April 2026

It’s April already and Easter will soon be upon us. We hope you have a peaceful and relaxing holiday weekend.

The big economic story in March didn’t need a share market ticker to announce itself, it was visible on every petrol station price board across the country.

The escalating war in the Middle East has seen extreme volatility in global markets. The closure of key shipping routes disrupted millions of barrels of oil, sending shockwaves through energy markets worldwide. Brent crude surged by almost 70% in March to trade at around $115 per barrel by month’s end, its highest level in years.

US share markets bore the brunt, with the S&P 500 down roughly about 8% for the period, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell more than 10%.

Closer to home, the ASX 200 fell around 8% because of energy price fears and inflation concerns. The Australian dollar weakened by almost 3% over the month, falling to approximately USD 0.686.

Inflation figures were steadying before the outbreak of war, with annual inflation slowing to 3.7% in February.

The RBA increased the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.10% in March based on concerns about inflationary pressure due to the Middle East conflict’s impact on energy prices. Further pressure on household budgets and interest rates looks likely in the months ahead.

Market movements and review video - April 2026

Market movements and review video – April 2026

Stay up to date with what’s happened in the Australian economy and markets over the past month.

The escalating war in the Middle East has seen extreme volatility in global markets, particularly in the US.

Brent crude recorded a monthly surge of nearly 70%. It was trading above $115 per barrel by month’s end, its highest level in years. The closure of key shipping routes through the region sent shockwaves through energy markets worldwide.

The ASX 200 experienced a volatile month, driven by geopolitical tension, energy price fears, and inflation concerns. It recorded a decline of around 8% – its worst monthly performance since March 2020, although the index is still higher than it was a year ago.

Click the video below to view our update.

Please get in touch if you’d like assistance with your personal financial situation.

About Payday Super

Preparing for Payday Super is important for your business because it shifts superannuation payments from quarterly to matching your payroll frequency and requires payments to be made within 7 business days. This transition can impact your business, so getting a head start is critical.

How Payday Super works

Payday Super is a change to how you calculate and when you pay your employees’ super guarantee. From 1 July 2026 you must pay employees their super guarantee on payday, at the same time as their salary and wages.

Super guarantee is:

calculated as 12% of an employee’s qualifying earnings (QE), which is a new term that brings together ordinary time earnings (OTE) and other payments
paid to an employees’ super fund on payday and received by the super fund within 7 business days (unless an extended timeframe applies, such as for new employees).

You can download this page as a printable fact sheet, Payday Super.

What you need to do

Check the information below about what’s changing.
Plan ahead. Review your payroll systems and super processes and get ready to pay super guarantee more frequently.
Stay informed. Keep checking these pages for updates or speak to your tax professional for advice.

You don’t need to wait until 1 July 2026 to start paying super at the same time as you pay salary and wages – you can start now.

What’s changing

Deadline for super payments

Now

Super guarantee payments must be received by a super fund within 28 days of the end of the quarter, but can be paid quarterly or more frequently, e.g. monthly.

The due dates are 28 October, 28 January, 28 April and 28 July.

From 1 July 2026

Super guarantee payments must be paid to an employees’ super fund at the same time as paying qualifying earnings (QE), on payday, and received by the super fund within 7 business days.

There are some exceptions to the 7-day deadline, such as for new employees.

For more information see Payment deadlines for Payday Super.

Calculating super guarantee amounts

Now

The super guarantee amount is calculated as 12% of ordinary time earnings (OTE).

From 1 July 2026

The super guarantee amount is calculated as 12% of qualifying earnings (QE). QE includes OTE, salary sacrifice contributions and other amounts that are currently included in an employee’s salary or wages for super guarantee.

For more information see What payments are qualifying earnings.

Reporting super payments

Now

You report either OTE or super liability through Single Touch Payroll (STP).

From 1 July 2026

You report both QE and super liability through STP.

Late payments and the super guarantee charge (SGC)

Now

The SGC applies when amounts aren’t received by a super fund within 28 days of the end of a quarter. The SGC:

is self-assessed by the employer, who must lodge an SGC statement
is calculated based on salary and wages
includes interest at 10% per annum
includes a flat administration fee
is not tax deductible.

From 1 July 2026

The SGC applies when amounts aren’t received by a super fund within 7 business days of payday (unless an extended timeframe applies, such as for new employees). The SGC:

is assessed by the ATO
is calculated based on QE
includes interest that compounds daily at the general interest charge rate
includes an administrative uplift, which can vary based on an employer’s history of meeting super guarantee obligations and may be reduced by a voluntary disclosure
is tax deductible.

For more information see:

Penalties

Now

Penalties are a maximum of 200% of the SGC, which can be remitted in part or in full.

From 1 July 2026

Penalties are 25% or 50% of the unpaid SGC, depending on any prior penalties.

Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH)

Now

The SBSCH closed to new users on 1 October 2025.

Existing users have access to the service until 30 June 2026. All users must transition to an alternative option to pay their employees’ super. See How to pay super.

From 1 July 2026

SBSCH is no longer available.

Checking employee data and processing payments

Now

Super payments may take a number of days to be received by a super fund.
Employers receive incomplete or inaccurate data from their employees, which causes errors when they try to contribute to a super fund and delayed payments.
Employers are unaware of key changes to large super fund’s details.

