The biggest payroll change in a generation went live on 1 July: payday super. Three weeks in, here is where employers stand and what still trips people up.
What changed
Employers now pay super at the same time as salary and wages, with contributions required to reach the employee's fund within seven business days of payday. The old quarterly cycle, where super could sit in the business account for up to three months, is finished for pay runs from 1 July 2026 onward.
The clearing house is gone
The ATO's free Small Business Superannuation Clearing House stopped accepting payments from 1 July. If you had not moved to your payroll software's built in super payments or a commercial clearing house before the cutover, that is now urgent, because there is no fallback service to lean on.
The ATO is being reasonable, for now
The ATO has flagged a pragmatic first year. Employers who genuinely pay super each payday but hit occasional snags, like a rejected contribution because of wrong fund details that gets fixed promptly, are likely to be treated as low risk and are not the focus of compliance action. Employers who simply keep paying quarterly are a different story.
What to do this week
- Confirm your payroll software is set to pay super every pay run, not accruing it for the quarter.
- Chase down employees with missing or stale fund details. Rejected contributions are the most common early failure.
- Rework your cash flow. Super now leaves with every pay run, so your weekly cash need is higher and your quarterly spike is gone.
One more date matters: the April to June 2026 quarter is still due under the old rules by 28 July. More on that next week.