Understanding Payday Super

Well, hello everyone and welcome and thank you for joining AustralianSuper's Payday Super in practice webinar. My name is Warwick Clout. I'm an Education Manager here at AustralianSuper and it's my great pleasure to host today's webinar on Payday Super. As we all ramp up to the important 1 July 2026 commencement date.

Now, we do have a team of subject matter experts available in the background to help. So please submit any questions you have using the Q&A function which you'll find at the bottom of your screen and the team will do their best to answer as many of those questions as they can throughout today's session.

We have had a very large number of registrations for today's session. So just be mindful we may not be able to get to all questions throughout the session.

You will also find some useful links under the resources tab. So have a look under the resources tab. You may wish to copy and paste those links into either another word document or another window to allow you then to refer back to some of those important links after the session.

And we will also email you a copy of the recording of today's seminar after the session so you can revisit the content or share it with your team. 

So first like to on behalf of all participants acknowledge the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We do pay our respects to elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Islander Peoples.

Today I'm coming to you from Sydney on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation and we are joined by other AustralianSuper presenters from right across the country.

So, we have three main speakers today. So, we have Luke Fraser and Luke is our head of Workplace Partnerships at the fund. We also have Katie Pitman and Katie is a Senior Business Services Manager and Mike Collins who is a product owner of our B2B channels. 

But before we do begin, it's important to be aware that today's presentation may include some general financial advice, which does not take into account your personal situation, financial needs or objectives. And we would recommend that before making a decision, that you do read the relevant product disclosure statement and target market determination documents, which are available either on the AustralianSuper website or by calling the fund directly. 

We'll now hand over to our first speaker, Luke Fraser.

Good afternoon, Luke. 

Hey, thanks Warwick and look a pleasure to be here. As Warwick mentioned, my name is Luke Fraser. I'm the Head of Workplace Partnerships at AustralianSuper.

The workplace team provides services to over 485,000 businesses across all industries, whether that be manufacturing, transport and logistics, technology, hospitality, agriculture, and beyond.

Since our last session we had in March, we've been getting a lot more practical conversations with employers you know the questions have really shifted along the journey. So, they're less about what is Payday Super and more about how does this actually work in my business.

With that in mind, we'll aim to keep today's session practical. We've received plenty of insightful questions ahead of the webinar. So, we will make sure we've got time to address them at the end. 

So how are we going to spend our time together today? Well, we'll start with a quick recap of Payday Super. Then we'll walk through the latest developments since our last session.

We'll take you through some key questions that you can use to engage with your payroll providers or digital service providers. We'll also touch on alternatives to the ATO Small Business Clearing House which many of you will know is closing.

After that we'll also introduce our new Employer Portal and explain how that can help you manage your super payments and errors in a Payday Super environment.

So really the goal for us today is to make sure you feel this is manageable and you walk away feeling more confident than when you joined about your next steps. 

So, with a quick recap on payday, we're seeing key changes across five areas, and I might touch on them quickly.

The biggest shift is around timing. So firstly, from 1 July 2026 super moves from being paid at a minimum quarterly to being paid in line with every payday. That means super needs to be received by your employee super fund within seven business days of payday. Not just paid out of your bank account.

Second, the super rate itself isn't changing. It stays at 12%, but it's now calculated on something called Qualifying Earnings. Qualifying Earnings is a newly defined term, and super is calculated each pay cycle rather than being reconciled later at the end of the quarter. This is one area where payroll systems really need to be ready.

Third, reporting changes. So, employers will now need to report both Qualifying Earnings and the super liability through Single Touch Payroll. The ATO will then use this information and compare it with the data coming from super funds which means compliance is monitored much more closely and much earlier than in the past.

Fourth, compliance is tighter. So, if super isn't received by the fund within that seven-business day window, the Super Guarantee Charge applies, and penalties are significant and higher again for non-compliance. So, this really shifts compliance from that quarterly check to something that's monitored pay by pay.

And finally, we have some major system changes. So, I mentioned the ATO Small Business Clearing House is closing on the 30th of June. That lines up with SuperStream being upgraded as well. That includes things like real-time payments, clearer error messaging, faster and first member verification through the MVR, and earlier alerts when funds change or merge.

The key impact here is there's less tolerance for errors and less time to fix issues after payday. So, while things sound simple , pay super on payday the reality is that timing systems reporting and compliance all move from that quarterly cadence to pay by pay. 

