How to Read Your Payslip: Every Line Explained

Your payslip is a legal document. Under section 536 of the Fair Work Act 2009, employers must issue a pay slip to every employee within one business day of paying them. It must be in electronic or hard copy form, and it must contain specific information prescribed by regulation 3.46 of the Fair Work Regulations 2009.

A payslip isn't just a receipt — it is the primary evidence you have that you're being paid correctly. The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) finds underpayment in approximately 72% of audits it conducts.

In most of those cases, the employee could have identified the problem earlier by reading their payslip carefully. Yet surveys consistently show that fewer than 30% of workers check their payslips in detail each pay period. Over the course of a career, unchecked payslip errors can cost tens of thousands of dollars. This guide walks through every line of a typical Australian payslip so you know exactly what to look for.

So, the top section of your payslip must include your employer's name and ABN (Australian Business Number). If these are missing, that is an immediate red flag — it may indicate your employer is not registered or is attempting to avoid obligations. Your payslip must also show your name, the pay period (for example, '1 March 2026 to 14 March 2026'), and the date of payment.

Quick version: Check the pay period carefully — it should match your employment arrangement. If you're paid fortnightly, the period should cover exactly 14 days.

If a pay period is shorter or longer than expected without explanation, it could indicate underpayment. Your employment classification may also appear here — for example, 'Level 3, General Retail Industry Award 2020'. If your classification is shown, verify it matches your actual role and duties, because your classification determines your minimum pay rate. An incorrect classification is one of the most common causes of underpayment, affecting an estimated 1 in 5 award-covered workers. Worth checking.

Gross pay is the total amount you earned in the pay period before tax and other deductions. It is the starting point for everything else on your payslip. Gross pay should be broken down into its components.

For hourly workers, you should see your ordinary hours multiplied by your hourly rate. If you worked overtime, that should appear as a separate line with the applicable overtime rate — typically 150% (time and a half) for the first two or three hours and 200% (double time) after that, depending on your award or agreement.

Penalty rates for weekends and public holidays should also appear as separate lines. For example, if your base rate is $28.26 per hour under the General Retail Industry Award and you worked 4 hours on a Saturday, you should see a line for 4 hours at $35.33 (125% Saturday rate). Allowances — such as uniform allowances, travel allowances, meal allowances, or first aid allowances — must be listed separately and identified by name and amount. For salaried employees, gross pay is typically shown as the annualised salary divided by the number of pay periods (for example, $78,000 ÷ 26 = $3,000 per fortnight) (we get asked about this a lot).

Even on a salary, check that any overtime, bonuses, or commissions earned in the period are reflected.

Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding is the income tax your employer deducts from your gross pay and sends directly to the Australian Taxation Office on your behalf. The amount withheld depends on your gross pay for the period, the tax rates applicable to your income bracket, and the information you provided on your Tax File Number (TFN) declaration — including whether you claimed the tax-free threshold ($18,200 for 2025-26). If you've claimed the tax-free threshold with this employer, your first $18,200 of annual income is effectively tax-free, which means less is withheld from each pay.

This one catches a lot of people out. if you have not claimed it — because you claimed it with another employer, or failed to submit a TFN declaration — tax will be withheld at a higher rate. If no TFN was provided at all, tax is withheld at the top marginal rate of 45% plus the Medicare levy of 2%, totalling 47%.

You can verify the withholding amount using the ATO's online tax withheld calculator at ato.gov.au. Enter your gross pay, pay frequency, and whether you claimed the tax-free threshold, and it will show the correct withholding amount. If the figure on your payslip differs by more than a dollar or two from the ATO calculator, ask your employer or payroll department to check. Persistent over-withholding means less in your pocket each pay; under-withholding means a tax bill at the end of the year.

Superannuation guarantee (SG) must be shown on your payslip even though it's paid to your super fund, not to you directly. The current SG rate is 12% of your ordinary time earnings (OTE). OTE includes your base salary or ordinary hours, plus some allowances and paid leave — but generally excludes overtime.

This one catches a lot of people out. for example, if your ordinary gross pay for the fortnight is $3,000, the super contribution shown should be $360. From 1 July 2026, payday super rules require your employer to pay this within 7 days of each pay day, rather than quarterly.

Your payslip should show the super fund name and the dollar amount contributed. If you have a salary sacrifice arrangement where you direct additional pre-tax income into super, that should appear as a separate line. Salary sacrifice super reduces your gross pay (and therefore your PAYG tax) but increases the amount going into super. Check that the total super amount — employer SG plus any salary sacrifice — matches what actually arrives in your super fund.

