“$100,000 plus super” and “$100,000 including super” sound almost identical. They differ by $1,285.71 per year going into your super fund — every year, compounding for decades. The Super Calculator Australia exists to settle exactly that confusion: given your salary and how your package is structured, how much super does your employer actually owe you?
One thing to know upfront: this is a superannuation guarantee (SG) calculator, not a retirement projector. It won’t tell you your balance at 67 — it tells you what hits your fund each pay from the 12% SG rate. This guide covers how the tool works, four worked examples with verified maths, the “on top vs inclusive” trap, what counts as ordinary time earnings, the quarterly cap most people have never heard of, and what the calculator leaves out.
Important: Figures use 2025–26 Australian super rules — the 12% SG rate that started 1 July 2025. This is general information, not personal financial advice.
Table of Contents
What Is the Super Calculator Australia?
Since 1 July 2025, your employer must pay super guarantee of 12% of your ordinary time earnings into your super fund. But job offers quote salaries two different ways — “plus super” (super on top of the salary) or “including super” / “package” (super carved out of the quoted figure) — and the difference changes your super by thousands.
The calculator answers the practical question: “on my salary, in my package structure, what is my employer super contribution?” It handles both modes and shows the base salary, the super amount, the total package and the monthly figure.
Who should use it:
- Anyone comparing job offers quoted “plus super” vs “including super”
- Employees checking that the super on their payslip looks right
- Contractors or new workers confirming what SG they’re owed
- Anyone salary-packaging who wants the SG maths separated from the deal
Important: The calculator assumes your entire entered salary qualifies as ordinary time earnings. Overtime, reimbursements and some allowances don’t attract SG — the OTE section below shows what counts.
What Does the Super Calculator Do?
The Super Calculator Australia keeps it simple — two inputs in, a full breakdown out.
| Input | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Salary Amount | Your salary figure (default $80,000) — either base salary or total package, depending on the mode |
| Superannuation Mode | “Super on top (12%)” or “Inclusive of super” |
| Output | What it means |
|---|---|
| Employer Super (hero) | The SG contribution: salary × 12%, or the carved-out portion |
| Base Salary | Your salary excluding super |
| Super Rate | 12% — the 2025–26 SG rate, hardcoded |
| Total Package | Base salary + employer super |
| Monthly Super | The annual super divided by 12 |
| Mode | Which calculation mode was used |
How to Use the Super Calculator
Step 1 — Enter your salary amount. If your offer says “$100,000 plus super”, enter 100,000 and use “Super on top”. If it says “$100,000 package including super”, enter 100,000 and use “Inclusive of super”.
Step 2 — Pick the mode and read the breakdown. “Employer Super” is the headline: what your fund should receive over the year. “Base Salary” tells you what you’re actually earning before super.
That’s the short version, and it’s exactly what the Super Calculator Australia models. The next section shows why the mode matters so much.
Super on Top vs Salary Inclusive — the $1,285.71 Difference
This is the whole reason the calculator exists. Take a $100,000 figure:
| $100,000 plus super | $100,000 including super | |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $100,000.00 | $89,285.71 |
| Employer super (12%) | $12,000.00 | $10,714.29 |
| Total package | $112,000.00 | $100,000.00 |
| Monthly super | $1,000.00 | $892.86 |
Same “$100,000”, but the inclusive package puts $1,285.71 less into your super every year. The maths: on top, super is salary × 12%. Inclusive, the base salary is package ÷ 1.12 ($100,000 ÷ 1.12 = $89,285.71), and super is the remainder.
Over a 30-year career at typical returns, that annual $1,285.71 gap compounds into tens of thousands of dollars. When comparing offers, always convert to the same basis — and negotiate on the total package, not the headline salary.
Read more: Best Income Tax Calculator Australia 2025–26: Complete Guide
Worked Examples
All figures verified against the 12% SG rate. Each example shows what the calculator displays.
Example 1 — $80,000 salary, super on top (the calculator’s default)
| Figure | |
|---|---|
| Base salary | $80,000.00 |
| Employer super (12%) | $9,600.00 |
| Total package | $89,600.00 |
| Monthly super | $800.00 |
Straightforward: $80,000 × 12% = $9,600. This is the most common arrangement — your quoted salary is yours, and super is extra.
Example 2 — $100,000 salary, super on top
| Figure | |
|---|---|
| Base salary | $100,000.00 |
| Employer super (12%) | $12,000.00 |
| Total package | $112,000.00 |
| Monthly super | $1,000.00 |
$100,000 × 12% = $12,000 — a clean $1,000 a month into super. If your payslip shows less than this on a $100k base salary, something is wrong.
Example 3 — $100,000 package, inclusive of super
| Figure | |
|---|---|
| Base salary | $89,285.71 |
| Employer super (12%) | $10,714.29 |
| Total package | $100,000.00 |
| Monthly super | $892.86 |
$100,000 ÷ 1.12 = $89,285.71 base; $100,000 − $89,285.71 = $10,714.29 super. Notice the super here is 12% of the base salary ($89,285.71 × 12% = $10,714.29) — not 12% of the package. That’s the correct treatment, and a common source of payroll errors.
Example 4 — $150,000 package, inclusive of super
| Figure | |
|---|---|
| Base salary | $133,928.57 |
| Employer super (12%) | $16,071.43 |
| Total package | $150,000.00 |
| Monthly super | $1,339.29 |
$150,000 ÷ 1.12 = $133,928.57; super $16,071.43. At this level, check the quarterly cap below — $16,071.43 a year is $4,017.86 a quarter, safely under the $7,500 quarterly maximum.
