2026–27 Payroll Changes for Australian Employers

Several things changed for Australian employers on 1 July 2026, and one of them changed how you pay superannuation permanently. This guide sets out the current figures, dates and thresholds for the 2026–27 financial year, and what each one means for the way your payroll is configured.

The 2026–27 financial year brought the biggest single change to superannuation in a decade, alongside the usual annual reset of wage and tax thresholds. Payday Super commenced on 1 July 2026. The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closed the day before. Minimum wages, the high income threshold, the maximum super contribution base and the redundancy tax-free limit all moved.

Payroll configured against last year’s settings will quietly produce the wrong numbers — and under the current penalty regime, quietly is the dangerous part.

Figures as published by the Fair Work Ombudsman and the ATO, effective 1 July 2026 unless otherwise stated. Rates change annually — confirm the current figure before relying on it.

Since 1 July 2026, super contributions must reach your employees’ funds within seven business days of payday. The quarterly deadline is gone, and so is the buffer it gave you. Three things changed at once:

• A shorter clock. Contributions must arrive at the fund — not merely leave your account — within seven business days of each payday. Clearing house lag is now your problem to plan for.
• A wider base. Super is calculated on qualifying earnings, which is broader than ordinary time earnings and picks up amounts such as commissions and salary-sacrificed wages. Payroll configured against the old base will quietly underpay.
• Sharper consequences. The ATO now assesses the super guarantee charge itself rather than waiting for you to self-assess, and interest compounds daily until the shortfall is paid.

Since 1 January 2025, intentional underpayment of wages and entitlements has been a criminal offence in Australia. The word that matters is intentional — an honest error is not a crime — but the practical effect is that award interpretation and record-keeping are no longer administrative housekeeping.

Small businesses that follow the Voluntary Small Business Wage Compliance Code are protected from criminal prosecution. Meeting that code is a payroll exercise: correct classifications, correct penalties and allowances, and records that show your working.

Before your next pay run, check that your payroll is:

• Calculating superannuation on qualifying earnings, not the old ordinary time earnings base.
• Paying super with every pay run, with contributions monitored until they clear the fund inside seven business days.
• Using the award rates that applied from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
• Capping super contributions correctly against the $270,830 maximum contribution base.
• Applying the current redundancy tax-free limit of $13,598 plus $6,801 per completed year of service to any termination payments.
• Producing records that would satisfy a Fair Work inspector without reconstruction after the fact.