Payday Super

The Federal Government has changed how employers pay mandatory super contributions for their employees from 1 July 2026.

This means you’ll generally be required to pay Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions within 7 business days of an employee’s payday.

The Federal Government’s Payday Super legislation aims to create a fairer super system for employees and address the issue of unpaid super. Super Guarantee (SG) contributions made within 7 business days of payday will make it easier for employees to keep track of their super and quickly identify any missed payments.

Employees will also benefit from more frequent and earlier super contributions that will grow and compound over their working life, subject to market performance.

Payday Super commences on 1 July 2026.

Yes, it applies to employers, as the rules cover anyone who is eligible to receive Superannuation Guarantee contributions.

You’ll be required to pay Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions on an employee’s payday, with contributions generally needing to successfully arrive at the employee’s super fund within 7 business days.

For a new employee, or an employee where this is your first contribution to a new super fund, the payment must be received by the fund within 20 business days of their first payday.

Super funds have 3 business days to refund a contribution if it can’t be accepted. If the super fund can’t accept the contributions, the ATO will consider the contribution not to have been made. This puts you at risk of non-compliance as an error doesn’t pause or reset the deadline and may result in penalties and interest charges from the ATO.

To reduce the risk of contributions being rejected, we recommend double-checking that your payroll data is correct before contributing.

If you need to make an out-of-cycle SG contribution as part of a bonus, commission, advances or back payment, this won’t be due until 7 business days after the next usual payday.

There are several exceptions to this new timeframe, including:

• A 20 business day deadline will apply to:
  • The first super payment for a new employee.
  • The first super payment to a new super fund if an employee elects choice of fund.
  • An employer who cannot pay to the employee’s stapled fund and must redirect the contribution elsewhere.
• If you need to make an out-of-cycle SG contribution as part of a bonus, commission, advances or back payment, this won’t be due until 7 business days after the next usual payday.
• The ATO may grant an extension to a class of affected employers when exceptional circumstances apply (examples noted include natural disasters or widespread information and communication technology outages).

Generally, no. The Super Guarantee (SG) contribution needs to be resubmitted and received by the super fund within the original timeframe. This is why it’s important to ensure your payroll data is accurate and complete, as it reduces the risk of contributions being rejected.

If a super fund can’t accept an SG contribution from an employer, from 1 July 2026, the super fund will have 3 business days to refund the contribution.

Yes, it will. The new rules introduce the term ‘qualifying earnings’ (QE) which will be used to calculate how much Super Guarantee (SG) employers should pay. Qualifying earnings consists of:

• Ordinary time earnings
• Commissions
• Eligible salary sacrifice amounts
• Payments to some contractors paid mainly for their labour

You may hear references to ‘QE day’ meaning qualifying earnings day. This is the same as an employee’s payday, or the day that qualifying earnings are paid to the employee.

The SG rate of 12% remains the same.

Learn more about qualifying earnings on the ATO’s website.

Yes. The Maximum Contributions Base which limits Super Guarantee (SG) contributions for employees who earn above a legislated threshold, is currently calculated quarterly.

From 1 July 2026, it will move to an indexed annual threshold calculated annually, meaning some employees may no longer require SG payments later in the year or risk exceeding concessional contributions caps.

As employers transition to more frequent payments under Payday Super, some employees may receive additional contributions in July 2026, as the final quarterly contribution is paid by the employer, in addition to the new Payday Super contributions.

Employees who are already close to reaching the 2026/27 concessional cap may exceed the limit during this transition.

The Government has confirmed relief will be provided to impacted employees to prevent them exceeding the concessional cap in these cases.

We will update this page as more information becomes available.

The ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House will be closed from 1 July 2026. The ATO has published an alert for employers about the pending closure of the service, with new users unable to register from 1 October 2025. Current users will continue to have access to make payments until 30 June 2026.

If you use this service, you may wish to start looking at another SuperStream solution such as an enabled payroll software or speak to your default fund about their solution. If you use Mercer Super as your default fund, you may wish to use Mercer QuickSuper* to make SG contributions.

This can help future-proof your employer super contributions and ensure your systems are already set up for when Payday Super commences.

