Superannuation explained
Super (superannuation) is Australia’s version of a workplace pension. Your employer pays it on top of your wages, and from July 2026 it has to arrive in your fund within days of each payday.
In 30 seconds
- Your employer must pay 12% of your qualifying earnings into a super fund, including if you’re on a temporary visa
- If you don’t choose a fund, your existing (“stapled”) fund is used, or your employer’s default fund if you have none
- Temporary visa holders who leave for good can claim it back as a DASP, but it’s taxed at 35% (65% for working holiday makers)
What super is
Super is money your employer pays into a fund in your name, which is invested until you retire. It is compulsory. Unlike UK auto-enrolment, you don’t have to pay in anything yourself: the 12% comes from your employer. It applies whether you work full-time, part-time or casual hours, and whether you’re a citizen, permanent resident or temporary resident. If you’re under 18, you only get it if you work more than 30 hours a week.
Payday Super: what changed in July 2026
Until 30 June 2026 employers paid super every quarter. From 1 July 2026, under “Payday Super”, it must reach your fund within 7 business days of each payday. The rate is still 12%, but it is now worked out on “qualifying earnings”, which include ordinary pay, all commissions and salary sacrifice amounts.
- Check your payslip shows the super amount for each pay
- Check it has actually arrived: log in to myGov, link the ATO, then look under Super
- Read the job offer carefully: “A$100,000 plus super” is more than “A$100,000 including super”. See Reading an Australian job offer
Choosing a fund
On your first day at work you’ll be offered a standard choice form. What happens next:
| Your situation | Where your super goes |
|---|---|
| You fill in the standard choice form | The fund you choose |
| You don’t choose, and already have a super account | Your “stapled” fund: the ATO tells your employer which existing account to use |
| You don’t choose, and have never had super | Usually your employer’s default fund |
The ATO’s free YourSuper comparison tool (in ATO online services through myGov) compares basic “MySuper” products on fees and past returns. Compare:
- Fees: administration fees and investment fees make a big difference over decades
- Long-term investment performance
- Insurance: many funds include death, total and permanent disability and income protection cover, which you pay for from your balance
- Investment options and how much risk you’re comfortable with
Tax and topping up
Your employer’s contributions and any salary sacrifice are “concessional” contributions, taxed at 15% inside the fund. The yearly cap for these is A$32,500 in 2026–27 (up from A$30,000). You can also add money from after-tax income (“non-concessional” contributions), capped at A$130,000 in 2026–27.
One account, not several
Each job can leave you with a new account, each charging fees. To combine them, log in to myGov, go to the ATO, then Super, Manage, Transfer super. Transfers usually take about 3 days. Before you close an account, check whether you’d lose insurance cover and whether there are exit fees.
Getting it out if you leave Australia
You normally can’t touch super until you reach your preservation age (60 for anyone born on or after 1 July 1964) and retire. The exception is for temporary residents leaving for good: the Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP).
| Part of your payment | Tax (most visas) | Tax (working holiday makers, 417 and 462) |
|---|---|---|
| Tax-free component | 0% | 0% |
| Taxed element | 35% | 65% |
| Untaxed element | 45% | 65% |
- You can claim only after your visa has ended or been cancelled and you have left Australia
- You cannot claim if you are an Australian or New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident. Once you get permanent residency, your super stays put until you retire
- Apply free through the ATO’s online DASP system. You can only submit it once you’ve left Australia and no longer hold an active visa
- If you don’t claim, once 6 months have passed since you left and your visa ended, your fund can pass it to the ATO as unclaimed super. You can still claim it from the ATO
What to do next
- Fill in the standard choice form, or check which fund you’ve been stapled to
- Link the ATO to your myGov account and check payments arrive each payday
- Use the YourSuper comparison tool before you settle on a fund
- ATO: About Payday Super
- ATO: Departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP)
- ATO: Choosing a super fund
- ATO: Contributions caps
- ATO: Payments from super (preservation age)
- ATO: Transferring or consolidating your super
- ATO: Your superannuation basics
- ATO: Understanding concessional and non-concessional contributions