Payday Super (Australia)
Payday Super is a major change to Australia’s superannuation system that starts on 1 July 2026. Instead of paying employee super quarterly, employers must pay super at the same time as wages and salary are paid. The contribution must reach the employee’s super fund within 7 business days of payday.
We at Destre want to ensure that all of our clients understand the effect it has on their business. Destre who provide payroll services to clients, want to communicate the processing changes from an outsourced payroll perspective. Our recommendations are based on the best outcome for our clients.
Our main payroll software provider is Employment Hero. We have some clients that use Wage Easy, Xero & MYOB.
At present Employment Hero uses Beam as the clearing house. We at Destre recommend that you use HeroClear. Although there will be a transaction cost, there will most likely be no additional labour necessary to process these payments. It will simply be at the click of a button.
Key Changes Include
- Super payments move from quarterly to every pay cycle (weekly, fortnightly, or monthly).
- Super Guarantee (SG) will be calculated using Qualifying Earnings (QE).
- SG remains 12% of qualifying earnings from 1 July 2026.
- The ATO will have much greater visibility over compliance and late payments.
- Businesses using paid clearing houses may incur additional costs.
What Employment Hero is Doing
Employment Hero has been positioning itself as one of the payroll providers helping businesses prepare for Payday Super.
At present Beam is used as the clearing house for most Employment Hero clients. Destre strongly recommends HeroClear because it automates payment validation and reduces compliance risk.
HeroClear
Employment Hero launched HeroClear, an embedded super-clearing and validation service that sits directly inside its payroll platform. It processes super payments as part of the payroll workflow instead of requiring a separate process.
- Real-time or near real-time processing.
- Automated validation of super fund details.
- Reduced manual administration.
- Better visibility of payment status.
- Support for Qualifying Earnings (QE) calculations.
- Handles Maximum Contribution Base (MCB) rules.
- Automates Payday Super compliance.
What This Means for Employers
If you’re using Employment Hero Payroll, super payments become part of the normal payroll process. When payroll is run, super can be processed automatically through HeroClear rather than requiring a separate quarterly task. This helps reduce the risk of missing the new 7-business-day deadline.
Other Systems
Xero
Xero promotes Auto Super, which automates super calculations and payments within payroll and helps businesses migrate away from SBSCH.
MYOB
MYOB Pay Super is already included in payroll-enabled subscriptions. MYOB states that customers using Pay Super are Payday Super ready and can make super payments directly from payroll.
Wage Easy
Wage Easy supports SuperStream-compliant processing, but publicly available information is less detailed than Employment Hero, Xero, or MYOB. Businesses should request a current Payday Super roadmap directly from the vendor.
Payday Super Comparison
| Feature | Employment Hero | Xero | MYOB | Wage Easy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll + Super in same workflow | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Embedded super payment solution | HeroClear | Auto Super | Pay Super | SuperStream processing |
| Designed specifically for Payday Super | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partially documented |
| Employee/fund validation before payment | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited public information |
| Replaces SBSCH workflow | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Automated super payment from payroll | Yes | Yes | Yes | Varies by configuration |
| Super payment status tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Available |
| Market messaging focused on Payday Super | Very strong | Very strong | Strong | Moderate |
| Built-in clearing-house style functionality | Yes (HeroClear) | Yes (Auto Super) | Yes (Pay Super) | Not clear |