Now I did mention I want to touch on a few things that have changed since last session.

So, the good news is we've seen all the big regulatory pieces locked in. In February 2026, the ATO released detailed compliance guidance. This is where they set out how they'll enforce Payday Super in practice, including that 12-month transition period and how it works and what their approach to penalties will be in the first year.

That guidance has given employers more clearer guard rails around what reasonable effort looks like in FY27. Employers who are genuinely trying to pay super on payday will not be the focus of compliance action while system and software changes are rolled out and bettered down.

As we speak, there's a range of testing exercises being conducted across the whole industry.

Now, the question we get most is could this still be delayed? The answer emphatically is no. There are no further legislative changes or delays expected, and the start date of 1 July 2026 still applies to all employers regardless of size.

So, over the next 6 weeks it's important for employers to be focusing on getting their systems and processes in place.

So, continuing with some other updates since we last spoke, there have been some changes that have impacted on employee onboarding in some of the systems that exist there.

So, it's a bit of a mouthful, but the Treasury Laws Amendment Supporting Choice Superannuation And Other Measures bill 2025 has now passed parliament. And there's two key changes that I want you to be aware of.

So, the first one is a practical one. You can now check an employees stapled fund before, during or after issuing the standard choice form. So, previously you would have needed to present a choice of fund form first, then perform a stapled fund lookup. This step should help make onboarding simpler, especially where there's digital solutions.

The second change relates to a ban on promoting super funds during employee on boarding from 1 July 2026. Now the ban is not absolute. Advertising is still permitted for one, an employee staple fund, two the employer's default fund, and three certain my super products only if specific conditions are met, including that they have passed the most recent app performance test.

So importantly, an advertised my super product can only be displayed alongside or after a stapled fund if there's one available, the employer default fund and providing choice. So, the idea here is keeping that onboarding moment for employees focused on employee choice rather than influencing it.

The clear takeaway here for employers is to engage payroll clearing house and onboarding providers and confirm how a stapled fund lookup is triggered when whether any promotion actually occurs within the platform and if promotion is occurring how that platform will meet the new legislation that commences on 1 July.

Now I also wanted to flag that the ATO has just updated its website with the latest FY27 rates and thresholds. One important figure to be aware of is the maximum superannuation contribution base which for financial year 2027 is set at $270,830.

That means that once your payments of Qualifying Earnings to an employee reaches that $270,830 in FY27, you will be able to stop paying the minimum Super Guarantee contributions for that employee for the remainder of that year. So, something that really impacts high income earners.

So, the important thing for you is to ensure that you're tracking those totals as the year progresses and adjust your contributions accordingly.

Look, another question we've been getting is about concessional caps during the transition to Payday Super. Because of the timing, some employees may receive their final quarterly super payment and Payday Super contributions close together in July 2026. So, for a small number of employees, this could mean that they exceed their concessional cap in that FY27 financial year.

The important thing to know here is that the government is clearly aware of this and has confirmed it's considering some relief in these situations.

Lastly, we're seeing more inquiries come through around Single Touch Payroll and super payments. When you run payroll, information that you report through Single Touch Payroll is matched by the ATO to the data that they receive from superannuation funds. The key piece that links these two things together is the employer Australian business number or ABN.

So, if the ABN being used for payroll and paying super is the same, everything usually lines up in the background without an issue. But where we sometimes see the ATO stepping in is where the ABNs don't match and that can make it look like super isn't being paid even though it has.

The important thing to know here is that these follow-ups are very often about fixing data or reporting mismatches, not about employers doing the wrong thing. So, with the move to Payday Super and that more regular cadence, getting these basics aligned up front will avoid noise down the track.

So, look, that's a bit of a recap on some of the key updates. I promised we'd move to the more practical side on what you can do now to prepare. So, I'll be handing over to Katie Pitman now, one of our senior business service managers at AustralianSuper. And Katie will take you through some of those key preparation steps. So over to you, Katie.

Thanks so much, Luke. 

So, for this next part, I want to walk you through the preparation piece. So, a few key checks that you can start now, what to look out for in your payroll and payment flow, and how to set up things so you can stay on top of that seven-business day expectation without it becoming stressful.

So, we've often heard in that leadup to payday, we're already paying super more often than quarterly or are we paying we're already paying wages and superannuation monthly. Is that sufficient for Payday Super compliance?

