2026 Changes To Super & Taxes: Payday, Parental Leave & Taxing >$3bn
Australia’s retirement savings system is about to shift in some important ways. From Payday Super to new taxes on very high balances and tweaks to other parts of the system, the reforms rolling out in 2026 reflect growing attention on fairness, retirement income outcomes and how super integrates with work and life.
Here’s an overview of what’s coming, why it matters and how to think about it in the context of your long-term financial wellbeing.
Payday Super
From 1 July 2026, employers will need to pay Superannuation Guarantee contributions at the same time they pay wages, within seven business days of payday, instead of once every three months. This sounds technical, but it matters because:
Super starts working for you sooner. Rather than sitting in an employer’s bank account for up to 90 days before it hits your super fund, contributions start earning returns almost immediately.
Compounding gets a small boost. Over decades, earlier contributions can help your balance grow a little faster.
Underpayments become easier to spot. When super appears alongside your regular pay, it’s clearer if something is missing.
Early modelling presented at the time of the proposal suggested this could mean thousands of extra dollars in retirement for many people because contributions catch compounding sooner.
For employers, this also means changes to payroll and cash-flow planning, but that should be part of modernising how we link work and long-term savings.
Super on paid parental leave
A less widely discussed but meaningful reform is that government-funded paid parental leave will attract super contributions from July 2026. This fills a real gap in the system.
When parents step back from paid work to care for a child, their super often stagnates, just when they need it most. Paying super on paid parental leave recognises that life happens outside the quarterly rhythm of payslips and helps reduce the gender retirement gap. It’s a structural change that aligns the system with lived experience.
The ATO Small Business Super Clearing House winds up
In line with Payday Super, the ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House will close. This change mostly affects small employers. It means they’ll need to transition to payroll systems that can handle more frequent super payments, aligning their operations with the reform rather than the old quarterly cadence.
A new tax on very large balances (Division 296)
Another headline from the 2026 changes is a proposed additional tax on super earnings for very high balances, sometimes called the Division 296 tax. What’s been signalled is:
A 15 percent extra tax on earnings linked to balances above $3 million, with further tiers for amounts above $10 million.
The design and mechanics are still being finalised in legislation.
The rationale from policymakers is to target concessions where balances are extremely high so the system remains fair and sustainable. Most Australians won’t be affected at all as this applies only at the very top end of balances.
The fact that the Government has revised the proposal since its first iteration, dropping plans to tax unrealised gains and indexing thresholds, suggests there’s active refinement underway throughout the year to balance fairness with simplicity.
Taking a moment to check in
Understanding how the rules work and how they interact with your goals helps you feel more prepared for what’s ahead. Superannuation is long-term by design, but moments of change like this are often a good opportunity to pause and make sure your strategy still reflects the life you’re building.
If you’d like to talk through how these changes may sit alongside your broader financial picture, UNLESS Financial is currently offering complimentary 20-minute conversations throughout the beginning of this year. There’s no preparation required and no obligation. It’s simply a chance for us to learn a little about you and for you to see whether we’re the right fit.
You can book a time that suits you here: https://www.unless.financial/book-a-call
References
Australian Taxation Office (2026). Payday superannuation. https://www.ato.gov.au/about-ato/new-legislation/in-detail/superannuation/payday-superannuation
Murray Nankivell (2025). Payday Super — The details. https://www.murraynankivell.com.au/insights/payday-super---the-details
News.com.au (2025). Australian workers could be $6000 better off under new proposal. https://www.news.com.au/finance/superannuation/australian-workers-could-be-6000-better-off-under-new-proposal/news-story/56d0bf2550c9aeaf561ec38733bd9552
