Salary sacrificing is a method of contributing to your super, while also reducing the amount of income tax you pay.

By asking your employer to contribute an additional amount of your take-home pay to your super account each time you're paid, money that otherwise would be paid as tax is deposited into your super account.

For further information on salary sacrifice, please see our salary sacrifice page.

Please note that salary sacrifice contributions count towards your concessional contribution cap.

Non-concessional contributions are typically made with your after-tax money, such as funds in your savings account and are not subject to any tax when added to your super account. 

You can generally make up to $110,000 of contributions each financial year (or up to $330,000 by using the ‘bring-forward’ rule. 

These contributions aren’t subject to the super contribution tax of 15% unless you claim a tax deduction on these contributions (for further information on this please see the ‘Personal Concessional contributions’ section below).

Making personal non-concessional contributions means you may be eligible to claim a tax deduction. Any of these contributions that you claim a tax deduction on will subsequently be considered a personal concessional contribution and count towards your concessional contribution cap.

Contributing money to your super and claiming a tax deduction on it may partially offset taxes that would need to be paid.

To claim this tax deduction you will need to complete and return to us a  ‘Notice of intent to claim or vary a deduction for personal super contributions’ form, available via the ATO’s website.

This form will need to be returned to us no later than the day you lodge your tax return, or by 30 June of the financial year after the contribution(s) were made.

To help bolster your spouse’s super balance, you might opt to contribute after-tax money on their behalf as a personal non-concessional contribution to their account. Depending on your situation, in addition to boosting your partner’s balance, you could also be eligible for a tax offset of up to $540, which you can claim as part of your tax return.

For further information on spouse contributions, including eligibility criteria please see our spouse contributions page.

Depending on your circumstances, you might prefer to provide your partner with some of your own super – this is known as contribution splitting.

This allows you to split up to 85% of your concessional contributions for the previous financial year, such as super contributions from your employer or salary sacrifice payments, with an eligible partner.

This contribution is unique in that although you’re making a concessional contribution from your account to your partner’s, the amount transferred does not count towards their concessional contribution cap. Please note that this movement of funds from your account does not reduce the amount of your concessional contribution cap used.

For further information on contribution splitting, including eligibility criteria, please see our contribution splitting page.

The Government co-contribution is an initiative of the Australian Government that aims to help low and middle-income earners add money to their super.

Under the scheme, the Australian Government co-contributes to your super up to an amount of $500, if you make personal non-concessional contributions. The exact amount that the Government contributes will depend on both your income and how much you contribute in personal non-concessional contributions.

To receive this contribution, you don’t need to take any additional steps once you’ve made your personal non-concessional contributions. The ATO, at the time of your tax return lodgement, will determine if you’re eligible, and, assuming that we hold your TFN on file, will automatically make the co-contribution payment to your super account.

This contribution will not count towards either your concessional or non-concessional contribution caps.

Please note that there is an eligibility criteria that must be met prior to the Government co-contributing to your super.

For further information on the Government co-contribution, including eligibility criteria please see our factsheet.

For those members 60 years of age and older, you may be eligible to contribute up to $300,000 ($600,000 for a couple) to your super account, if the funds come from the sale of your primary residence, without it counting towards either of your contributions caps, or being subject to super contributions tax.

There are a number of eligibility criteria that you will need to meet prior to being able to make a downsizer contribution. For further information on this criteria, as well as how to make a downsizer contribution please see the ATO’s website.

The first home super saver scheme allows people to make both concessional and non-concessional contributions to their super, and later withdraw up to $50,000 (made up of both the original contributions and their associated investment earnings) to be put towards purchasing a property to live in.

Before you can withdraw money under this scheme there are a number of eligibility criteria that must be met.

For further information on the First Home Super Saver Scheme, including eligibility criteria, please see our First Home Super Saver Scheme webpage.