And at this stage, it's crucial to take a moment as Payday Super involves more than simply making super payments more frequently. It's marking a major shift in the way that superannuation is calculated and paid. And what's different now is how super is going to fit into your everyday business and payroll routines.

So, it's important to consider how you're going to approach super ahead of that 1 July. And here are just four key areas to consider.

So firstly, your systems. So, payroll systems now need to calculate, validate, and be ready to send super with every single pay run. So, it means there's far less room for any manual workarounds or fixing things up later. If something wrong, it's going to show up straight away.

The second one is around your processes. So, this is where your payroll, finance, any of admin staff will need to shift their mindset from quarterly reconciliation to pay by pay checks. So instead of reviewing super every 3 months, it's now going to become part of your regular payroll process just like wages and PAG are.

And this is also where it's worth pressure testing some of those processes. So, do you know where error messages are landing in your program? Who reviews them and can they be fixed within seven business days of payday?

And third, cash flow. So, this is quite a practical one. Super is now moving from that quarterly lump sum expense into that regular operational cost. So, for many businesses that might be manageable, but it does require planning, especially if you've historically relied on that quarterly cycle.

And finally, Luke hinted at this compliance visibility. Because of Single Touch Payroll, the ATO is now going to have real time visibility of what you've reported versus what the super fund has received. So that means any delays or errors are going to be picked up far more quickly than before.

Now with that change in mindset and approach in place, the next helpful step is understanding these timeframes that you're working towards. So, let's talk about what that change over actually looks like in practice.

So, between now and 1 of July is really about that preparation. So that's things like making sure your payroll software are Payday Super ready, your clearing house or fund portal can support more frequent payments and that you have that really clear processes in place to identify and fix those errors quickly.

Then from the 1st of July, Payday Super becomes business as usual. So, compliance will be ongoing and pay by pay. So, the core rule here is straightforward. Super needs to be paid in full on time and to the correct fund and with enough lead time for it to reach that fund within seven business days.

Now been a few questions about this one. July is going to be a bit of a unique month. So, you're going to have a bit of an overlap. You've got that last quarterly super payment for April to June that needs to be sorted. Plus, you're going to have those Payday Super contributions for any July pay runs. So, you're going to find that could be multiple super payments going out in that one month.

And the key here is to plan that cash flow carefully, so you're not caught off guard.

Now, contributions received up to the 28th of July are generally applied to any outstanding June quarter obligations first. So that date is also the absolute deadline to finalise that June quarter because after that the payments are going to fall under those new rules and penalties that Luke mentioned and penalties may apply.

Now from the 29th of July onwards payments will be allocated to Payday Super amounts only. So, the key message here if you miss that 28th of July deadline for your June quarter contributions, don't pay the fund directly after that date. Instead, you'll need to generally lodge a Super Guarantee statement with the ATO by the 28th of August and pay that outstanding amount to the ATO.

So, key takeaway here, treat July as that plan transition month. Close out that June quarter cleanly and then start your payday rhythm straight away. You can set yourself up for more smoother ongoing compliance.

Now, with Payday Super getting very close, it's now a really good time to step back and look at some of your other broader prep. So, for most businesses it means getting everyone all your different stakeholders. So, payroll, finance, IT or HR if you have those together early so everyone understands their role.

So, from a finance perspective it might be worth thinking about those more frequent super payments. So, and what that will mean for cash flow and whether you need to check any think we're out with your banking arrangements especially around those new payment platforms that real-time payment.

Now for IT teams that's about your systems and whether you're introducing anything new to suit that Payday Super compliance and whether any of your processes are needed to change to support those more frequent payment cycles.

Now HR plays an important role here if you've got it. This is all about onboarding. So, it's a good opportunity to review how you're onboarding any new starters. So, any materials, contracts or enterprise agreements you might have and how you present that choice of fund. That's what Luke was talking about before and that's how your fund choice is captured for new starters as well.

It's also a good time to look at any digital options. If part of your processes is still manual, so it's a good chance to clean up the data and make sure that those employee and fund details are accurate as well.

And finally, keep talking with any payroll or clearing house providers about any upcoming time changes, the timing, any costs. And it's good time to start paying attention to any SuperStream error messages you're currently receiving because after the 1st of July 2026, some of those payments that are currently going through with warnings might be rejected under the new Payday Super changes.

