Workers overwhelmingly support Payday Super changes

The Payday Super legislation, which comes into effect on 1 July, has extremely strong backing from the Australian public, according to new research.

An Ideally survey of more than 1,000 Australians for the Super Members Council (SMC) found near universal support for Payday Super, with only 2 per cent of people opposed, compared to 98 per cent in favour.

From July, Australian employers must pay their employees’ superannuation guarantee contributions at the same time they pay their salary and wages, rather than on a quarterly basis.

This reform requires super funds to receive contributions within seven business days of the employee’s payday.

SMC CEO, Misha Schubert, outlined that Australians are in support of the Payday Super as it provides more clarity and certainty that their super is actually being paid.

A recent, separate report from SMC urged Australians to check their super, following analysis that found one in four workers each year were underpaid a shocking total of $24.4 billion over a five-year period from 2018 to 2023.

“Australians right across the country overwhelmingly back Payday Super, because they want more visibility and confidence that their super is being paid properly – on time, every time, in full,” Schubert said.

The Australian Taxation Office has said it will adopt a graduated approach to enforcement as businesses transition to the new system in the first 12 months, focusing its resources on areas of highest risk.

More than 70 per cent of people who were surveyed agreed it would help them keep track of whether their employers are paying their super correctly, and more than half said they would now check their super more regularly.

The council’s modelling shows a worker being underpaid $1,730 in super in 2022–23, and a typical affected worker could be more than $30,000 worse off at retirement due to the loss of compounding investment returns.

The report noted that younger workers and low-income earners are at risk, with one in two workers who earn less than $25,000 a year having unpaid super entitlements.

The new laws will create a level playing field for all the businesses that are currently doing the right thing by their staff, and allow employers overall to stay on top of their cash flow and worker entitlements.

Since the announcement of the reform, companies have taken a head start in their approach to paying super, with around 19,000 more employers paying super more frequently than quarterly.

The council encouraged this, urging employers to take immediate, practical steps to get their systems ready.

“For employers making this transition, we appreciate the scale of the task, and that’s why we support the ATO’s graduated approach on enforcement in the first 12 months,” Schubert said.

“Unpaid super is a silent pay cut that costs Australian workers nearly $6 billion each year. This is money Australians have earned but never been paid – and it’s leaving millions much poorer at retirement.”

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