How many superannuation contributions are there per year?
Right now the law requires as few as four a year — one each quarter — though most employers already pay every pay cycle. But that's about to change: from 1 July 2026, “Payday Super” requires a contribution on every payday.
How much super, how many times a year?
Enter your salary and how often you're paid. Uses the current 12% Super Guarantee rate.
Until 30 June 2026: the legal minimum is just 4 — one a quarter, about $2,700 each — though most employers already pay every pay cycle.
From 1 July 2026 (Payday Super): a contribution on every payday — about 26 times a year on fortnightly pay, of roughly $415 each.
General information only, not financial advice. The Super Guarantee applies to ordinary time earnings (overtime is generally excluded), and very high earners hit a maximum contribution base. Check your own situation with the ATO or a licensed adviser.
The short answer
There are two answers, because the rules are mid-change. Until 30 June 2026, your employer must pay the Super Guarantee at least quarterly — so the legal minimum is four contributions a year, due within 28 days of each quarter's end. In practice, most employers run super through payroll each pay cycle, so plenty of people already get 12 (monthly), 26 (fortnightly) or 52 (weekly) contributions a year.
From 1 July 2026, the quarterly minimum disappears. Under the Payday Super reform, super must be paid on the same cycle as your wages — so “how many per year” will simply equal how many times you're paid. Either way, the amount is 12% of your ordinary time earnings.
What changes on 1 July 2026: Payday Super
Payday Super is the biggest change to super contributions in years. From 1 July 2026, employers must pay each employee's super at the same time as their wages, with the money required to reach the fund within seven days of payday. For a business running monthly payroll, that lifts the number of super runs from 4 a year to 12; for the common fortnightly cycle, it becomes 26.
The point of the reform is to stop unpaid and underpaid super — billions of dollars go missing each year when contributions are only reconciled quarterly — and to let your balance start compounding sooner. The calculation basis also broadens: from that date super is worked out on “qualifying earnings”, a new term that folds in ordinary time earnings plus some payments that previously sat outside it. Late payers face tighter penalties under a rebuilt Super Guarantee Charge.
The rate behind every contribution: 12%
Every contribution is 12% of your ordinary time earnings. That rate reached its legislated peak on 1 July 2025 and isn't scheduled to rise further. It's come a long way: the Super Guarantee began in 1992 at just 3%, then climbed in steps over three decades.
The maths is simple. On an $80,000 salary, 12% is $9,600 a year; on $90,000 it's $10,800. Ordinary time earnings covers your base pay, commissions, shift loadings and many allowances, but generally not overtime. Very high earners reach a “maximum contribution base” — an income ceiling, indexed each year, above which employers aren't required to pay SG.
Quick answers
This is general information, not financial advice. Figures are current for the 2025–26 financial year and may change. For your own circumstances, see the ATO or the government's free moneysmart.gov.au, or speak to a licensed financial adviser.
Sources
- ATO — Super Guarantee. The 12% rate and the move to per-payday contributions and qualifying earnings.
- ATO — About Payday Super. The 1 July 2026 start, the seven-day rule and the new Super Guarantee Charge.
- ATO — Contributions caps. The $30,000 concessional and $120,000 non-concessional caps for 2025–26.
More numbers worth knowing
Four times a year was the old floor — from July 2026, your super arrives every time your pay does.