So doing some of that groundwork early is really going to help you reduce your risks and make sure that move to Payday Super is a lot smoother.

Now, if there's one thing I’d encourage, it's reaching out to your provider, so your payroll provider, your clearing house, and get into conversation so you can be prepared. So, the goal here is to have that clear, organised discussion, and not just a general reassurance.

So, Payday Super is really relying heavily on payroll systems being ready, tested, and properly supported. So, it's not enough to just hear that yes, we're going to be ready. You'll want to hear specifics. So, dates, details, and clear commitments.

So, a big one is about timing. Ask when that Payday Super functionality will be available in any live environments and you want to understand how super payments are triggered on payday through your payroll system.

So just as importantly what happens if something goes wrong and maybe if a payment is rejected by a fund, how quickly will you be notified? What does the fix look like? Is it something your team can resolve straight away?

And testing matters here too. So, where you can test some of those scenarios before going live so you've got a bit of visibility of how that will work.

And finally think about people and support. So, as we all know June or July busiest time of year, so we want to it's going to be extremely busy especially for people involved in payroll and super. So, check whether your provider has some capacity to handle that spike in demand and whether you've got any support that you can provide. So, whether that's training, webinars, written guides, and confirm how any updates are going to be communicated to you and who your escalation point is if something does go wrong.

So, the key takeaway here is that clarity now will really help you reduce any risks later. So don't just test that perfect happy path. We want to test some of those messy bits, too. And getting firm answers now will really give you time to prepare and head into Payday Super feeling prepared and not reactive.

So, a lot of questions we've got around this is what does a typical pay cycle look like under Payday Super? And we wanted to give you an example of how that seven business day countdown works in practice.

So, for this example, we're using a weekly pay cycle. It's going to be the second one for Payday Super for this business. The important thing to know here is the logic is the same if you pay fortnightly or monthly. So, it's always seven business days after payday and not calendar days.

So, in this scenario, you'll have a pay run, a pay week that runs from Monday the 6th of July to Sunday the 12th of July and your employees will be paid on Friday the 10th of July. So that Friday payday is a key moment because that's when the clock starts ticking for Payday Super.

From there we count forward seven business days. So, we count weekdays only, we skip weekends and we also skip any relevant public holidays. So, when you follow that count, the seventh business day lands on the 21st of July which is a Tuesday. That Tuesday will be your super deadline, meaning that your employee super needs to be received by their super fund and able to be allocated by that date to avoid any of the Super Guarantee Charge.

Now, let's broaden that picture into some different pay cycles. So, here we have three different pay frequencies side by side. So, we've got a weekly, we've got a fortnightly, and a monthly.

So, what you can see here is how that same 7-day rule lands on different calendar dates depending on when payday falls. So, we've just covered off on that weekly one on the left. The middle example is a fortnightly cycle with Thursday the 6th of July as payday. So, we count forward those seven bits of days and that seventh business day lands on Monday 27th of July.

And then on the third example, it's a monthly pay. It's a little later in the month. That's Monday the 20th of July. We then again count for that seven business days and the seventh business day lands on Wednesday the 29th of July.

So just some typical mistakes to watch out for around those seven business days. So don't forget as well weekends and public holidays aren't counted as those business days. And so some more certainty around those public holidays. If you have one that falls within your deadline window, that deadline extends by a day, but you also have less processing time.

A state or territory public holiday, they aren't considered business days for Payday Super. Even if you're not located in that state, however, if that holiday is only for part of the state, so it could be Geelong Cup or Royal Hobart Day, it may still be treated as a business day for Payday Super.

Another one is confusing sent with received. So super needs to be received by the fund within those seven business days and not just submitted or released from your bank on your end.

Now, payments can take some time to move through the system and payment time frames do differ depending on your payments method. Now, the New Payments Platform, that real-time payment method will be available, but it's also still an optional payment method. So, any payment timings need to be considered and factored into your deadlines.

Now, also not accounting for any rejected contributions. So, if you have a payment that bounces back due to incorrect member details, that clock does not reset. So, you'll still need to fix the issue and get the contribution received by the fund within that original 7-day window or as we've hinted, you may face penalties there.

Now, super funds have also got a tightened time frame of up to three business days to either allocate that contribution or return it to you if they can't. So, all of that still needs to happen within the seven that same 7-day business window.

