Super Rate 2025-26: 12% Employer Contribution Explained

The Superannuation Guarantee (SG) rate for the 2025-26 financial year is 12%. In practice, this means your employer must contribute an amount equal to 12% of your ordinary time earnings (OTE) into your nominated super fund. The 12% rate took effect on 1 July 2025 as part of the legislated schedule of SG rate increases under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Your Future, Your Super) Act 2021.

This is the final scheduled increase — the rate was 11.5% in 2024-25, 11% in 2023-24, and 10.5% in 2022-23. The 12% rate is expected to remain at this level unless Parliament legislates further changes.

For an employee earning $70,000 per year, 12% means $8,400 in annual super contributions from their employer.

Since 1 July 2022, all employees are entitled to the Superannuation Guarantee regardless of how much they earn. Previously, employees had to earn at least $450 per month to qualify, but that threshold was abolished. So every employee — full-time, part-time, or casual — must receive super contributions from the first dollar.

This applies even to employees under 18 who work more than 30 hours per week. Some contractors may also be entitled to super if they're paid wholly or principally for their labour under the expanded definition of employee for SG purposes.

The only common exclusions are employees paid under the Comcare scheme, certain foreign executives, and members of the Defence Force in relation to military service.

Super is calculated on ordinary time earnings, not total salary. OTE includes your base salary or wages for ordinary hours of work, commissions, shift loadings, allowances (if they form part of your ordinary pay), paid leave (annual, personal, long service), and bonuses that relate to ordinary hours. OTE does not include overtime payments, one-off reimbursements for expenses, or workers compensation payments.

For casual employees, OTE includes the casual loading component. If you are salary-sacrificing into super, your employer still owes the SG on your pre-sacrifice salary.

The distinction between OTE and total earnings matters because some pay components like overtime are excluded from the super calculation.

There's a quarterly cap on the amount of earnings an employer must pay super on, called the maximum super contribution base. For 2025-26, this cap is $65,070 per quarter (equivalent to $260,280 per year). If you earn above this amount, your employer only has to pay super on earnings up to the cap.

For example, if you earn $80,000 in a quarter, your employer only needs to contribute 12% of $65,070 ($7,808.40), not 12% of $80,000. However, many employment contracts include a clause requiring super on total earnings regardless of the cap.

The maximum contribution base is indexed each year in line with Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings (AWOTE). For most Australians earning under $260,280 per year, this cap has no practical impact.

The Superannuation Guarantee has risen steadily since its introduction in 1992. It started at 3% in 1992-93, reached 9% by 2002-03, and then stayed at 9% for over a decade. From 2013-14, a gradual increase schedule was legislated: 9.25% (2013-14), 9.5% (2014-15 through 2020-21), 10% (2021-22), 10.5% (2022-23), 11% (2023-24), 11.5% (2024-25), and finally 12% from 1 July 2025.

The long freeze at 9.5% during the Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison years was controversial, with industry super funds estimating the delay cost average workers tens of thousands of dollars in retirement savings. Now at 12%, Australia's compulsory super rate is among the highest in the world.

Employers must pay SG contributions at least quarterly. The due dates are: Q1 (July-September) by 28 October, Q2 (October-December) by 28 January, Q3 (January-March) by 28 April, and Q4 (April-June) by 28 July. If an employer misses a deadline, they cannot claim a tax deduction for the late contributions and must instead pay the Super Guarantee Charge (SGC) to the ATO.

Quick version: The SGC includes the shortfall amount calculated on total salary and wages (not just OTE), a nominal interest component of 10% per annum, and an administration fee of $20 per employee per quarter. Many employers choose to pay super more frequently — fortnightly or monthly — to avoid large quarterly liabilities and the risk of missing deadlines.

First, check your super fund balance through your fund's app or website, or via your myGov account linked to the ATO. Remember that employer contributions may take a few weeks to appear after each quarter's due date. If you notice contributions are missing, raise it with your employer or payroll department — many cases are processing errors or delays.

If your employer confirms they have not been paying, or you cannot get a response, you can report unpaid super to the ATO using their online form at ato.gov.au. The ATO investigates these reports confidentially and can compel employers to pay.

You can also check the Superannuation Holding Accounts Special Account (SHASA) — the ATO may be holding lost super on your behalf. Use our Superannuation Calculator to verify what you should be receiving each pay period.

Understanding the dollar amounts helps you check your contributions are correct. Here are the annual employer super contributions at 12% for common salary levels. At $45,000 per year, your employer should contribute $5,400 annually or $1,350 per quarter.

At $55,000, it's $6,600 per year or $1,650 per quarter. At $65,000, the annual super contribution is $7,800 ($1,950 quarterly).

At $75,000, you should receive $9,000 per year ($2,250 quarterly). At $85,000, contributions should total $10,200 annually ($2,550 quarterly). At $100,000, your employer owes $12,000 per year or $3,000 per quarter. At $120,000, the annual figure is $14,400 ($3,600 quarterly). Keep records (yes, really).

