Main region

Important dates and deadlines

There are a few important dates you’ll need to be across. Firstly, have a look at the Super Guarantee (SG) quarterly due dates for payments to your employees. 

For SG contributions, we recommend making monthly payments. Employers that are not required to contribute on a monthly basis under an award or industrial agreement can choose to make quarterly contributions.

Quarterly Superannuation Guarantee (SG) deadlines

SG quarter Date payment due
1 July – 30 September 28 October
1 October – 31 December 28 January
1 January – 31 March 28 April
1 April – 30 June 28 July

To meet the deadlines, we must receive your payment before the close of business of that day. If you’re using direct debit, you need to submit your payment before 3pm on the day you want the contribution to be allocated and we’ll do the rest.

For BPAY payments you will need to be mindful of your financial institutions’ processing time-frames. We recommend you allow at least three business days for payments be received.

If you are paying via Australian Retirement Trust Clearing House, you need to allow for the payment to be sent to and processed by member's external funds. We recommended you make each payment by 3pm, at least 5 business days before the due date.

Voluntary after-tax contributions made by your employees need to be sent to us within 28 days of the end of the month in which the deduction from the employee’s salary was made.

Also, processing of payments may be delayed if we don’t receive all the information required to process the transaction, or if we do not receive payment for your contribution. If for any reason, we can’t allocate a contribution to an account, including if we can’t get all the information we need, we will need to return it. Any interest earned on the contribution before it was returned will be held in the Fund’s reserves for the benefit of members.

What happens if you miss your SG payments?

If you miss the deadlines listed above, you may have to pay an SG charge. Unfortunately, this charge isn’t tax deductible.

While we do accept the payment of Super Guarantee contributions after the due date, you will still be liable to pay the superannuation guarantee charge to the ATO.

Also, please be aware that even if you are audited by the ATO, Australian Retirement Trust is unable to return your late payment.

For more information on the superannuation guarantee call the ATO on 13 10 20, or visit the ATO website.