Last updated: 19 October 2026. Written by the FreeMyCloud team.
Checked against the ATO Super guarantee rates and thresholds, What payments are qualifying earnings, Work out if you have to pay super, Payment deadlines for Payday Super, What happens if you don’t pay super correctly and Contributions caps pages, and the Fair Work Ombudsman Tax and superannuation and Pay slips pages, on 19 October 2026.
- The super guarantee rate is 12%, and the ATO rate table shows 12.00% for every period from 1 July 2025 onwards, so no further rise is legislated.
- From 1 July 2026 the rate is applied to qualifying earnings, the replacement for ordinary time earnings, which now also picks up all commissions.
- Super has to be received by the fund within 7 business days of each payday, or 20 business days for a first contribution to a new employee or a new fund.
- The maximum contribution base for 2026-27 is $270,830 a year, replacing the old quarterly figure of $62,500.
- Miss the deadline and the super guarantee charge applies: the shortfall, compounding notional earnings, an administrative uplift of up to 60%, and choice loading of 25% capped at $1,200.
The super guarantee rate in Australia is 12% of qualifying earnings. It reached 12% on 1 July 2025 and the ATO rate table shows 12.00% for every period from that date on, so the climb from 9% has finished. What changed on 1 July 2026 is everything around the rate. The earnings base was renamed and slightly widened, the money has to reach the fund within seven business days of each payday rather than once a quarter, and the maximum contribution base became an annual figure. This article sets out what the 12% applies to, who it covers, when it has to land, and what it costs when it does not.
What is the super guarantee rate in Australia right now?
For the 2026-27 financial year the general super guarantee rate is 12.00%. The only variation is Norfolk Island, on a transitional rate of 11% for 2026-27, joining the general rate at 12% from 1 July 2027. Both figures come from Table 21 on the ATO’s super guarantee rates page, last updated 17 April 2026.
Super guarantee rate 2026: what applies for the current year
A common confusion is which rate applies when a pay period straddles a rate change. The ATO’s rule: the rate is set by the date the employee is paid, not the date the work was done. That rule has been quiet since 1 July 2025 because the rate has not moved, but it still governs any pay run crossing a 1 July boundary.
The super guarantee percentage, the super rate and the SG rate all mean the same thing
Payroll software, awards and ATO guidance use these labels interchangeably. The super guarantee percentage, the super rate, the SG rate and the superannuation guarantee rate are all the one statutory minimum in the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992. An award can require more than 12%, and some do, but nothing can require less.
12.00% of qualifying earnings for every payday in 2026-27, for every state and territory. Check the award or agreement separately, because an industrial instrument can set a higher rate or require super on payments that are not qualifying earnings.
Super guarantee rate history: how 9% became 12%
The rate sat at 9% from 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2013, then rose in steps. The history matters when reconstructing an old pay run or checking a historical shortfall.
| Period | General rate | Norfolk Island rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 July 2027 onwards | 12.00% | 12% |
| 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 | 12.00% | 11% |
| 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 | 12.00% | 10% |
| 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 | 11.50% | 9% |
| 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 | 11.00% | 8% |
| 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023 | 10.50% | 7% |
| 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 | 10.00% | 6% |
| 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2021 | 9.50% | 0 to 5% |
| 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2013 | 9.00% | 0% |
Source: ATO, Super guarantee rates and thresholds, Table 21, last updated 17 April 2026.
How much super do employers pay under the 12% super guarantee?
The arithmetic is simple: qualifying earnings for the pay period multiplied by 12%. The ATO’s own example has an employer paying a fortnightly wage of $3,000 on 10 July 2026 and calculating super of $360. The calculation did not change when Payday Super started. What changed is how often it is done and when the money has to arrive.
Employer super contributions and the superannuation guarantee rate in practice
Employer super contributions at the statutory minimum are a cost on top of wages, not a deduction from them. A business paying $500,000 in qualifying earnings across a year carries $60,000 in super on top. Weighing a local hire against outsourced support, that loading is part of the real comparison, which is one reason the savings calculator works from total employment cost rather than a headline salary. The PAYG amounts withheld from the same pay run sit on the PAYG withholding page.
How to calculate super: a superannuation calculation worked through
The table below runs the same superannuation calculation across common pay shapes. The middle column is qualifying earnings for that payday, not gross pay, because overtime and some allowances sit outside it.
| Pay run | Qualifying earnings | Super at 12% | Must reach the fund by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly wage | $1,400 | $168.00 | 7 business days after payday |
| Fortnightly wage | $3,000 | $360.00 | 7 business days after payday |
| Monthly salary | $7,500 | $900.00 | 7 business days after payday |
| First pay for a new starter | $2,200 | $264.00 | 20 business days after payday |
| Payment in lieu of notice | $10,000 | $1,200.00 | 7 business days after payday |
Rate and deadlines from the ATO pages cited above. The payment in lieu of notice line follows the ATO’s redundancy example.
What counts as qualifying earnings for super guarantee contributions?