Learn more or sign up for Mercer QuickSuper on our website.

_{* The QuickSuper service is provided to you by © Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141 AFSL and Australian credit licence 233714 (“Westpac”), at the request of Mercer Outsourcing (Australia) Pty Ltd (MOAPL) ABN 83 068 908 912, AFSL #411980. Westpac terms and conditions apply to the QuickSuper service which you will be asked to accept. MOAPL does not recommend, endorse or accept responsibility for this service. MOAPL does not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by use of the QuickSuper service. MOAPL does not receive any commissions from Westpac as a result of employers using this service.}

SuperStream updates include:

• Super funds must be able to receive real-time payments via the new payments platform (NPP) by 1 July 2026.
• Error messaging will be made clearer and more meaningful in May 2026. You can find more information on these in the ‘Error messages – how to avoid and fix’ section.
• A new SuperStream Member Verification Request (MVR) service for employers to verify whether an employee is a member of a particular super fund, and the super fund can accept their contributions. This service will be available for Mercer Super accounts in the coming months. You can find more information on the MVR service in the ‘Member Verification Request’ section.
• Changes to Fund Validation Services (FVS) to increase the visibility of changes or closures to Unique Superannuation Identifiers (USI).

Visit the ATO’s website for more information on SuperStream changes.

Yes, as part of Payday Super, the ATO requires that the ABN you provide us must be the same as the one sent through Single Touch Payroll – this will be how the ATO confirms your contributions are being made on time.

If you don’t pay an employee’s super guarantee (SG) amount in full, on time and to the right fund, you may incur penalties and interest charges from the ATO. You may also face extra charges and fees if you don’t pay all super entitlements within 28 days of receiving a notice from the ATO.

To find out more about how the government may enforce compliance, visit the ATO’s website.

If super contributions are late, the ATO can apply the Super Guarantee Charge (SGC). Under Payday Super, the SGC been redesigned. It includes:

• the SG shortfall (the missing super),
• notional earnings (interest that compounds daily at the General Interest Charge rate),
• an administrative uplift (up to 60% of the SG shortfall and individual notional earnings for QE day, and it may be reduced if you voluntarily disclose the shortfall to the ATO within the required period), and
• any choice loading (a penalty for not following choice-of-fund rules), set at 25% of non-compliant contributions, capped at $1,200 per notice period.

If the amount is still unpaid 28 days after an ATO notice, extra penalties of 25% (or 50% for repeat non-compliance) may apply.

The SGC is tax deductible except for interest, and penalties are not tax deductible.

For 2026/27, the ATO has set a risk-based compliance approach, so in the first year of Payday Super it’s focusing on “high risk” employers first.

If you take reasonable steps to comply and fix issues quickly, the ATO may respond in a more supportive way.

If a contribution has been rejected and refunded, you’ll receive an email letting you know – this will be sent to the email address registered on the administration/employer contact page of the clearing house, so it’s important that you use an email address of a supervised email account.

For further information on why a contribution was rejected please refer to your clearing house.

You won’t receive any confirmation that a contribution has been successfully received. However, we’re required to refund a contribution within 3 business days of receiving it if we can’t allocate it to an employee’s account – this means that if you don’t hear anything you can assume that it has been successful.

Avoiding the error

Please ensure that you provide the correct:

• Unique Superannuation Identifier (USI)
• Account number
• Tax file number
• Date of birth
• Given name and surname

Fixing the error

Please check and update any incorrect information in your system, then resubmit the contribution.

Member Verification Request – coming soon

From 1 July 2026, you’ll be able to submit a Member Verification Request (MVR) through your payroll or onboarding software in certain situations before making a super contribution. You’ll then be told within a business day whether the details match an active account, and if they don’t, why – giving you time to fix the issue before the deadline.

Transition period for super funds

Super funds have until February 2027 to fully implement MVR capability.

Like many funds, we’re still building out our MVR capability ahead of the industry deadline, so for the time being we won’t be able to respond to any requests submitted through your payroll software. Once our MVR system is ready, we’ll let you know and update this page.