From 1 July 2026

To help employers and intermediaries meet the new deadlines, the SuperStream data and payment standards will be revised to:

allow near real-time payments through the New Payments Platform
improve error messaging so you can address errors faster
provide a new member verification request, which enables employers to confirm that a super fund can match their employee contribution to the super fund for the first time and will accept a contribution for them.

Improvements to the Fund Validation Service will also give employers early notice of key changes to large super fund’s details, such as fund mergers, that could affect their ability to make contributions to super funds.

Expected changes

This information is not yet law

The information below is intended to help you prepare for anticipated changes from 1 July 2026. For updates on the progress of the law see Payday superannuation legislation.

Offering employees a stapled fund

Now

You must provide your employees with a choice of super fund and request stapled super fund details from the ATO if you don’t receive a choice form from an employee.

From 1 July 2026

You can request a stapled super fund and offer this to your employee at the same time you provide their choice form.

You must still provide your employees with a choice of super fund and request stapled super fund details from the ATO if you don’t receive a choice form from an employee.

Allocations by super funds

Now

Super funds have 20 business days to allocate or return contributions.

From 1 July 2026

Super funds have 3 business days to allocate or return contributions.

For more information see Changes to SuperStream.

Reach out to us if you have any questions about Payday Super.

Source: ato.gov.au November 2025
Reproduced with the permission of the Australian Tax Office. This article was originally published on https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/super-for-employers/payday-super/about-payday-super
Important:
This provides general information and hasn’t taken your circumstances into account. It’s important to consider your particular circumstances before deciding what’s right for you. Although the information is from sources considered reliable, we do not guarantee that it is accurate or complete. You should not rely upon it and should seek qualified advice before making any investment decision. Except where liability under any statute cannot be excluded, we do not accept any liability (whether under contract, tort or otherwise) for any resulting loss or damage of the reader or any other person.
Any information provided by the author detailed above is separate and external to our business and our Licensee. Neither our business nor our Licensee takes any responsibility for any action or any service provided by the author. Any links have been provided with permission for information purposes only and will take you to external websites, which are not connected to our company in any way. Note: Our company does not endorse and is not responsible for the accuracy of the contents/information contained within the linked site(s) accessible from this page.

Salary sacrificing super

How a salary sacrifice arrangement can be used to make voluntary super contributions.

Benefits of salary sacrificing

You and your employer can agree on a salary sacrifice arrangement (also known as salary packaging or total remuneration packaging) to exchange part of your salary or wages for benefits of a similar value.

You can use a salary sacrifice arrangement to have some of your salary or wages paid into your super fund instead of to you. This effectively reduces your taxable income, meaning you pay less tax on your income. These concessional contributions are taxed in the super fund at a rate of 15%, which is generally less than your marginal tax rate.

How salary sacrifice contributions are treated

Salary sacrifice super contributions do not:

reduce the ordinary time earnings (OTE) that your employer is required to calculate your super entitlement on
count towards the amount of super guarantee contributions that your employer is required to make.

Salary sacrifice super contributions are classified as employer super contributions, rather than your personal contributions. They are additional to your super guarantee entitlements. Your employer must still pay your full super guarantee as though there was no salary sacrifice arrangement in place.

The sacrificed component of your total salary package is not counted as assessable income for tax purposes. This means that it is not subject to pay as you go (PAYG) withholding tax. However, salary sacrifice super contributions are included in your reportable super contributions and must be included in your tax return.

If salary sacrifice super contributions are made to a complying super fund, the sacrificed amount is not considered a fringe benefit and is not subject to fringe benefits tax.

Salary sacrifice limitations

Unless there are limitations specified in the terms of your employment, there is no limit to the amount you can salary sacrifice into super. However there are tax implications.

Consider whether the amount you wish to salary sacrifice will:

mean you exceed your concessional (before-tax) contributions cap, which limits the amount that can be contributed to your super fund that is taxed at the concessional rate of 15%
be subject to Division 293 tax, which applies in respect of your concessional contributions when your combined income and concessional super contributions for Division 293 purposes is more than $250,000.

How a salary sacrifice arrangement can be used to make voluntary super contributions.

Before making any additional contributions to your super, you will need to ensure the additional contributions do not exceed the annual threshold. We can help you ensure you do not exceed these thresholds.

Source: ato.gov.au
Reproduced with the permission of the Australian Tax Office. This article was originally published on https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/super-for-individuals-and-families/super/growing-and-keeping-track-of-your-super/how-to-save-more-in-your-super/salary-sacrificing-super
Important:
This provides general information and hasn’t taken your circumstances into account. It’s important to consider your particular circumstances before deciding what’s right for you. Although the information is from sources considered reliable, we do not guarantee that it is accurate or complete. You should not rely upon it and should seek qualified advice before making any investment decision. Except where liability under any statute cannot be excluded, we do not accept any liability (whether under contract, tort or otherwise) for any resulting loss or damage of the reader or any other person.
Any information provided by the author detailed above is separate and external to our business and our Licensee. Neither our business nor our Licensee takes any responsibility for any action or any service provided by the author. Any links have been provided with permission for information purposes only and will take you to external websites, which are not connected to our company in any way. Note: Our company does not endorse and is not responsible for the accuracy of the contents/information contained within the linked site(s) accessible from this page.