&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;

By law your employer is generally required to contribute a minimum of 12% of your pre-tax salary to your super fund. These are known as Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions. Payday Super laws, which apply from 1 July 2026, mean that SG contributions are paid when your salary is paid.

You generally qualify for SG contributions if you’re:

18 years old or over, or
under 18 years old and working more than 30 hours in a week.

Casual, part-time and full-time employees are all eligible to receive SG contributions. Things get a little trickier for ‘gig’ economy workers, but gig workers who are considered employees (as opposed to independent contractors) are also entitled SG contributions.

SG contributions are taxed at 15%, at the time they’re paid into your super account. This is likely lower than the income tax rates you're paying, which range from 17% to 47% (including the Medicare Levy).

One exception applies to high income earners. If you earn more than $270,830 (from 1 July 2026), your employer is not required to pay SG contributions on any income over that amount. This is designed to make sure you stay under the concessional contributions cap – and avoid paying more tax than you need to.

What is the Superannuation Guarantee rate?