At $150,000, you should see $18,000 in annual super contributions ($4,500 per quarter). For part-time employees, simply calculate 12% of your actual ordinary time earnings.

A part-time worker on $30 per hour doing 25 hours per week earns $39,000 per year in OTE, meaning $4,680 in annual super ($1,170 per quarter). If you are paid fortnightly, divide the quarterly amount by roughly 6.5 fortnights to get the expected per-pay-period contribution. Always check your payslip shows the correct super amount each pay cycle, and reconcile against your super fund statement quarterly.

The ATO estimates around $5 billion in super goes unpaid each year, affecting approximately 2.9 million workers. Here are the most common employer mistakes to watch for.

• not paying super on casual employees — every casual employee is entitled to the SG from the first dollar, regardless of how few hours they work
• calculating super on base salary instead of OTE — if your pay includes shift loadings, commissions, or allowances that form part of ordinary pay, super should be calculated on those amounts too
• paying super late — even if the correct amount is eventually paid, missing the quarterly deadline triggers the Super Guarantee Charge, which employers can't claim as a tax deduction
• not paying super during paid leave — annual leave, personal leave, and long service leave are all OTE, so super accrues on these payments
• reducing super when employees salary sacrifice — the SG is calculated on pre-sacrifice salary, so salary sacrificing into super shouldn't reduce the employer's 12% obligation
• using the wrong super fund — employees have the right to choose their own fund, and employers must comply with a valid choice of fund nomination
• not paying super on the casual loading component — the 25% loading is part of OTE for casual workers and attracts super

If you spot any of these issues, raise them with your employer in writing and keep records of all correspondence.

Whether you receive the SG as a contractor depends on how the law classifies your working arrangement, not what your contract says. Under the expanded definition of 'employee' for SG purposes in section 12(3) of the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992, a person who works under a contract that's wholly or principally for their labour is treated as an employee for super purposes — even if they've an ABN and invoice for their work. This captures many sole traders and independent contractors who personally perform the work rather than subcontracting it out.

The key test is whether the contract is principally for labour (the person's effort and skills) rather than for a result or the supply of materials. For example, a freelance graphic designer who works on-site at a single client's office using the client's equipment would likely be considered an employee for SG purposes.

However, a contractor who supplies their own significant equipment, hires their own staff, and bears commercial risk may not be. Gig economy workers — such as rideshare drivers and food delivery riders — are generally classified as independent contractors and do not receive the SG, although this is an active area of policy reform. The Closing Loopholes Act 2024 introduced new protections for gig workers, but the super classification for most platform workers hasn't yet changed. If you are unsure about your status, the ATO provides an Employee/Contractor Decision Tool on their website.

You've the right to choose which super fund your employer pays your contributions into. This right is protected under the Superannuation Guarantee legislation and was strengthened by the Your Future, Your Super reforms. To exercise your choice, complete a Standard Choice Form (available from the ATO) and give it to your employer.

They must start paying into your chosen fund within two months. If you don't make a choice, your employer will pay into their default fund — known as a 'stapled fund' arrangement since November 2021.

Under stapling, the ATO will direct your employer to use your existing super fund from a previous job, preventing the creation of multiple unwanted accounts. If you have multiple super accounts from different jobs, consider consolidating them into a single fund to avoid paying multiple sets of fees and insurance premiums. You can consolidate through your myGov account linked to the ATO — the process takes about 10 minutes and typically transfers within 3-5 business days. Before consolidating, check whether any of your funds have insurance policies you want to keep, as closing an account cancels its insurance.

The average Australian has 1.4 super accounts, but many people still have 3 or more. Consolidating can save hundreds of dollars per year in duplicate fees.

Compare funds using the ATO's YourSuper comparison tool at ato.gov.au/yoursuper, which ranks funds by fees and investment performance over 1 to 10 years.

Understanding contribution caps is important for managing your retirement savings tax-effectively. For 2025-26, the concessional (before-tax) contribution cap is $30,000 per year. This cap covers employer SG contributions, salary sacrifice contributions, and personal deductible contributions combined.

If your employer contributes $12,000 in SG (on a $100,000 salary), you've $18,000 of cap space remaining for voluntary before-tax contributions. Contributions within the cap are taxed at 15% inside the fund, which is lower than most people's marginal rate.

The short answer? Exceeding the cap means the excess is added to your assessable income and taxed at your marginal rate, plus an excess concessional contributions charge. The non-concessional (after-tax) contribution cap is $120,000 per year, or $360,000 over three years under the bring-forward rule if you are under 75.

Non-concessional contributions are not taxed going in, since they come from after-tax money.

However, there's a total super balance threshold of $1.9 million — if your total super exceeds this at 30 June, your non-concessional cap is reduced to nil.

For catch-up contributions, if your total super balance is under $500,000, you can carry forward unused concessional cap amounts from the previous five years. This is particularly useful for people who took time out of the workforce (for example, parental leave) and want to boost their super later.

Speak to a financial adviser or check the ATO website before making large voluntary contributions to ensure you stay within the caps.

You can also use the Savings Mate Super Calculator to model how different contribution levels affect your long-term retirement savings.