How to Generate Payslips in Australia With Superannuation

In Australia, issuing payslips is not a courtesy — it is a legal obligation. The Fair Work Act 2009 requires every employer to provide a payslip to each employee within one business day of payment. Penalties for non-compliance can reach $19,800 per breach for individuals and $99,000 for companies.

Here is how to generate a payslip that meets every Fair Work requirement, including superannuation and PAYG withholding.

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What the Fair Work Act Requires

The Fair Work Regulations 2009 (Regulation 3.46) specify exactly what must appear on a payslip.

Section	Required Information
Employer	Business name, ABN (Australian Business Number)
Employee	Full name
Pay period	Start date, end date, date of payment
Hours worked	Ordinary hours and any overtime (for hourly employees)
Gross pay	Base salary or hourly rate, loadings, allowances, bonuses, penalty rates
Deductions	PAYG withholding, salary sacrifice, union fees, HECS-HELP (if applicable), other authorized deductions
Superannuation	Employer super contributions (name of fund and amount)
Net pay	Total amount paid to the employee

Payslips must be in electronic or hard-copy form. Electronic payslips are fully accepted and are the standard for most Australian businesses today.

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Key Deduction and Contribution Rates

Here is a breakdown of the main withholdings and contributions for an Australian employee in the 2025-26 financial year.

Item	Rate / Detail
PAYG income tax	Progressive: 0% up to $18,200, 16% for $18,201–$45,000, 30% for $45,001–$135,000, 37% for $135,001–$190,000, 45% above $190,000
Medicare levy	2% of taxable income (exemptions may apply for low-income earners)
Superannuation guarantee	11.5% of ordinary time earnings (from 1 July 2025)
HECS-HELP repayment	0–10% of repayment income, threshold starts at $54,435
Salary sacrifice (super)	Voluntary, pre-tax, subject to concessional cap of $30,000/year

PAYG Example for a $90,000 Salary

Tax Bracket	Taxable Amount	Tax
$0 – $18,200	$18,200	$0
$18,201 – $45,000	$26,800	$4,288
$45,001 – $90,000	$45,000	$13,500
Total annual PAYG		$17,788
Medicare levy (2%)		$1,800
Total tax + Medicare		$19,588

This translates to roughly $1,632 per month in PAYG withholding plus Medicare, leaving a monthly net of approximately $5,868 before any other deductions.

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Step 1: Enter Employer and Employee Details

Add your business name and ABN. Then enter the employee's full name. Unlike some countries, Australia does not require the employee's tax file number (TFN) on the payslip — in fact, displaying it would be a privacy risk.

In CleverSlip, select the Australia template. The PAYG tables, Medicare levy, and superannuation rate are preconfigured.

Step 2: Define the Pay Period and Hours

Specify the pay period (weekly, fortnightly, or monthly) and the payment date. For hourly employees, enter ordinary hours and any overtime or penalty-rate hours separately. The Fair Work Act requires hours to be itemized.

Step 3: Enter Gross Pay

Add the base salary or hourly rate. Then include any allowances (travel, uniform, tools), loadings (casual loading of 25% if applicable), penalty rates, and bonuses. Each component should be listed as a separate line item.

Step 4: Calculate PAYG Withholding

PAYG (Pay As You Go) withholding is Australia's income tax system for employees. The amount withheld depends on the employee's annual income, residency status, and tax-free threshold claim.

CleverSlip uses the ATO's published tax tables to calculate the correct withholding for each pay period. The Medicare levy of 2% is included in the standard PAYG withholding amounts.

HECS-HELP Repayments

If an employee has notified you of a HELP debt (via a TFN declaration), you must withhold additional amounts once their annual income exceeds $54,435. The repayment rate is progressive, starting at 1% and increasing to 10% at higher income levels. CleverSlip applies this automatically when the HELP debt flag is enabled.

Step 5: Handle Salary Sacrifice

If the employee has a salary sacrifice arrangement for superannuation, deduct the agreed amount from gross pay before calculating PAYG. This reduces taxable income. Sacrificed amounts are added to employer super contributions and count towards the $30,000 annual concessional contributions cap.

Item	Without Sacrifice	With $500/month Sacrifice
Gross salary	$7,500	$7,500
Salary sacrifice	$0	-$500
Taxable income	$7,500	$7,000
PAYG (approx.)	$1,632	$1,482
Net pay	$5,868	$5,518
Super contribution	$862.50	$1,362.50

Step 6: Calculate Superannuation

The superannuation guarantee for 2025-26 is 11.5% of ordinary time earnings. This is an employer cost on top of the gross salary — it is not deducted from the employee's pay. However, the Fair Work Act requires the super amount and the fund name to appear on the payslip.

For a $90,000 annual salary, that is $10,350 per year or $862.50 per month in employer super contributions.

Step 7: Generate and Distribute

Download the payslip as a PDF and send it electronically within one business day of payment. You must keep payroll records for seven years — one of the longest retention periods globally.

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Common Compliance Pitfalls

• Not showing superannuation on the payslip. The fund name and contribution amount are mandatory fields under Fair Work.
• Forgetting casual loading. Casual employees must receive a 25% loading in lieu of leave entitlements, and it must be shown separately.
• Applying the wrong PAYG rate. Always use the current ATO tax tables, and check whether the employee has claimed the tax-free threshold.

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CleverSlip's Australia template includes up-to-date PAYG tax tables, the 11.5% superannuation guarantee rate, Medicare levy calculations, and HECS-HELP repayment logic. Select the template, enter salary details, and generate a Fair Work compliant payslip in minutes.