If you’re a business who pays the superannuation guarantee (SG) for your employees and contractors, there’s a big change coming your way.
(And if you’re a contractor or employee receiving super guarantee payments, this change will affect you!)
As of 1 July 2026, the timing of your super guarantee payments will need to change. Introducing Payday Super – a new requirement that SG payments are made every time you pay your contractors and employees. That’s why it’s called Payday Super – same super guarantee, now due on payday. It’s all in the name.
On top of this new requirement, the ATO officially announced that the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) is closing at the same time, meaning businesses will need to find other options to pay the SG for their contractors.
(Spoiler alert: this is where Hnry comes in. But we’ll get to that in a bit.)
So if you’re not up on the changes, or you’re not sure what they mean for you, don’t worry! We’ve got you covered.
- What is Payday Super?
- Who does it apply to?
- When does Payday Super start?
- What does Payday Super mean for businesses?
- Hnry can sort Payday Super for your contractors
- Hnry sorts taxes for contractors and sole traders
What is Payday Super?
Like we mentioned earlier, Payday Super is the superannuation guarantee, paid to contractors and employees on payday. But to get the full picture, we need to zoom out a little.
The Superannuation Guarantee was first introduced in 1992 as a way to make sure employers were contributing to their employees’ retirements. Under the legislation, some contractors were included alongside employees, so long as:
- the contract was mainly for their labour,
- the payment wasn’t dependent on a deliverable, and
- they do the work themselves (so no delegation).
Until recently, SG (for both contractors and employees) needed to be paid at least quarterly. Many businesses opted to make SG payments all in one go, as this was administratively easier (not to mention cheaper, due to the some super clearing houses including a per-transaction fee).
The downside to this system is that SG payments can sometimes be delayed for months after the contractor has been paid. This means it has less time to earn interest in their super fund, resulting in a potentially significant loss years down the line.
So, the ATO has announced that SG should be paid whenever it’s earned – eg. when contractors and employees actually get paid. Enter Payday Super, the new requirement that the superannuation guarantee is paid each and every payday.
Who does Payday Super apply to?
Payday Super will apply to any business that hires employees and/or eligible contractors. To put it even more simply, Payday Super will apply to any business that is required to pay the superannuation guarantee.
Again, this isn’t a change up of the super guarantee itself – it’s just about the timing of the SG payment. Instead of paying at least quarterly, businesses will now be required to pay the SG as and when they pay their employees/eligible contractors.
Which contractors are eligible?
Contractors who are eligible for the superannuation guarantee will be eligible for Payday Super. So that’s any independent contractor who:
- is contracted mainly for their labour,
- will earn based on labour or skills, not depending on a deliverable or outcome, and
- does the work themselves.
If you’re a contractor and you’re already being paid the super guarantee for your work, Payday Super will likely apply to you!
(So long as you remain eligible for the super guarantee, of course. You can check your SG eligibility on the ATO website.)
When does Payday Super start?
Payday Super comes into effect on 1 July 2026. From this day on, businesses will need to pay employees and eligible contractors their superannuation guarantee every time they get paid.
It’s also worth noting that as part of the change, the ATO has announced that the Small Business Super Clearing House will close on 1 July 2026 as well. Businesses using the SBSCH will need to find alternatives (like Hnry!) to sort their SG obligations.
The SBSCH stopped taking business applications as of 1 October 2025. So if you didn’t get in by this date, you’ll need to find an alternative from this point onwards.
What does Payday Super mean for businesses?
Now we get to the million (thousand?) dollar question.
The short answer is that Payday Super means businesses will need to start paying the super guarantee for all eligible contractors and employees each payday.
The longer answer is that many businesses will need to find a new way of sorting their superannuation guarantee payments – especially since the Small Business Super Clearing House is closing. This will likely increase overheads significantly, as well as adding pressure on payroll teams.
What is a super clearing house?
Very quickly, a Super Clearing House is essentially a halfway house (mind the pun). It takes SG payments in bulk from employers, and matches them to individual employees/contractors and their super funds.
Basically if you owe Harry $20 of SG, and you owe Ranjeet $50 of SG, you’d pay $70 to a Super Clearing House. They’d then split your $70 into a payment of $20 and payment of $50 and forward it to Harry and Ranjeet’s respective super funds.
This doesn’t sound very complicated when it’s $70 and two payments – but it gets very tricky very quickly when you’re paying out thousands of dollars for hundreds of contractors/employees!
Many Super Clearing Houses charge a per-transaction fee – something around $4.50 per transaction, per person (oof!). Once Payday Super goes live, businesses will need to make SG payments more often, meaning more transactions and more costs.
Which is where Hnry comes in.
Hnry can sort SG payments for your contractors
From July 2026, super has to move as fast as your payroll – and we’re here to make sure it does.
Introducing ContractorSuper, Hnry’s dedicated super guarantee payment facilitation service.
All you need to do is calculate the super amounts as they’re due, and send us the total contribution and remittance file. From there, we’ll process the payment, making sure all contributions are forwarded on within the required timeframes. Then we’ll send you a report confirming the payments have been made, ready for audit and compliance.
Best of all, we’re around 50% cheaper per transaction than traditional providers. And if any of your contractors already use our service, we’ll sort their SG payments for free. Seriously!
Payday super solved for your contractors
ContractorSuper by Hnry facilitates Payday Super payments to the right super funds for your contractors (including ABN sole traders) on your behalf, accurately and securely.
You calculate super liability for your contractors, complete your STP reporting, and send Hnry a single payment along with a simple schedule of who gets what. From there, we take care of the rest – no multiple payments, no manual splitting, no extra super runs.
We’ll also send you clear, consolidated, audit-ready reporting for every pay cycle – including who was paid, how much, when, and to which fund.
As an added bonus, we’re over 50% cheaper than traditional super processing models. Reduce your overheads while maintaining full compliance.
If this sounds good to you, fantastic! Learn more about ContractorSuper by Hnry.