Payday super started on 1 July. Here is what changed

If you pay staff, the most significant payroll change in years started on 1 July 2026, and a lot of business owners still have not adjusted for it.

Super used to be a quarterly rhythm. You ran payroll through the quarter, then paid super by the 28th of the month that followed. That is finished. Under the payday super rules, super contributions now have to reach your employees' super funds within seven business days of the day you pay wages. Every pay run, every time.

There is no small business exemption. No phase-in, no grace period, no turnover threshold. If you have one employee, this applies to you exactly as it applies to a business with two hundred.

What this actually means week to week

If you pay fortnightly, you now have a super obligation every fortnight instead of four times a year. The date that matters is not the date you press send. It is the date the money lands in the fund with enough information for it to be allocated to the right member account. Clearing houses, bank processing and fund allocation all sit inside your seven business days, not outside them.

There is one piece of breathing room. For a new employee, or one who has changed funds, you have 20 business days to make that first payment. After that, they are on the same seven day clock as everyone else.

The part that costs money

Miss the deadline and the super guarantee charge applies. It is not simply the super you owed arriving late. The charge is built to cost more than paying on time, and it includes an additional amount to reflect the cost of enforcement. The tax treatment of the charge also changed under these rules, so if you have missed a payment, get advice on your specific position rather than assuming it works the way it used to.

What to do about it

Three things, and none of them are difficult if you do them before you get caught out.

Check what your payroll software is actually doing. Most systems have been updated, but plenty of businesses are still running the old quarterly schedule because nobody changed the setting.

Move super to the same moment as wages. The businesses coping best with this have stopped treating super as a separate task. It goes out when the pay run goes out, full stop.

Watch your cash flow rhythm, not just your compliance. This is the part people miss. If you were quietly using the quarterly gap as working capital, that gap has closed. Money that used to sit in your account for up to three months now leaves within the week. For some businesses that is a real change in cash flow shape, and it is better to plan for it than discover it.

If you are not sure whether your payroll is set up correctly, that is exactly the kind of thing we check. It takes very little time to confirm and it is a great deal cheaper than a super guarantee charge.

This article is general information only and does not take your particular circumstances into account. It is not tax, financial or legal advice. Rules change and how they apply depends on your situation, so please get advice specific to your business before acting. Spectrum Business Management, CPA and registered BAS agent, Mt Gambier and Australia wide.