So, the bottom line across all three examples, the 7-day business rule is consistent, but actual calendar dates will shift every cycle. And build a habit of aiming to submit super as close as possible to payday to give yourself maximum breathing room.

Now, I just wanted to quickly run through some common super errors that employers might see. Good news is most of these come down to simple data mismatches and usually quite easy to resolve.

So, member not found or no account exists. We might be familiar with this one. So, it really means that the member details don't match the records or the employee doesn't have an open account at that super fund. So again, check your data, check your USI, your unique super identifier for that employee account number, date of birth, name, tax number and if you do see this error, confirm those employer super details, updating of your payroll records if necessary and resubmit the contribution through.

No longer a member of the nominated fund. This often occurs where the employee changes super fund, but as we all know, they don't let anyone know they've changed. The payroll isn't updated. So, for new hires, check that their nominated fund account is open. And for current staff, ensure that any changes are reflected in payroll. And if the employee comes to you and says that they haven't changed funds, it's worth getting that employee to get in touch with their super fund to confirm their account needs updating.

And lastly, contributions can't be accepted due to age or eligibility. So, this one really comes down to those voluntary contributions and not Super Guarantee amounts. So, before recruiting any of those processing any of those requests that you might receive from staff, just make sure that employee meets eligibility rules set by the ATO. So, that's usually around their age and that their tax file number is on file as well.

Now, employees who believe that they're eligible, but you've had a refund back on those, just get them to review the rules and contact their super fund just to make sure there's nothing wrong with their account there.

Now, some good news. Looking ahead from the 1st of July, employers will be able to use something called a member verification request or MVR through payroll or onboarding software in certain situations. So, it's going to allow you to check whether an employee’s details match an active account before you make that contribution. So, responses for those arrive within 24 hours, really reducing any errors before you make that initial contribution.

Now, funds will have up until February 2027 to implement this. And you'll hear some more news from us about our functionality with that shortly.

Now most errors as we've seen are data related and not compliance. So, with Payday Super that upfront accuracy so onboarding it really matters and any solutions remain quite straightforward with those.

So hopefully that's given you a clear sense of what you can be doing now to get payroll your processes and data ready for Payday Super and importantly how to avoid any rushes close to July.

Now, there is one important practical change we talked about and this one's really for those smaller employers and that's the upcoming closure of the Small Business Clearing House. So, to talk through what's changing and what you should be thinking about instead I'm going to hand back over to you Luke.

Thanks Luke. 

Thanks very much Katie and I can see the questions are flowing through thick and fast.

Katie did mention the closure of the ATO Small Business Clearing House. We're very close. Closes on 30 June won't be available from 1 July onwards. People that are using it will no longer be able to use it. If you're using it, you need to move to an alternate solution. The ATO recommended to users that March was the last quarter if you're a quarterly payer that you use it, that you make sure you download all the information that's in there and have a new solution in place prior to payday.

I might touch on now what some of the alternatives look like. So, when it comes to paying super especially as we shift to that payday environment you know there's a few different options available and really the different options will depend on the unique situation that the business is faced with.

So, the first option is payroll software that's integrated with super payment. So, if you're already using things like MYOB or Xero or QuickBooks or Reckon this is often the simplest place to start. The system allows super to flow directly from the payroll. So, once you finalise your pay in the system, the super component can be processed automatically within the same system. So, for many employers, this is the most straightforward option because it keeps everything in that one place, reduces manual handling. But generally, it does come at a cost. So, something that a business will need to weigh up.

The second option is superannuation funds clearing house and many funds including AustralianSuper offer a clearing house service that registered employees can use at no cost. A clearing house let you make one payment even if your employees are with multiple funds. In some cases, you might need to do a manual data upload rather than having it fully automated but it's still a simple and compliant way for you to manage your payments.

The third option is using a commercial clearing house. So, this is where providers like super choice or click super or worker offer more advanced features. These can be helpful for larger employers where they've got more complex payroll arrangements or multiple systems and additional reporting needs. They usually come with a fee, but some businesses find that extra functionality worthwhile.

So, look, the key message is one size doesn't fit all. What matters most is choosing the option that works for your payroll processes and supports that payments making it through accurately and on time.

Now, as I've just covered, there's a whole range of options. One of those options is working with a fund. I mentioned AustralianSuper does have a clearing house available to take you through that option in more detail. I'm pleased to hand over to Mike Collins now who will showcase the Employer Portal and how it can help make super simpler for you. Over to you, mate.