Avoiding the error

• New employee: Please ask them to confirm they have an open Mercer Super account.
• Existing employee: Ensure that if they’ve requested you contribute their super to another fund, that your payroll records have been updated with these details.

Fixing the error

If your employee hasn’t asked you to contribute to another super fund, please:

1. Ask them to confirm their super fund details.
2. Update your payroll records.
3. Resubmit the contribution.

If your employee hasn’t changed super funds, please ensure the following details are correct and resubmit the contribution:

• Unique Superannuation Identifier for your employee
• Account number
• Tax file number
• Date of birth
• Given name and surname

Member Verification Request – coming soon

From 1 July 2026, you’ll be able to submit a Member Verification Request (MVR) through your payroll or onboarding software in certain situations before making a super contribution. You’ll then be told within a business day whether the details match an active account, and if they don’t, why – giving you time to fix the issue before the deadline.

Transition period for super funds

Super funds have until February 2027 to fully implement MVR capability.

Like many funds, we’re still building out our MVR capability ahead of the industry deadline, so for the time being we won’t be able to respond to any requests submitted through your payroll software. Once our MVR system is ready, we’ll let you know and update this page.

Avoiding the error

• New employee: Please ask them to confirm they have an open Mercer Super account.
• Existing employee: Ensure that if they’ve requested you contribute their super to another fund that your payroll records have been updated with these details.

Fixing the error

If your employee hasn’t asked you to contribute to another super fund, please:

1. Ask them to confirm their super fund details.
2. Update your payroll records.
3. Resubmit the contribution.

If your employee hasn’t changed super funds, please ensure the following details are correct and resubmit the contribution:

• Unique Superannuation Identifier for your employee
• Account number
• Tax file number
• Date of birth
• Given name and surname

Member Verification Request – coming soon

From 1 July 2026, you’ll be able to submit a Member Verification Request (MVR) through your payroll or onboarding software in certain situations before making a super contribution. You’ll then be told within a business day whether the details match an active account, and if they don’t, why – giving you time to fix the issue before the deadline.

Transition period for super funds

Super funds have until February 2027 to fully implement MVR capability.

Like many funds, we’re still building out our MVR capability ahead of the industry deadline, so for the time being we won’t be able to respond to any requests submitted through your payroll software. Once our MVR system is ready, we’ll let you know and update this page.

Avoiding the error

If an employee has asked you to make extra contributions on top of the Superannuation Guarantee payments, such as salary sacrifice or a personal contribution, please ensure they meet the eligibility requirements, available on the ATO’s website.

You should also check that you’ve provided us with their tax file number.

Fixing the error

If this type of contribution can’t be accepted, we’ll return it for you. You should then pass it onto the employee as it wasn’t a mandatory Superannuation Guarantee contribution.

If the employee believes that they should be eligible to make this contribution, please have them review the criteria on the ATO's website, and contact us to update their account if required.

Avoiding and fixing the error

Check that the payment you’re sending to us matches the contribution value in the contribution file – even if the payment is a single cent less we’ll need to refund the contribution.

What happens if I overpay?

If you’re using a SuperStream enabled payroll system to submit your data files and making the payment directly to us, we’ll allocate the amount included in the contribution file to the employee’s account and refund the difference.

If you’re using a clearing house, you’ll need to resolve the overpayment with the clearing house. Please contact your clearing house directly for this.

If you use Mercer QuickSuper or the Mercer Employer Portal as your clearing house, please see How do I avoid making unmatched payments? in the Employer top tips section of this page.

You’ll soon be able to submit a Member Verification Request (MVR) through your payroll or onboarding software to check if the fund can accept a contribution for your employee. It confirms whether the details match an active account eligible to receive contributions.

This verification is mandatory when an employee’s fund details have changed, or when contributing to an employee’s chosen super fund for the first time (unless the contribution is being made to your nominated default fund).

MVR functionality is being introduced in a phased approach across the superannuation industry from 1 July 2026 through to February 2027. Like other funds, we’re working to develop this ahead of time and anticipate readiness to receive and respond to MVR messages shortly after 1 July 2026. We expect to be one of the first super funds to enable this functionality for our employers, but until our MVR system is operational, we won’t be able to respond to any requests. We’ll let you know when it’s ready.

