APPROACH FOR YEAR ONE
Since 1 July 2026, super must be paid at the same time as salary and wages under Payday Super. For some employers, it has not been a simple transition, as business processes and technical systems have had to be updated.
However, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) said it will focus compliance activity (including the Super Guarantee Charge for late payments) based on three levels of risk assessment. The ATO compliance focus for year one is on employers who are not trying to adjust to more frequent payments, or who are not making payments at all.
See below for more information on the ATO's risk assessments for non-compliance with Payday Super, and its advice on what employers should do next under some common scenarios when the Payday Super requirements are not met.
EMPLOYER SUPPORT FROM TEAM SUPER
If you require any assistance, including meeting your super payment requirements, please contact our Key Employer Relationship Managers who are here to provide support.
ATO RISK ASSESSMENTS FOR 1 JULY 2026 TO 30 JUNE 2027
The ATO has said there are three levels of risk behaviour they will consider in the first year of Payday Super.
These apply to situations where an employer hasn’t complied with the rules, and contributions have not been paid in full, on time and to the right fund. For the 2026-27 financial year the ATO will:
prioritise compliance activity for medium and high-risk behaviours; and
not apply compliance resources to review employers who are considered low risk.
Risk level 1: Low – no further review of the employer’s actions is expected
An employer is considered low risk if all the following apply:
an employer tried to pay the Super Guarantee (SG) for each employee for the relevant payday, by making contributions on time and for the correct amount;
some or all of those contributions were not received by an employee’s chosen super fund on time (or were received without enough information to allocate to a member’s account);
an employer took steps to correct the issue as soon as reasonably practicable, ensuring the contributions are paid, received and can be allocated to the employee’s account; and
there is no remaining unpaid SG for any employee for that payday once the issue is resolved.
Risk level 2: Medium – compliance resources may be applied by the ATO
An employer will generally be considered medium risk if they do not meet the low-risk criteria but have rectified any unpaid SG within 28 days after the end of the quarter in which the Qualifying Earnings were paid.
This means that, while there may have been some initial unpaid SG for one or more paydays, the employer has addressed the issue within a reasonable timeframe by ensuring:
the contributions are paid, received and allocated to employees' accounts; and
no unpaid SG remains by the deadline that would have applied under the old quarterly super system (the system in place before Payday Super commenced on 1 July 2026).
Risk level 3: High – compliance resources are likely to be applied by the ATO
An employer will generally be considered high risk if they do not meet the criteria for low or medium risk.
This includes situations where there are outstanding SG amounts for one or more employees that have not been corrected within 28 days after the end of the quarter in which the Qualifying Earnings were paid.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE OR MISS A PAYMENT
If you make a mistake you should fix it as soon as possible. If you’ve missed a payment, you should pay any outstanding super to your employee’s fund, and keep a record of what happened and how you corrected it. If you have reported something incorrectly, you may need to correct it.
If you don’t take action to pay an outstanding Super Guarantee (SG) contribution, the ATO may send you a notice of assessment for the Super Guarantee Charge (SGC), which you will have to pay. The SGC is the total of any unpaid SG, notional interest and administrative costs. It will include an additional amount if you haven't followed the choice of fund rules.
The ATO has also said that:
Paying outstanding amounts to your employee’s super fund before an assessment is issued reduces your SGC liability; and
You must keep detailed records to show how you have calculated Qualifying Earnings and SG contributions. This includes records of any corrections for an earlier payday.
VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS AND PAYDAY SUPER
A voluntary disclosure statement can be lodged if you:
miss a Super Guarantee (SG) contribution;
pay late;
pay the wrong amount; or
pay to the wrong super fund.
The voluntary disclosure statement does not replace the quarterly Super Guarantee Statement that applied if you had a SG shortfall prior to Payday Super taking effect on 1 July 2026.
When considering whether to lodge a voluntary disclosure statement for paydays in the period 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, you should first consider your risk level as outlined below, as the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is focused on supporting employers who are trying to do the right thing and will not apply compliance resources to review the actions of employers who are considered low risk.
To find out more, see Making a voluntary disclosure for Payday Super on the ATO website.
ATO EXAMPLES OF COMMON ERRORS AND NEXT STEPS
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has reviewed some common issues employers face when paying the Super Guarantee (SG) and outlined what an employer should do to rectify the issue, and what the ATO will do in year one of Payday Super (the financial year ending 30 June 2027). These include:
your employee tells you the payment is received by their super fund late each time;
you pay the SG on payday and receive an error message from the super fund on day four. By the time the issue is resolved, the contribution is five days late;
you pay the SG on day seven, and don’t take into consideration clearing house processing timeframes, so the payment is late;
you provide a choice of super fund form to your employee but they don’t provide their super fund details; and
during payroll reconciliation you determine an employee wasn’t paid an allowance that is Qualifying Earnings.
See the Payday Super year one: getting it right factsheet for more information.
NEED MORE GUIDANCE ON PAYDAY SUPER, OR HELP WITH TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES?
For an overview of how Payday Super works, access to ATO factsheets on paying super, an overview of employer obligations and answers to your frequently asked questions, see our Payday Super information page.
If you are experiencing technical issues when making super payments and these are impacting your ability to meet the Payday Super requirements, see our Troubleshooting tips page which includes common error messages you may receive, and what to do when you receive these messages.
* Source: Payday Super year 1: Getting it right, Australian Taxation Office, accessed 27 August 2026.