Payday Super Started: How to Check Your Super in 2026

Unpaid super cost Australian workers about $6.3 billion in 2023–24. Around 3.4 million people, 28% of employees, were short an average of $1,850 each, according to the Super Members Council's analysis of ATO data, released on 1 July 2026. Under the old quarterly rules, a missing payment could take months to notice. Since 1 July 2026, Payday Super has required employers to get your super into your fund within 7 business days of every payday, so a gap shows up within days. Below: what changed, a 4-step check for your next payslip, and what to do if the money isn't there.

What changed on 1 July 2026

Payday Super ties your super to your pay cycle. Under the old quarterly rules, an employer could hold your super for up to three months, plus 28 days, before paying it. Under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 6 November 2025, every payday starts a 7-business-day clock for the contribution to be received by your fund. The law calls your payday a "qualifying earnings day".

Source: ATO, payment deadlines for Payday Super. The Super Guarantee rate is unchanged at 12% of qualifying earnings.

How employers must pay now

Each time your employer pays your wages, it must also pay your super, and the money must reach your fund within the deadline above. Employers report your pay and super to the ATO through Single Touch Payroll every payday. The ATO's free Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closed on 1 July 2026, so small employers that used it now pay through payroll software, a commercial clearing house or their employees' funds. The rest of the rules changed too:

Source: ATO Payday Super pages; ATO Small Business Superannuation Clearing House page.

Nothing changes about how much super you're owed: 12% is the final legislated rate. What changes is how quickly a missing payment shows up.

The 4-step check to run on your next payslip

This takes about five minutes the first time, and under a minute once you know where to look. To check the numbers themselves, whether the super line is 12% and the tax withheld matches the ATO's schedule, the Payday Super Check does both in about 30 seconds.

1. Step 1: Note your payday and count 7 business days. Business days, not calendar days: weekends and public holidays don't count, so 7 business days is usually about a week and a half. Your payslip must show the super amount. At 12%, someone on $85,000 paid fortnightly should see about $392 per pay ($85,000 × 12% ÷ 26).
2. Step 2: Check your super fund's app or member portal. Look for a contribution within the window that matches the payslip amount. Funds now receive money every pay cycle, so a single missed pay stands out.
3. Step 3: Cross-check in myGov. Go to myGov → ATO → Super → Employer contributions. Your employer reports super with every pay run through Single Touch Payroll, so you can compare what was reported to the ATO with what your fund received. Reported but not received is the main warning sign. If you haven't linked the ATO to myGov yet, you'll need your tax file number and some ID; it takes about 10 minutes.
4. Step 4: If it's missing, follow up in order. Ask payroll for the remittance receipt first (see the next section for reasons a payment can run late). If there's no receipt, or the gap covers more than one pay, use the ATO's Report unpaid super tool. You'll need your employer's ABN, the pay periods affected and the amount. Keep your payslips and fund transaction history.

When late super isn't deliberate: reasons in the first year

Before assuming the worst, three things can slow payments down in 2026–27:

• You're new, or you just switched funds. The deadline for your first contribution is 20 business days, not 7, which is about a month. Don't report a brand-new employer on day 8.
• Your employer changed how it pays super. Small employers that used the ATO's clearing house have moved to payroll software, a commercial clearing house or a fund's system. A first payment through a new system can be slow.
• The ATO is taking a first-year approach. Under PCG 2026/1, employers who make a genuine effort and fix misses quickly aren't the ATO's focus up to 30 June 2027. Employers who deliberately or repeatedly don't pay are.

If you report unpaid super

1. Check with your employer first. A processing delay or a clearing-house problem is sometimes the cause. Ask payroll for the remittance receipt showing when the super was sent.
2. Use the ATO's tool. If there's no receipt or the gap covers several pays, report it online with the ATO's "Report unpaid super contributions from my employer" tool.
3. The ATO confirms and follows up. You get an online confirmation of your report. Not every report leads to full recovery, but the tougher charges give the ATO more to pursue.
4. Keep records. Save payslips, bank statements and your super fund's transaction history for the periods in question.

What on-time super is worth to you

Getting the same 12% sooner sounds minor. But money invested within a week of each payday earns returns for up to three extra months per contribution, across your whole working life. When the reform was announced in 2023, Treasury estimated a 25-year-old on a median income could be about $6,000 better off at retirement. The Super Members Council's July 2026 estimate is more than $9,000 for the average worker.

Unpaid super costs you the returns it would have earned, as well as the money itself; the Super Members Council says some workers could be more than $30,000 worse off at retirement. A five-minute check after each payday catches a gap early. To see what your contributions grow to, project your balance with the Velofy Super Calculator. To go beyond 12%, the Salary Sacrifice Calculator shows the tax you'd save: on $85,000, sacrificing an extra $5,000 a year saves about $850 (17c per dollar after the fund's 15% tax, 2026–27 rates). The before-tax cap rose to $32,500 this year, including your employer's 12%. And if you're wondering how big the balance needs to be, our guide to how much super you need to retire puts the benchmarks side by side.