Qualifying earnings replaced ordinary time earnings as the base for super guarantee contributions from 1 July 2026. For most employers the amount does not change. The ATO is explicit that every payment included up to 30 June 2026 still counts, with two additions: commissions for work done entirely outside ordinary hours, and certain payments to people caught by the expanded definition of employee.
Ordinary time earnings: what are ordinary time earnings under the new base
Ordinary time earnings are payments for an employee’s ordinary hours of work, and they still sit at the centre of qualifying earnings. Ordinary hours are whatever the award or agreement specifies. If no instrument specifies them, or overtime cannot be distinctly identified, every hour actually worked counts as ordinary hours and the whole amount attracts super. That catches more casual and piece-rate arrangements than most operators expect.
| Payment | Qualifying earnings? |
|---|---|
| Ordinary hours, casual loading, shift and public holiday penalties | Yes |
| Annual leave, sick and carers leave, long service leave taken in service | Yes |
| All commissions, including those earned entirely outside ordinary hours | Yes |
| Performance, Christmas, sign-on and referral bonuses | Yes |
| Task allowances such as first aid, higher duties, leading hand, height or cold work | Yes |
| Directors’ fees, working and non-working | Yes |
| Payment in lieu of notice on termination | Yes |
| Overtime where ordinary hours are clearly identified | No |
| Employer and government paid parental leave | No |
| Jury duty, community service and defence reserve leave | No |
| Unused annual and long service leave paid out on termination | No |
| Redundancy, severance and golden handshake payments | No |
| Expense allowances expected to be spent in full, such as a tool allowance | No |
Source: ATO, What payments are qualifying earnings, Tables 1 to 13, last updated 2 September 2026. The full tables run to several dozen line items.
Super on overtime, super on allowances and super on annual leave loading
These three catch out more payroll operators than anything else. Super on overtime is not payable, provided the award clearly identifies ordinary hours and the overtime is distinctly identifiable, including where it is bundled into an annualised salary. Super on allowances depends on the allowance: a task or skill allowance attracts super, an expense allowance expected to be spent in full does not. Super on annual leave loading is payable unless the loading is clearly linked to a lost opportunity to work overtime, a distinction covered in more detail in the post on annual leave loading.
Super on termination payments and salary sacrifice super
Most termination money sits outside qualifying earnings. Unused annual leave, leave loading and long service leave paid on termination do not attract super, whatever the reason for termination or the tax treatment. The exception is payment in lieu of notice, which does. Salary sacrifice super is treated the other way around: amounts an employee sacrifices into superannuation still count toward qualifying earnings, so sacrificing cannot reduce the employer’s 12% obligation.
Do employers have to pay super for every worker?
Close to it. Full time, part time, casual, temporary residents, company directors and family members working in the business are all eligible, whatever they earn. There is no monthly earnings floor. Two groups have an hours test: employees under 18, and domestic or private workers, qualify only where they work more than 30 hours in a week, and those hours cannot be averaged across a fortnight or a month.
Super for casual employees and super for contractors
Super for casual employees follows the ordinary rules, and casual loading itself is qualifying earnings, as do the shift and public holiday penalties set out in the hospitality payroll guide. Super for contractors surprises people: an independent contractor paid mainly for their labour is an employee for super purposes and is owed 12% on the labour component of their invoice, even if they quote an ABN. The contractor versus employee test is worth reading alongside this, as is the guidance on bookkeeping for contractors. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s tax and superannuation page restates the same eligibility rules and notes that super is also an entitlement under the National Employment Standards for most employees.
What is the maximum super contribution base in 2026-27?
The maximum contribution base is the ceiling on earnings that attract compulsory super. It was a quarterly $62,500 for 2025-26. From 1 July 2026 it became an annual $270,830. Once qualifying earnings paid to an employee reach that amount in a financial year, minimum super guarantee contributions for that employee can stop for the rest of the year.
How the concessional contributions cap sets the maximum super contribution base
The two are linked by formula: the concessional contributions cap multiplied by 100 and divided by the charge percentage, rounded down to the nearest ten dollars. The cap rose to $32,500 from 1 July 2026 through indexation to average weekly ordinary time earnings, and $32,500 divided by 12% gives $270,830. The cap counts an employee’s contributions across every fund, so someone with two jobs can exceed it even where each employer stays under the base.
The quarterly maximum contribution base of $62,500 was replaced by an annual $270,830. Payroll software still tracking the ceiling per quarter will stop super at the wrong point.
When is super due, and what are the super guarantee due dates now?
The quarterly cycle is gone. A super guarantee contribution is on time if the fund receives it, with enough information to allocate it to the member account, within 7 business days after the employee is paid. That day is the QE day, and in most businesses it is simply payday. A business day excludes weekends and any day that is a public holiday across a whole state or territory, even one the employer does not operate in.
