Superannuation (or super) is money that is put aside for a person while they work so they have savings when they retire.
Employers and hirers must pay super for:
- employees — everyone from front of house to back of house, project and festival staff, fixed term and casual (except people under 18 working less than 30 hours a week).
- some independent contractors — including certain performers, creatives and arts workers, depending on the nature of the work and whether it is mainly for their labour.
Learn more about who gets paid super.
Super is paid:
- regardless of how much the person earns, and
- in addition to wages, salary or fees.
The Super Guarantee
The Super Guarantee is the minimum amount of super a business or organisation must pay their employees and any independent contractors deemed to be employees for super purposes.
The Super Guarantee rate is 12%.
A savings account for the future
Think of super like a long-term savings account for the future:
- An employer or hirer pays at least 12% of a person’s wage, salary or fee into a superannuation fund. Learn more about how to calculate super.
- 12% is the Super Guarantee rate — it's the minimum amount of super a business or organisation must pay into a person’s fund. Some awards and enterprise agreement require employers to pay above the minimum. It’s good to check. Learn more about understanding awards and agreements.
- The super fund invests the money to help it grow over time.
- A person can generally only access their super when they:
- reach a certain age (known as preservation age – currently between 55 and 60, depending on their date of birth) and they retire, or
- are 65 years old, even if they are still working.
- Early access to the fund is possible for specific reasons like compassionate grounds, terminal illness or severe financial hardship. The ATO has more information about when you can access your super early.
Payday super — paying super every payday
From 1 July 2026, super must be paid at the same time as wages, salary or fees are paid.
This is known as Payday Super.
For people who get superannuation, this means that:
- Every time they get paid, their super must be paid too.
- Their super fund must receive the money within 7 business days after payday.
- The person’s payments will arrive more frequently in their super account (so they start earning investment returns, like interest, sooner).
- More frequent payments make it easier to track and report missing contributions.
- The ATO can act faster if super is not paid.
If your business or organisation is already paying super — learn more about changing how you pay super to Payday Super.
If your business or organisation is setting up to pay super for the first time — learn more about setting up to pay superannuation for the first time.
Why Payday Super matters
In the creative industries where people often have short contracts, irregular pay or more than one income source, it can be hard to keep track of superannuation payments. Super contributions can be forgotten or delayed.
Payday Super helps address this by ensuring super is paid regularly and on time. For creatives working on a gig-to-gig basis or paid per performance, rehearsal, exhibition, recording, festival job, workshop, or show, getting paid superannuation regularly and on time helps protect future savings.
More in this section:
Who gets super
Employers and hirers must pay super for employees and some independent contractors, including certain performers, creatives and arts workers.
Changing to Payday Super
From 1 July 2026, super contributions must be paid at the same time as wages, salary or fees are paid. Follow the steps to get your organisation or business ready for Payday Super.
Setting up to pay super
Follow the steps to get your organisation or business ready to pay super for your workers.
Making super payments
Once your business or organisation is set up to pay super, follow the steps for getting super payments right for each of your employees and eligible independent contractors.
Getting super — for artists and arts workers
Employers and hirers are responsible for paying super — but there are things you can do to make sure you are informed about your super payments, and ways to boost your own super.
