If you're an employee in Australia, your employer has to pay super into your fund on top of your wages. The amount is set by law — the super guarantee — and since 1 July 2025 it's been 12% of your ordinary time earnings. This guide explains how much you should be getting, what counts towards it, when it has to be paid, and how to check you're actually receiving it.
The short answer: 12%
The super guarantee rate is 12% of your ordinary time earnings. So for most employees, the super your employer should pay is simply your regular salary multiplied by 12%. On a $70,000 salary that's $8,400 a year; on $100,000 it's $12,000. This is paid on top of your wage, not taken out of it.
The 12% rate reached its ceiling on 1 July 2025 after a decade of gradual increases, and it stays at 12% for 2026–27. There are no further rises scheduled.
What counts: ordinary time earnings
Super is calculated on your ordinary time earnings (OTE) — broadly, what you earn for your ordinary hours of work. That includes your base salary or wages, most allowances, commissions, shift loadings and paid leave. The main thing it usually excludes is overtime, because overtime isn't part of your ordinary hours.
That distinction matters if a chunk of your pay is overtime: your super is worked out on the ordinary-time part, not the overtime. Bonuses and allowances can go either way depending on what they're for, so if a large payment doesn't seem to have attracted super, it's worth asking your employer or the ATO how it was classified.
Who has to be paid super
Most employees are entitled to the super guarantee, whether they work full-time, part-time or casually. Since 1 July 2022 there's no minimum monthly earnings threshold — the old rule that you had to earn $450 in a month before super was payable has been removed, so super is due from the first dollar.
Some contractors are also entitled: if you're paid mainly for your labour, you can be treated as an employee for super purposes even if you invoice as a contractor. Under-18s generally need to work more than 30 hours in a week to qualify.
The maximum contribution base
There's a ceiling on the earnings that compulsory super has to be paid on, called the maximum contribution base. For 2025–26 it's $62,500 per quarter — around $250,000 a year. If you earn above that, your employer isn't legally required to pay super on the excess, although plenty of employers pay it on the full salary anyway. For the large majority of workers who earn below the cap, it makes no difference.
When it has to be paid
Under the current rules, your employer can pay super as infrequently as quarterly, with due dates 28 days after the end of each quarter. That's changing. From 1 July 2026, a reform called payday super requires employers to pay your super at the same time as your wages, with the money reaching your fund within seven business days of each payday. The total you're owed is the same — you just receive it much more frequently, and it's far harder for contributions to quietly fall behind.
How to check you're getting the right amount
It's worth checking, because unpaid super is more common than people expect. A few practical steps:
- Do the maths. Multiply your ordinary time earnings by 12% and compare it with what's landed in your fund. Our calculator does this for you.
- Check your fund, not just your payslip. A payslip can show super as "accrued" without it actually being paid. Log in to your super account, or check via ATO online services through myGov, to confirm it arrived.
- Raise it early. If it's short or missing, ask your employer first, then report it to the ATO, which can investigate and recover unpaid super on your behalf.
The bottom line
Your employer should be paying 12% of your ordinary time earnings into your super, on top of your wage, from your very first dollar of pay. Check it against your actual fund balance rather than just your payslip, and remember that from 1 July 2026 it should be arriving every payday rather than once a quarter. To see your own figure at a glance, run your salary through the super guarantee calculator.