Two situations buy more time. A first contribution for a new employee, or to a new fund for an existing employee, has 20 business days. An out-of-cycle payment such as a bonus attaches to the next regular pay run instead. The super guarantee due dates that applied before 1 July 2026, and the way the changeover worked, are set out in the super due dates reference and in the earlier explainer on Payday Super. Other reporting dates sit on the ATO due dates page, and city teams can start from payroll services in Sydney or the general small business bookkeeping page.
Using a super clearing house without missing the deadline
A super clearing house, including one built into payroll software, sits between the employer and the funds and takes its own processing time. That time counts against the seven business days, because the test is when the fund receives the contribution, not when the employer sends it. The ATO’s position is plain: pay super on payday. Payroll that reports through Single Touch Payroll gives the ATO the matching data to compare against what funds report, so a habitual gap between payday and receipt is visible. How each package handles the timing differs, which the comparison of Xero and MYOB for Australian payroll covers. Under the Fair Work Ombudsman’s pay slip rules, pay slips must also show the contributions made or intended for the period and the fund they went to.
What is the super guarantee charge (SGC) if you pay late?
If the contribution is short or late, the employer becomes liable for the super guarantee charge instead. Under Payday Super the ATO calculates it per QE day and issues a notice of assessment. It has four parts: the final shortfall for each employee, notional earnings compounded daily at the general interest charge rate, an administrative uplift, and choice loading where the choice of fund rules were not followed.
The four parts of the superannuation guarantee charge
The administrative uplift starts at 60% of the shortfall plus notional earnings. It drops by 20 percentage points where there has been no ATO-initiated assessment in the two years to that QE day, and by up to 40 further points for a voluntary disclosure, so it can fall to nil. Choice loading is 25% of the contributions for a QE day where the choice of fund rules were missed, capped at $1,200 for each notice period.
| Voluntary disclosure lodged | No ATO assessment in prior 2 years | Prior ATO assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Within 30 days | 0% | 20% |
| 31 to 60 days | 5% | 25% |
| 61 to 120 days | 10% | 30% |
| More than 120 days | 25% | 45% |
| Not lodged before assessment | 40% | 60% |
Administrative uplift percentages. Source: ATO, What happens if you don’t pay super correctly, last updated 21 June 2026.
The ATO has published a supportive approach for the first year in PCG 2026/1: employers paying each payday and correcting errors quickly are not the focus. Fixing a missed contribution before an assessment issues materially changes the number. Reconciling the pay run, the contribution and the fund receipt every cycle is what stops the charge arising, and that recurring work suits outsourced payroll support inside a wider outsourced bookkeeping service.
Super on every payday, reconciled every cycle
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Super guarantee rate: common questions
How much is super in Australia in 2026-27?
Super is 12% of an employee’s qualifying earnings for every payday in the 2026-27 financial year. The only exception is Norfolk Island, on a transitional rate of 11% until 30 June 2027. An award or enterprise agreement can require a higher percentage, or require super on payments that are not qualifying earnings, so the instrument covering the employee is worth checking alongside the statutory minimum.
Super percentage Australia wide: is the 12% rate the same in every state?
Yes. The super guarantee is federal law, so the same 12% applies in every state and territory. There is no state variation the way there is with payroll tax. Norfolk Island is the single carve-out, sitting at 11% for 2026-27 before joining the general rate at 12% from 1 July 2027 under the transitional arrangements that began in 2016.
Do you pay super on overtime?
Generally no. Overtime payments are not qualifying earnings, provided the employee’s ordinary hours are clearly identified in an award or agreement and the overtime is distinctly identifiable. That also applies where overtime is rolled into an annualised salary. If ordinary hours are not specified anywhere, or overtime cannot be separated out, every hour worked is treated as ordinary hours and the whole amount attracts super.
Is the SG rate the same as the superannuation rate?
In employer payroll, yes. The SG rate, the superannuation rate, the super guarantee percentage and the superannuation guarantee rate all describe the same statutory minimum of 12%. The term is sometimes used loosely for an employee’s total contribution rate, which can be higher where salary sacrifice or additional award contributions apply, but the employer’s compulsory minimum is 12% of qualifying earnings.
Is another super guarantee increase planned after 12%?
No further increase is legislated. The ATO’s rate table lists 12.00% for 1 July 2027 onwards with no later step, which ends the schedule of rises that began in 2013. The figure that does move each year is the maximum contribution base, because it is tied to the concessional contributions cap and indexed to average weekly ordinary time earnings.
Do you still lodge a super guarantee charge statement?
Not for paydays from 1 July 2026. The ATO now calculates the super guarantee charge itself and issues a notice of assessment, so the old super guarantee charge statement is no longer lodged for those periods. A voluntary disclosure statement can still be made before an assessment issues, and lodging one within 30 days can reduce the administrative uplift to nil.
This article is general information about Australian bookkeeping and reporting obligations, current as at 19 October 2026. It is not tax, financial or legal advice. FreeMyCloud is not a registered tax or BAS agent and does not prepare or lodge tax returns or activity statements. Rates, thresholds and dates change. Confirm your own position with your registered tax or BAS agent.