Employer responsibility

As part of the Payday Super rules, during the transition period you remain responsible for ensuring MVRs are submitted where required, and that super contributions are received by the fund within the required timeframe.

Please note, an MVR cannot be used for the purpose of regular or ongoing contributions.

For more information on Member Verification Requests, visit the ATO website.

You’ll soon be able to submit a Member Verification Request (MVR) through your payroll or onboarding software to check if the fund can accept a contribution for your employee. It confirms whether the details match an active account eligible to receive contributions.

This verification is mandatory when an employee’s fund details have changed, or when contributing to an employee’s chosen super fund for the first time (unless the contribution is being made to your nominated default fund).

MVR functionality is being introduced in a phased approach across the super industry from 1 July 2026 through to February 2027. Like other funds, we’re working to develop this ahead of time and anticipate readiness to receive and respond to MVR messages shortly after 1 July 2026. We expect to be one of the first super funds to enable this functionality for our employers, but until our MVR system is operational, we won’t be able to respond to any requests. We’ll let you know when it’s ready.

Yes, a Member Verification Request (MVR) is mandatory when contributing to an employee’s chosen super fund for the first time (unless the contribution is being made to your nominated default fund).

You also have the option to submit an MVR after an employee’s personal details have changed or after a contribution has been rejected.

Please note, an MVR cannot be used for the purpose of regular/ongoing contributions.

No, Member Verification Requests (MVRs) cannot be used for the purpose of regular/ongoing contributions.

An MVR is mandatory when contributing to an employee’s chosen super fund for the first time (unless the contribution is being made to your nominated default fund).

You also have the option to submit an MVR after an employee’s personal details have changed or after a contribution has been rejected.

Yes. Many employers are transitioning early to avoid last-minute disruptions and to build good compliance habits.

Many employers are already preparing for the Payday Super changes by reviewing and testing payroll system configuration for super and Single Touch Payroll reporting practices to ensure readiness:

• Data: Ensure your data is accurate. Make sure your data is clean and complete and look for any missing SuperStream data points that could delay contribution allocations. Often when we’re unable to allocate a contribution to an employee’s account, it’s due to a mismatch in personal details.
• Processes and technology: Assess your current payroll systems and processes to identify if any updates are needed to meet the new requirements, including clearing houses. Check how your current processes will cope with more frequent contributions.
• Cashflow: Plan for the new payment frequency and consider the impacts on your business cashflow of super being paid at the same time as your regular pay cycle.
• Governance: Review how you record, report, and prove compliance for SG contributions.
• New employee onboarding: Update any onboarding documents that mention super payment timeframes and update your onboarding process to capture super choice early and check employee data.

To help stay on top of things, complete our Payday Super readiness checklist.

There is further information available on the ATO’s website. If you have any further questions, please call our Employer Support team on 1800 682 525 (option 4), Monday to Friday, 8am-7pm (AEST/AEDT).

When an employee selects your default plan via a Choice Form, you’ll need to submit a Member Registration Request (MRR) with all of the relevant information to establish their account.

Incorrect information may result in the MRR being rejected or the account creation being delayed.

Benefit categories ensure employees get the right insurance and contributions, so it’s important to include the correct benefit category when you set up your employee in the system or upload their employee/member file.

If your employee prefers to use another super fund, simply enter ‘ACCUM’ in the benefit category field when you create their profile.

For new employees, please follow the steps in How do I create a Mercer Super account for a new employee?

To update the benefit category for an existing employee, please follow the steps below.

Not sure which benefit category to choose?

No worries. Reach out to our Employer Support team on 1800 682 525 (option 4) or your Client Executive if you have one.

You can also find this information in your welcome communication from when you first joined Mercer Super.

Once you have set up a default fund membership for an employee, the member number is then returned to you via SuperStream.

For employers using the Mercer Employer Portal, these will update on the employee record automatically.

For Mercer QuickSuper users, these automatic updates can be turned on by heading to Preferences in the Administration menu and turning Apply member ID updates to ‘Yes’, then clicking Save.

