Payday Super is coming (1 July 2026): What it means for employers and employees

From 1 July 2026, Australia moves to Payday Super which is a major shift that will require employers to pay Superannuation Guarantee at the same time as wages, instead of the current quarterly mandated cycle.

What is Payday Super?

Payday Super aligns superannuation payments with an employee’s normal wage payments:

• Each time employers pay staff qualifying earnings such as salary and wages, you trigger a new super “due date”.
• Superannuation payments must be received by the employee’s super fund within 7 business days of payday (the wage payment date), or 20 business days for onboarding of new staff.

That 7-day window is designed to allow time for processing through clearing houses and payment rails, but it’s still a big change from “pay by the quarterly due date.”

Impact on Employers

Cashflow management will again be crucial for employers to ensure funds are available to pay super on time and in full, which may require additional planning and management.

It will also be important to gather all the information from new staff early to ensure their super payments are set up correctly to reduce the risk of delays.

If you need any assistance with the transition, please get in touch with us today.

How to Report?

Employers will need to report both qualifying earnings and the total super liability through their Single Touch Payroll provider.

From 1 July 2026 the ATO’s Small Business Clearing House will no longer be in use and those employers who relied upon this service will need to transition to an alternative payment method.

If you’re using Xero Single Touch Payroll , the superannuation process will remain consistent with existing procedures, however employers will need to process superannuation at the same time as each payroll cycle.

1. Create a new super batch payment from the Payroll menu or directly from the payroll via the Make Payment button.
2. Select re required date range and ‘Submit for Approval’
3. The nominated authoriser for your organisation will receive an SMS from Xero with an authorisation code which is used to approve the payment in Xero.
4. Once approved, the super payment will be automatically paid from the organisation’s nominated bank account.
5. Both the authorised user and the nominated bank account can be set up when the first super payment is processed.

6. Or you can navigate to the super batch payment directly from the payroll via the Make Payment button

If you would like to discuss how any of the above changes may impact you, please feel free to contact us today.