Thank you very much, Luke, and thank you folks for having me. It's a real pleasure to introduce the Employer Portal to you a little bit before I start sharing my screen. We've invested quite a lot here at AustralianSuper to bring together a one-stop shop for employers to try and simplify the obligations around super in particular with a mind to what was coming with Payday Super. So, we are moving from our existing Business Portal and QuickSuper onto the Employer Portal and employers who use those systems will be invited over the coming months if they haven't already moved on to that and I'll answer some questions at the end about timing. I'm sure they're there. I've seen some already.

I'll share my screen now so that we can take you through. I think this is the best way to talk about the Employer Portal is to show you the Employer Portal. So, I'm not going to go through all the features and functions today. We'll be here a lot longer than, the time allows. But I will touch on the things that are, I think, particularly relevant, and help, with those Payday Super, changes that Luke and Katie have so eloquently pointed out.

Logging in this is the dashboard that I can see. So, this is the main page you'll see. You'll see recent contributions and employee activity. You can manage both your contributions and your employees within the system. Upcoming contributions are noted and that will be based on your payment frequency that you set. So, we'll remind you that you have an upcoming contribution due.

I'll go into first the contributions and there is one I prepared earlier this draft. I uploaded an error file because I wanted to show you what it would look like in the system where there were errors involved in some of the payments. Part of what Katie was talking about is obviously data quality is so important. And one of the great features of the Employer Portal is it does this upfront validation. So, it'll tell you where there is something wrong and that would have prevented that contribution going through and that's in the form of these errors that you can see.

So, there are different types of errors, and it will depend on what the nature of the error is as to whether it can be edited or fixed in the in the portal or if you'll need to go back to source. But they do flag for you. So, you know that you can't proceed with these particular contributions without fixing the problem because all that would happen is those would be rejected and they will be sent back to you and that doesn't help them. You've only got seven days to get those into the account.

There is another type of message here around warnings and this is a less critical thing, but it will tell you where there is a potential issue. You can still proceed with this, but it will let you know about this because some funds with their shortened window from 20 to 3 days what they might have accepted in the past they may not accept post 1 July. So really good idea to pay heed to these warnings and correct the issue where you can and fix it up so that it doesn't cause a problem down the track.

If you see certain errors here some of them, you can edit and fix up and that will correct the record for you. Other ones here such as the date of birth not being populated. You'll need to sort out either in the portal by adding the date of birth to the member record or the employee record or by going through to whatever's produced the file that you've uploaded. That might be your payroll system. Make sure that that issue is corrected there.

Now you can exclude that if you want to get the payments out for the other six employees here and fix it later for that one individual or you can delete the whole contribution, fix the issue and get it through for everyone. That that's really a choice up to you.

Wanted to show what a contribution looks like when it does go through because this will really show some of the auditability that's really important. This is test environment folks. So, I'll go back to when we were testing some of the contributions. There's a timeline feature here that shows you when those contributions are sent for funds so that you know and you've got the audit history about when contributions were sent and that's useful for your 7-day window as well and giving you the peace of mind around that.

We heard a little bit before about onboarding software and the Employer Portal not only has the ability to manage employees, it can add them. So, if I go through to new employee here, there are two different ways I can do that. I'll touch on them both very quickly.

So, employee details and the manual method. You would enter in all that information that you have. And make sure you include their personal email and phone number so that we can help contact them. It's important from a fund standpoint. Details are in their TFN bank details if you've got them. And then you'll have this question. Do you know their fund details? They've either told you what that is and you would say yes and you would enter in their fund and member number or self-managed super fund or they might have told you that they want to go with your default arrangement and in this case that would be AustralianSuper or they might not have told you what fund they have or they can't remember. You can do what's called a stapled stapling lookup.

So, if you have enabled stapling in the settings, you can do a stapled lookup and that will go through to ATO, and they will return the member account stapled account that they have on record if they have one.

So, I'll back out of there because we won't go through the process of creating a member. But we'll show you what I'll touch on the online onboarding experience and Luke did touch on this as well. The online onboarding experience is where you're rather than entering in all those details yourself, you're putting it into the hands of your employee in many cases a new starter.

So, you would simply enter in their personal details. And then you would select whether you want to collect their TFN details, their bank details, you can toggle it off if you don't. And their superannuation choice.