For all future members joining your default fund, you can then view their member number on their records by heading to the Employees menu and then selecting View Employees.

Including the Fund Registration Date (also called ‘Date Joined Fund’) when you register your employees in your default superannuation plan is important, as it ensures their member benefits start from the right date and their insurance coverage is accurate.

For example, if an employee started work on 1 May 2025 and joined your default super fund on that day, their Fund Registration Date should be 1 May 2025.

For new employees, please follow the steps in How do I create a Mercer Super account for a new employee?

To update the Fund Registration Date for an existing employee, please follow the steps below.

If you need to review the contribution history of an employee, you can do this by following the steps below.

Within the super industry it’s common for people to proactively change super funds, for funds to merge, or for Unique Superannuation Identifiers (USIs) to close.

When this happens, it’s typically your employee’s responsibility to let you know about any changes to their super fund details.

If you use Mercer QuickSuper or the Mercer Employer Portal, you’ll also receive notifications of any mergers or closures the clearing house has been notified of.

For Mercer QuickSuper users, you can find this by heading to Notifications within the Administration menu, and for users of the Employer Portal, these will automatically pop up when you log in.

Updating details

Once you’re aware of the change, it’s important to update your system to avoid errors when you submit contributions for those employees.

Sometimes, a super fund may reject a contribution you’ve submitted for an employee. When this happens, you’ll receive an email letting you know that the contribution has been refunded – this will be sent to the email address registered on the administration/employer contact page of the clearing house.

You can find details such as the refund reason by following the steps below.

Once you know why the contribution was rejected, update the information in your system and resubmit the contribution for your employee.

When using Mercer QuickSuper or the Mercer Employer Portal, sometimes payments may not match the contribution file you’ve created. This is called an unmatched payment, so the contribution can’t be processed to the super fund.

To avoid unmatched payments, we’ve got three things you can check beforehand:

1. Has the contribution batch been fully submitted?
   If your contribution batch isn’t fully authorised and submitted, the payment can’t be allocated. If you’ve already submitted it, try going back in and submitting it again to allow the payment to be processed.


2. Has the right amount been paid?
   Overpaying or underpaying causes the clearing house system to fail matching your payment to the batch. Always make sure the payment amount matches the batch total exactly – down to the cent.


3. Has the correct payment reference number (PRN) been used?
   The PRN links your payment to your contribution submission. If you forget to include it, the payment won’t match. If you realise you’ve made a payment without the PRN, email our team at employer.support@esuper.com with a screenshot of your payment confirmation. We’ll help get your payment processed correctly.

When an employee is no longer employed by the business, it’s important to let us know so we can move them out of your employer plan and into the Retained or Individual Section of Mercer Super.

If we aren’t told, they’ll remain listed as active in your employer plan and may continue paying for insurance, they’re no longer eligible for.

This could cause problems for them later – eroding their balance and potentially leaving them without insurance cover if they try to make a claim.

Updating their employment status helps avoid unnecessary stress and financial hardship when they need support the most.

How to let us know

Once you’ve made any final contributions for the employee, you can let us know they’ve left via your normal SAFF file by updating columns BD and BE (Employment End Date and Employment End Reason) with their termination details.

You can also let us know by following the steps below.

When an employee gives you their self-managed super fund (SMSF) information, we suggest adding it to the system before linking it to their profile. This means if any SMSF details change you can update them in one place without creating duplicate records.

Adding an SMSF to the system

Linking the SMSF to the employee’s profile

Once you’ve added the SMSF information, you should link it to the employee’s profile by:

If you have employees with a self-managed super fund (SMSF), you might get error messages saying the Electronic Service Address (ESA) has rejected the contribution message.

Here’s what you need to know:

• This error doesn’t mean the contribution itself was rejected – only the data message (the remittance advice) was rejected by the ESA provider.
• To fix this, talk to your employee and ask them or their accountant to double-check the ESA details they gave you for their SMSF.
• If the ESA details are correct, the employee or their accountant should contact their ESA provider to make sure their registration is still active, valid, and up to date.

When a new colleague needs access to Mercer QuickSuper or the Mercer Employer Portal, you can set them up yourself – no need to wait for the Employer Support team.