The recovery drive preceded the formal implementation of Payday Super on July 1, 2026, a policy shift requiring employers to contribute superannuation each payday rather than quarterly. Under the new regime, contributions generally must reach an employee’s super fund within seven business days of payment. ATO Deputy Commissioner Ben Kelly stated that the shift to more frequent payments allows the agency to identify unpaid super earlier and take timely action, while giving employees’ savings more time to grow.
During the 2025/26 financial year, the ATO contacted over 254,000 employers through reminders, compliance prompts, and targeted audits. These efforts resulted in a significant rise in voluntary disclosures, with employers reporting approximately A$467 million in super guarantee charge (SGC) liabilities, up from A$206 million the previous year. While the ATO noted that nearly 93% of super guarantee obligations were fulfilled without regulatory intervention, it applied firmer enforcement measures to a small proportion of non-compliant employers, raising nearly A$250 million in penalties.
Despite these recovery efforts, the broader scale of underpayment remains a critical issue. The ATO’s annual report indicates that the net super gap—the amount of superannuation that went unpaid even after recovery efforts—rose to A$5.2 billion in 2023-24, up from A$4.8 billion in 2022-23. Of this amount, A$1.4 billion is likely to remain unpaid because it is owed by insolvent companies. The Super Members Council estimates that workers miss out on approximately A$6.3 billion in contributions annually, an average shortfall of about A$1,850 per affected worker. Over a full working life, these missed contributions can leave employees more than A$30,000 worse off at retirement due to the loss of compounding investment returns.
Critics, including unions and the Super Members Council, argue that the ATO’s current detection rates are insufficient, with one analysis suggesting the agency detects only about 22.5% of estimated underpayments. There are renewed calls for the federal government to include superannuation in the Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme, which currently covers wages and leave but not retirement savings when employers become insolvent. While the government has strengthened recovery programs in eligible insolvencies since July 2024, it has yet to announce a timeline for legislating superannuation into the safety net.
The ATO stated it will continue to track payroll data under the new Payday Super system to spot employers falling behind. Early data indicates that employers are paying super more frequently under the new system, and rejected contributions have fallen despite a higher volume of repayments. The next major compliance checkpoint will involve the ongoing monitoring of monthly payments throughout the 2026/27 financial year to ensure the transition to Payday Super delivers the intended protection for workers’ retirement savings.