What then happens is it sends an email to that individual. They often pick that up on their phone and then they can click through and enter in all that information through the process. The beauty of this is it puts it into their hands. They're responsible for getting the details right. They can still enter in their fund details. They can enter in their SMSF details. They can enter your default, or they can do a staple lookup if you've enabled that in the settings. So, they can enter in all that information.

You can brand this. You can make it look and feel as though it's your organisation's theme. And that can be a great welcoming experience.

Now, when an employee does that either the manual onboarding method or the online onboarding method, the details will come through, and they'll show similar to this. Once it loads for me here all the details are captured in the employee record and you'll see this verifying message so we verify these employee accounts through a range of methods at the moment and we are adding to that on 1 July, when it turns on at an industry level we're adding that member verification request so at the time of on boarding we will ping their fund if they have set up and as Katie was saying they have until February 2027 to do this we will ping them and we will check are these details correct? Are this information correct and true?

And at that point once we receive that this message will change. Hopefully it turns into a green solid box that says verified. But if it doesn't it will alert you and show you what those issues are. And so that will avoid running into issues when you contribute for that individual and having that come through as a rejection.

Quickly I would like to touch on the payment methods available to fund your contribution. At the moment there are three options. We are working to have the New Payments Platform in the form of pay ID or Osco as you may know it added before the end of June. So, coming very soon. And we're working very closely with our technology partners on enabling that.

But under the payment methods, we do have EFT, BPAY and direct debit at the moment. On direct debit, it is not something we recommend. It does take three business days for the contribution or the fund amount to clear. That is a banking system thing that the funds can be reversed directs can be reversed up to three business days after they're initiated. And so, we the Employer Portal holds those funds before sending them until that clearance period's gone.

So given you've got seven days to get those funds into employee accounts, 3 days waiting for a clearance period is why we don't recommend the directly bit method, but we understand that it's important for some employers. So, we enable it there.

BPAY and EFT, they're slightly different. They are overnight transactions. So, say I did this at 4 p.m. on a Monday. I funded the contribution amount for the full amount via EFT. That will come through overnight. The Employer Portal will reconcile that. It will update the status of the contribution saying reconciled. And later that day on the Tuesday we will send those contributions to the funds so that they can start their allocation process.

One other thing on this on 1 July we will start sending those contributions via the New Payments Platform rails. So, it's an even faster process of sending contributions to those funds.

So, keep an eye out for the New Payments Platform or that pay ID as a payment option in here as well.

Very quickly the virtual bank account is a feature that doesn't exist elsewhere. It is a unique BSB account number that is set up for employers using EFT or BPAY contributions. The money comes into the virtual bank account when you fund it and then what happens is any rejections will come through, and they will come as a credit that enables you to reprocess that transaction and send it out without having to go through the bank transaction process. So, shortening that reprocessing keeping you or giving you the tools to keep within those seven days. That is so important to bear in mind.

I will quickly wrap here with a question that we always get is when can I sign up? Do I need to? The answer is you can sign up now through our public website. We're taking a very measured and staggered approach and inviting employers over the coming months. So, it's not essential that you transition if you use QuickSuper onto the Employer Portal before payday. So, David Chen had asked that question.

But it is important when you are transitioning and if you do transition prior to the invite email that we send you that you have a few pieces of information on hand. Make sure you've got your email address that you used to log into QuickSuper. Use that to set up your user profile. Make sure your name is your actual name as it would appear on your driver's license or passport. We use that for identity checks. So please don't put the payroll manager or something of that nature. Use your actual name.

Make sure you have your employer number, your AustralianSuper employer number handy because that will be necessary to bring across all your existing employee details from QuickSuper. And the benefit of that is they will go through that verification process that I outlined as well, and you'll have that nice green verified box appears against those employee records so that you can have confidence when making contributions.

I'm going to pass back to Warwick and see if there might be any questions that we can quickly touch on.

Well, thank you, Mike. 

So now we'll just touch on briefly how AustralianSuper will help you prepare for these upcoming changes. So, we will continue to communicate with businesses to ensure that everyone is well informed. And if you haven't already done so, please visit our Payday Super website for the latest updates.

You'll also find our Payday Super checklist which outlines the practical steps you can take now. And both the checklist and our last webinar recording are available under that resources tab that I mentioned earlier.

We also do have a national partnership and service team who are on hand to help you guide help you guide you through the changes.

