO guidance documentation.

Given the new definition for superable income in respect to SG obligations, it is recommended that you also review the setup of your Allowance Groups, Award Rules and Payroll Rules.

3. STP Reporting Changes

New Fields from 1 July 2026:

• Qualifying Earnings (QE) - reported each payday

• Super Liability - year-to-date super liability

Employer Actions Required:

For the first pay 2026/27 it is recommended STP auto-submission be turned off so that you can validate the QE and Super Liability amounts BEFORE sending your PayEvent to the ATO. See Help article 2114 for details on how to set Automate STP on close pay to ‘No’.

Steps for verification follow:

1. Go to the STP Manager Tool’s Payee Data Superannuation tab.

2. Review the data presented in the new fields.

   1. If data is as expected, send the PayEvent. It will be safe to turn-on auto-submission once the PayEvent is sent successfully.

   2. If data is not as expected, roll-back the pay and make corrections as applicable.

Important: STP reporting requirements for payee types is NOT changing. Contractors are still voluntary to report via STP (even though QE now includes contractors treated as employees for SG).

4. Super Guarantee Charge - Major Changes

If you don't pay an employee's super guarantee (SG) amount in full, on time and to the right fund, you could be liable for a Super Guarantee Charge (SGC).

As long as you have your Qualifying Earnings (QE) settings applied correctly to your allowances and you are cross-checking your SG amounts before closing your pays with one of your preferred reports, then you are reducing the risk of SGC.

For more information about what’s changed go here: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd2526/26bd025

5. SuperStream Reporting

The key outcomes the Government/ATO are attempting to achieve with their Superstream upgrades are:

• reducing the likelihood of employee contributions being rejected by a super fund.

• providing clearer error messaging when a contribution is rejected by a super fund.

• enabling faster payment of contributions.

• knowing sooner when important super fund details are changing.

For more details go to the ATO website - SuperStream changes

SuperStream contributions messaging to version 3, applies to Payroll applications that offer a fully integrated data solution to a Clearing House solution provider or directly to the Superfund providers only. There are no changes to the SuperStream Alternative File format (SAFF)

PayGlobal only supports the SAFF file. This means there is no change to how you get your data to your Clearing house/Superfund provider. But theirs now need to provide you with better messaging and take responsibility for meeting the new timelines imposed on them.

There are no current plans to provide any new validation services to support SuperStream directing from within the PayGlobal application.

Employer Actions Required

As part of our our ongoing security/infrastructure improvement project, we now need you to use is PGPRSUPA414 instead of PGPRSUPA314. The PGPRSUPA414 report is in development and will be available with 2026 AU tax release.

Note: This is PayGlobal’s ONLY standard report that is SAFF compliant.

This report is in the Superannuation Reports group. For more information about the PayGlobal SAFF file, see Help Topic: 44977 - PGPRSUPA414 - SuperStream Alternative Format Report (AU) in the Standard Reports Catalogue manual (This new help file topic 44977 is in development and will be available with 2026 AU tax release).

Changing pay frequency

In Australia, an employer cannot unilaterally change an employee's pay frequency if it's different from what was agreed upon in their employment contract or award. Changing to a different frequency is considered a significant change to the terms of employment and requires the employee's agreement. Employers must adhere to the agreed-upon pay schedule and are required to provide pay on the scheduled date.

Key obligations and considerations

• Contractual agreement: An employer must first check the employment contract or relevant award to see if the pay frequency is specified. If it is, the employer must stick to it unless they get the employee's agreement to change it.

• Employee agreement: An employer cannot simply decide to change the pay frequency without the employee's consent. A change to pay frequency can have a significant impact on an employee's financial planning, so it's considered a major change to their employment conditions.

• Legal framework: While the Fair Work Act doesn't explicitly state rules on changing pay frequency, the general principle is that an employer must pay employees when they are due, which is on the agreed-upon schedule. Changing the frequency without agreement is a breach of the employment contract.

• Communication and negotiation: If an employer wishes to change the pay frequency, they should discuss the change with the employee, explain the reasons for the change, and negotiate a new agreement.

• Notice period: If an agreement is reached, the change should be implemented with sufficient notice, and the change to the new pay frequency and date should be confirmed in writing.

• Employee leave balances: Changing an employee's pay cycle can cause their leave to accrue more slowly or more quickly per pay period. Of course, their entitlements won’t change, but you might need to explain this to employees if they notice the difference on their pay slips.

• Payroll reports: Leave transactions and balances will only be updated in reports after a pay run is processed with the new pay cycle settings.

Unless there has been a signed agreement by all affected parties to change your employee(s) pay frequency, then it is recommended that you don’t do it, as you may risk breaching your compliance obligations.

IF there's been a signed agreement, check if you already have an existing pay period code for the affected internal company/companies that is linked to the pay frequency with a current/future calendar setup.

• Yes - then choose an appropriate cross-over date to change your employee’s pay period codes. Timing is important because you’ll want to ensure the last pay on the old pay period code is completed (closed) and related STP PayEvents successfully submitted BEFORE changing to the new pay period code with a different pay frequency.

• No - you will need to create new Pay period record. Do not just change the pay frequency setting on your existing pay period record, this will cause disruption to your historical data, accumulator rebuilds and ability to complete rolling back of pays in the future if needed. Setting up new pay period may involve needing to ensure the new record has the same Allowance, Deduction and Payroll Rules setup or at least a review to make sure what you bring across is still fit for your current business needs. If you have not done this sort of task before it is recommended to engage with our Professional Services team to ensure the process works smoothly.

Also, keep in mind that pay periods may overlap when changing pay frequencies. In these scenarios, you need to be prepared to make manual adjustments to both pays to ensure the employee gets paid correctly, as there will be a risk you could under pay or double-up depending on your unique system configurations.