You can verify this by logging into your super fund portal or checking via your myGov account linked to the ATO. Discrepancies between payslip figures and actual super fund receipts are a major warning sign of potential non-payment.

Between gross pay and net pay, you'll see a list of deductions. These are amounts subtracted from your pay for various reasons. Mandatory deductions include PAYG tax (discussed above) and any HECS-HELP, VET Student Loan, or other study loan repayments if your income exceeds the relevant threshold ($54,435 for HELP debts in 2025-26).

HECS-HELP repayments are calculated as a percentage of your income — starting at 1% and rising to 10% at higher incomes — and are withheld through the PAYG system. If you've a HELP debt, check that the repayment rate matches your annual income level.

Real talk: Voluntary deductions can include salary sacrifice to superannuation (pre-tax), salary packaging for items like novated car leases or laptops (if available under your employer's policy), union membership fees, health insurance (if paid through payroll), and workplace giving (tax-deductible donations deducted pre-tax). Every deduction on your payslip must have been authorised by you in writing.

Under section 324 of the Fair Work Act, an employer can't deduct amounts from your pay unless the deduction is authorised by the employee in writing and is principally for the employee's benefit, or is authorised by a modern award, enterprise agreement, or an order of the Fair Work Commission.

If you see a deduction you did not authorise — or don't recognise — raise it with your employer immediately and follow up in writing.

Net pay is the bottom line — the amount actually deposited into your nominated bank account after all deductions. It equals gross pay minus PAYG tax minus all other deductions. Verify this against your actual bank deposit.

The practical side of this: If they do not match, something is wrong. Common reasons for a discrepancy include a timing issue where the pay was processed after banking cut-off, a bank account error where the money went to the wrong account, or a deduction that was applied after the payslip was generated.

If your net pay is consistently different from what your payslip says, raise it with your employer. If you're paid into multiple bank accounts — for example, a set amount into a savings account and the remainder into an everyday account — your payslip may show the split. Verify that the total across all accounts matches the net pay figure. Keep in mind that your net pay may fluctuate from period to period even if your gross pay is constant, because PAYG withholding can vary based on the number of working days in the period, any additional payments like bonuses or back-pay, changes to your tax declaration, or HECS-HELP threshold adjustments at the start of a new financial year.

Most payslips include year-to-date (YTD) running totals for gross earnings, PAYG tax withheld, superannuation contributions, and sometimes individual deduction categories. YTD figures accumulate from 1 July each financial year and should reset on 1 July. These are important because they let you estimate your annual income for tax planning purposes, verify that your total tax withheld is on track (compare against the ATO's annual tax tables), and cross-check against your end-of-year payment summary or income statement in myGov.

The practical side of this: Leave balances should also appear on your payslip, showing your accrued entitlements for annual leave, personal/carer's leave, and long service leave. Full-time employees accrue 4 weeks (152 hours) of annual leave per year and 10 days (76 hours) of personal/carer's leave per year.

Part-time employees accrue on a pro-rata basis. If your leave balance looks wrong, calculate it manually: divide your annual entitlement by 26 (fortnightly) or 52 (weekly) to get the accrual per period, and multiply by the number of periods worked since your start date or since the balance was last reset (for personal leave, which doesn't reset). Deduct any leave taken. Incorrect leave balances are common, particularly after system migrations, and can cost you significantly when you resign and are paid out accrued annual leave.

The most common payslip errors are incorrect award classification leading to the wrong base rate, missing or incorrect penalty rates and overtime, super calculated on the wrong earnings base, unauthorised deductions, and incorrect leave accruals. To check your pay rate, find your applicable award at fairwork.gov.au/awards and look up the current pay guide for your classification level. Compare this to the hourly or annual rate on your payslip.

Here's where it gets interesting. for penalty rates, check the penalty rate table in your award — it specifies exact percentages for evenings, weekends, and public holidays. For super, multiply your ordinary time earnings by 12% and compare to the super figure on your payslip. No exceptions.

If you find an error, raise it with your employer or payroll department first, in writing (email is fine). Most errors are genuine mistakes and are corrected promptly. Under section 545 of the Fair Work Act, you can recover underpayments going back up to 6 years. If your employer doesn't correct the error, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94 or lodge an online enquiry at fairwork.gov.au (yes, really).

The FWO can investigate and, if necessary, issue a compliance notice requiring your employer to back-pay the underpayment plus interest. Keep copies of all your payslips — your employer must keep them for 7 years, but having your own records is essential.