We'll then look at questions now. So, we'll just turn our questions attention to questions and there have been lots of questions that have come through the Q&A. And if you also if you do want to hear a bit more information about Payday Super, you can also scan the QR code on the screen.

But we will just cover we are mindful of time. We might just cover just briefly just a couple of the most commonly asked questions.

Our first one I might just hand over to Mike again just in relation to the transition. Mark, we have had a lot of questions around the transition to Payday Super things like moving from QuickSuper to the new Employer Portal, uploading member employee data and whether existing processes and file formats will still work.

So, stepping back a bit, what does that transition look like for employers in practice and what should they be thinking about now? Mike, would you mind just taking us through that?

Yeah. I think it's a great question there, Warwick. And one of the points of concern you that I often hear from employees is do I need to do it now? And yeah, can I continue to use QuickSuper? And do I need to make the transition before payday and is you can if you like.

You can continue to use QuickSuper. We will be transitioning off it but not before Payday Super arrives. So, you can continue to use QuickSuper up until that point that we invite you to transition across and we've created some tools to simplify and bring that data across for you.

One of the other things I'd point out is make sure that you've got good file formats, good structures, using the SAF file format is a really good idea. And if your payroll system can produce that otherwise the data will be there you and you can use the manual grid to make contributions as well and many of our existing QuickSuper users use the manual grid, so you'll be able to do that with the pool too great thanks Mike.

Next question here around time frames. I might give this one to Luke so Luke really common one we're seeing is if an employer pays on time, but the clearing house or the fund takes a few days are they still at risk of being non-compliant?

Hey, look, that's a common question that we're getting. It's probably the number one concern I'd say, Warwick. The key thing to remember here is not when you send the payment, it's when the fund receives it is what matters.

So, under payday, employers do need to factor in any potential issues from clearing house or payroll solutions. You know, practically what we're re recommending is don't leave it to the last day. There is a whole ecosystem wide change happening. Pay as close to payday as you possibly can. Understand what the processing times look like across that supply chain for you. Build in a buffer and consider what payment method is right for you. Obviously, we've heard about real-time payments, the New Payments Platform, but particularly until you get a rhythm, my strong advice is pay as close to payday as you possibly can and build that buffer.

Okay, great. Thanks, Luke.

And got another one here. Seen a few of these questions come through in the Q&A around contractors. Might give this on to Katie. So, Katie, how does Payday Super work for contractors, especially where they're not paid on a regular cycle?

Yeah. So, this yeah, we have had this one quite a bit even before today. So, it's not about their employment type. So obviously we talk about staff and contractors. It's about whether they're entitled to super. So, if a worker is entitled to super under the Super Guarantee. So, the obligations will apply the same way. So, whether they're permanent, casual or fixed term. If they're on the payroll and getting super the same rules apply to when and how contributions are paid.

So, contractors are the main exception. So, some contractors are treated like employees for super purposes, and some aren't. So, it really depends on the nature of how they're engaged. So, if they're considered an employee for super, those obligations apply to them as well. And so, the same with Payday Super, if they're considered an employee for super purposes, they do need to align to those Payday Super time frames as well.

Great. I'll just cover off one more in relation to SMSFs. Luke, for employees with SMSFs, can employers pay directly into the bank account, or does it still need to go through a clearing house?

Hey, Warwick, you're saving the tricky ones for me. Thank you. Sorry about that. Look, in most cases, payments still need to go through a super stream compliant process, which typically means via a clearing house or compliant system. That ensures that the data and payments stay linked and that it meets regulatory requirements. So even for an SMSF is not a simple bank transfer. It needs to go through the correct reporting and payment method.

Okay, great. Thanks Luke.

Okay, we are very mindful of time. We I do understand that we have gone over just in the interest of time we might finish off. I understand that. Apologies if we have not been able to get to your questions in today's session.

But just in closing, we would just on behalf of the fund like to thank everyone for joining us. Thanks to our speakers Luke, Katie, and Mike. Thank you to also for the rest of the team that have been feverishly in the background trying to answer all your questions, but again, apologies that we didn't get to all of them.

We are glad that you've taken the time to be here today to learn more about what is ahead. Please remember that we are here to help. So, if you do have any further questions after today's session, please reach out to the fund.

But again, once again, thanks again for attending today's session. We look forward to seeing you in a future webinar. Good afternoon.