The Superannuation Guarantee reached 12% on 1 July 2025 — the final step of a legislated schedule that ran for over a decade.
There are no further increases scheduled. For the first time in years, this is a cost that has stopped moving.
Which makes what happened next more significant than most employers realised.
The rate is settled. The timing is not.
From 1 July 2026, Payday Super requires contributions to reach each employee’s fund within seven business days of payday, replacing the quarterly cycle.
The amount you owe did not change. When it leaves your account did.
Under the old rules, super accrued as a liability and left the bank up to four months later. That was an interest-free float that a great many Australian businesses had built their working capital position around — mostly without ever deciding to.
Research put the average SME’s additional working capital requirement at over $124,000. ScotPac found 68% had made no preparation at all.
→ The $124,000 working capital hole
What 12% actually costs
Super calculates on ordinary time earnings, not total wages. The distinction matters:
Included: ordinary hours, over-award payments, shift loadings, commissions, most allowances, paid leave.
Generally excluded: overtime worked outside ordinary hours, redundancy pay, unused leave paid on termination, genuine reimbursements.
Getting the classification wrong is one of the most common sources of underpayment, and it compounds quietly across years.
| Annual OTE | Super at 12% |
|---|---|
| $65,000 | $7,800 |
| $75,000 | $9,000 |
| $90,000 | $10,800 |
| $120,000 | $14,400 |
On a five-person payroll averaging $75,000, that is $45,000 a year — now leaving in fortnightly instalments rather than quarterly ones.
The interaction nobody modelled
Two things landed on the same day.
Award rates rose 4.75% and the minimum wage 5.97% from 1 July 2026. Super calculates on the higher base, so the SG cost rose even though the rate did not.
Payday Super started the same day, compressing the cycle.
For an award-reliant employer, both hit the first pay run of the new financial year simultaneously. Businesses that budgeted for the award increase alone were short.
The cost of getting it wrong
Unpaid or late super becomes the superannuation guarantee charge, which is materially worse than the super itself:
- The shortfall amount (calculated on total salary and wages, not just OTE — a broader base)
- Interest on the shortfall
- An administration component per employee per quarter
- And critically: the SGC is not tax-deductible, unlike ordinary super contributions
Unpaid SGC can also attract a director penalty notice, making it personally yours. The ATO issued roughly 85,000 DPNs in 2024-25 covering $5.5 billion.
→ Director penalty notices explained
What to check this month
Confirm contributions are arriving within seven business days, not just being initiated. Your clearing house processing time sits inside your window. Check one real payday against one real fund receipt date.
Verify you migrated from the ATO Small Business Superannuation Clearing House, which closed 30 June 2026.
Review OTE classification, particularly allowances, commissions and bonuses.
Check new starters have a fund nominated, and that stapled fund rules were followed where they did not choose.
Model your per-run obligation: annual payroll × 12% ÷ number of pay runs. Then stress-test it against your worst cash week of the past year.
Where to go next
- Payday Super: The $124,000 Working Capital Hole\n- Payday Super Readiness Checklist\n- The True Cost of an Employee\n- Director Penalty Notices Explained
Sources: Australian Taxation Office; Fair Work Commission Annual Wage Review 2026; ScotPac SME Growth Index; Employment Hero. General information, not tax advice — confirm your obligations with your accountant.