Delivering the benefits of Payday Super to all workers

Submission by the Australian Council of Trade Unions to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee Inquiry into the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Regulations 2026

Executive Summary

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) strongly supports the introduction of Payday Super and the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Regulations 2026.

Requiring employers to pay Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions at the same time as wages is a necessary and overdue reform that will significantly reduce unpaid superannuation and improve workers’ retirement outcomes.

Unpaid superannuation remains a systemic problem in Australia, costing workers billions of dollars each year and disproportionately affecting younger workers, women workers, migrant workers and those in insecure employment. Payday Super directly addresses this problem by strengthening compliance and transparency while ensuring that workers benefit from the compounding returns of earlier and more regular contributions.

However, Payday Super alone will not deliver the full objectives of Australia’s superannuation system unless it operates within a framework that achieves true universality, adequacy and equity. This inquiry provides an important opportunity to reaffirm the universal nature of superannuation and recommend the removal of current exclusions which entrench retirement inequality.

The ACTU, therefore, recommends:

• Adoption of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Regulations 2026;
• Removal of the exemption to workers for a period of parental leave;
• Removal of the exemption to workers under the age of 18 years from receiving superannuation on all hours worked; and
• Removal of the exemption to private and domestic workers receiving superannuation on all hours worked.

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