Superannuation Payment Dates - When to Pay Super

Superannuation guarantee payment dates

From 1 July 2026, super must generally be paid at the same time as wages (known as payday super). This means super is no longer primarily a quarterly obligation — it is now part of your regular payroll process.

Payday super (from 1 July 2026)

Employers are required to pay super at the same time as wages, rather than quarterly.

Contributions must usually be received by employees’ super funds within 7 business days of payday
Super must be processed every pay cycle (e.g. weekly, fortnightly or monthly)

Quarterly dates (for reference only)

Before 1 July 2026, super contributions were required to be paid quarterly. Now that payday super applies, these dates are mostly for reference — but may still be relevant in some compliance or transition situations.

Quarter	Superannuation contributions due date	Super guarantee charge due date
1 July – 30 September	28 October	28 November
1 October – 31 December	28 January	28 February
1 January – 31 March	28 April	28 May
1 April – 30 June	28 July	28 August

Do I need to pay superannuation?

Generally, an employer must pay super for an employee if the employee is over 18 years old. It doesn’t matter if they are full time, part time or casual, or if they are a temporary resident of Australia – they’re still entitled to receive superannuation contributions. If the employee is under 18 years of age, and they do not work more than 30 hours in a week you are not compelled to pay super contributions, however you can pay super to these employees if you wish to, or if payment is required under the terms of a workplace agreement.

Contractors who earn most of their income by providing a service to your business, might also be eligible for super contributions from you. If they are paid entirely or principally by you for their personal labour and skills, they perform the contract work personally or they’re paid for the hours worked rather than to achieve a result, then they’re considered an employee for super purposes and, as such, entitled to super guarantee contributions under the same rules as employees.

Employer super calculator

Income (before tax) Please enter an income amount Employer super contribution

Please enter in the contribution rate. Contribution rate needs to be between 12% and 17% Is the employee 18 years old or over?

Employer super calculator

Assumptions

We assume that the employee is an Australian resident and has provided a tax file number to their employer.

Employees can be full time, part time or casual.

The Super Guarantee is currently set at 12% of ordinary time earnings. The SG percentage can be manually increased in the calculator.

Employees under 18 must work more than 30 hours per week with an employer to be eligible for SG payments from that employer.

The maximum income on which employers must pay the Super Guarantee in 2026/27 is $67,707.50 per quarter ($270,830 per year). If an employee earns over this amount, the employer is not obligated to make SG contributions for anything above the limit. However superannuation payments beyond the Super Guarantee obligations may be payable as a result of workplace or individual agreements.

Disclaimer

This calculator is not intended to be relied upon for the purposes of making a financial decision. You should consider your objectives, financial situation and needs, which are not accounted for in this information, before making any investment or financial decisions.

You are responsible for your own investment decisions and should obtain specific, individual advice from a financial services licensee before making any financial decisions.

This calculator doesn’t account for any additional super that may be required under workplace agreements, awards, legislation or salary‑sacrifice arrangements. Employers should not rely on it alone to determine their super obligations.

What does Ordinary Time Earnings mean?

The super contribution payment is based on an employee’s ordinary time earnings which is usually the amount an employee earns from their ordinary hours of work.

What it includes

Commissions
Certain allowances
Paid leave
Shift loadings

What it doesn't include

Irregular overtime payments
Performance based bonuses
Termination payments
Fully expended expense allowances, such as car allowances
Reimbursed expenses
Benefits subject to fringe benefits tax
Jury top-up payments
Parental leave payments
Annual leave loading
Accrued annual leave, long service leave and sick leave paid as a termination lump sum
Redundancy payments
Gratuities
Dividends
Partnership and trust distributions
Restraint of trade agreement payments
Payments for domestic or private work under 30 hours a week

Are there limits?

There is a maximum super contribution base. This is the limit on the earnings you must pay Super Guarantee (SG) on.

For 2026/27, employers generally need to contribute up to:

12% of $270,830 per year
Equivalent to $32,500 per year

You can choose to pay more than this if you wish, but you are not required to contribute above this level under Super Guarantee rules.

Are there other types of superannuation payments?

Generally there are two types of payments:

Compulsory Super Guarantee contributions
The mandatory contribution you make to your employees’ superfunds set as a percentage of their regular wage.
Reportable superannuation contributions
In most cases, the extra voluntary payments made at the request of an employee out of their wage. The most common of these is salary sacrificing.

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Super payment rules

When and how to pay super