What Counts as Ordinary Time Earnings
SG is paid on your ordinary time earnings (OTE) — not necessarily your whole pay. The distinction matters for anyone with overtime, allowances or bonuses.
| Counts toward OTE (SG applies) | Doesn’t count (no SG) |
|---|---|
| Base salary and wages | Overtime hours and overtime pay |
| Over-award payments | Expense reimbursements |
| Shift loadings | Fringe benefits |
| Allowances (most) | Parental leave pay (government scheme) |
| Commissions | |
| Paid leave (annual, sick, long service) | |
| Bonuses tied to ordinary hours |
The calculator assumes 100% of your entered salary is OTE. If a big chunk of your pay is overtime, the calculator will overstate your super — run it on your base salary instead.
Note: since 1 July 2022 there’s no $450-a-month earnings threshold — even a few hours of work attracts SG. And under-18s are covered too, as long as they work more than 30 hours in a week.
The $62,500 Quarterly Cap — the Ceiling Nobody Mentions
Your employer doesn’t have to pay SG on earnings above the maximum contribution base: $62,500 per quarter in 2025–26. That caps the quarterly SG payment at $7,500 ($62,500 × 12%).
In practice: if you earn $70,000 in a quarter, your employer owes SG on only $62,500 of it — $7,500, not $8,400. Over a full year at that pace, that’s $30,000 of SG — exactly the $30,000 concessional contributions cap, which is no coincidence: the two caps are designed to align.
Two things to know:
- The cap applies per employer, per quarter. Two part-time jobs each under the cap both attract full SG.
- From 1 July 2026, Payday Super replaces the quarterly base with an annual base of $270,830 — once your yearly earnings hit it, SG stops for the rest of the year.
The calculator doesn’t model this cap — on very high salaries it will show more super than your employer actually owes.
What the Calculator Doesn’t Model
Honest limits, worth knowing before you rely on the numbers:
- The 15% contributions tax. The calculator shows the gross contribution hitting your fund. In reality, the fund pays 15% contributions tax on concessional contributions (30% total if Division 293 applies to you) — so $12,000 in means $10,200 actually invested.
- The $30,000 concessional cap. SG counts toward it. At $200,000 salary, $24,000 of SG leaves only $6,000 of room for salary sacrifice or deductible contributions. The calculator won’t warn you.
- Salary sacrifice arrangements. If you salary-sacrifice, those amounts are extra concessional contributions on top of SG — the calculator only does the SG part. Our salary sacrifice calculator covers the other side.
- Above-minimum contributions. Some employers pay more than 12%. The calculator is hardcoded to 12%.
- Division 293, fees and insurance. The extra 15% Division 293 tax, fund admin fees and insurance premiums all reduce what stays invested — none are modelled here.
None of these limitations make the calculator useless — for its actual job (splitting salary and super under the 12% SG rate) it’s exactly right. They just mean you shouldn’t mistake the SG figure for a retirement projection or a tax calculation.
Super and Salary Sacrifice — How They Interact
SG and salary sacrifice draw from the same $30,000 concessional cap, so they have to be planned together:
SG + salary sacrifice + deductible personal contributions ≤ $30,000
At $100,000 salary: $12,000 SG leaves $18,000 of headroom for sacrifice. At $200,000: $24,000 SG leaves just $6,000. And since January 2020, your employer can’t count your salary-sacrificed amounts toward their SG obligation — the 12% must be paid on your pre-sacrifice ordinary earnings, on top of whatever you sacrifice.
One more interaction: sacrificed super is a reportable employer super contribution, so it’s added back for HECS/HELP repayment income, Medicare levy surcharge income and Division 293 income — sacrificing won’t reduce any of those.
Read more: Tax Refund Estimator Australia: Complete Guide 2026
When Your Employer Must Pay
For quarters up to 30 June 2026, SG is due quarterly:
| Quarter | Period | Due date |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 1 Jul – 30 Sep | 28 October |
| Q2 | 1 Oct – 31 Dec | 28 January |
| Q3 | 1 Jan – 31 Mar | 28 April |
| Q4 | 1 Apr – 30 Jun | 28 July |
The contribution must reach your fund by the due date — not just leave your employer’s account.
From 1 July 2026, Payday Super changes this: SG must reach your fund within 7 business days of payday. Faster, more frequent, and much harder for underpayments to hide for months.
What If Your Employer Doesn’t Pay
Unpaid super is wage theft with a formal name: the super guarantee charge (SGC). If your employer misses a due date, they owe the SGC — the unpaid SG plus interest plus an administration component — and it’s not tax-deductible for them, unlike on-time contributions.
What you can do:
- Check your fund, not just your payslip — payslips can show super that was never actually paid.
- Ask your employer — sometimes it’s a payroll timing issue.
- Report to the ATO — the ATO has a formal unpaid-super complaint process and can audit the employer.
Keep your payslips. The ATO can investigate, but your records make it faster.
How to Check Your Super Is Being Paid
Don’t trust the payslip alone — check the fund. Here’s the five-minute routine, four times a year:
- Log in to your super fund (app or website) and open the contribution/transaction history.
- Match contributions to the quarterly due dates — 28 October, 28 January, 28 April, 28 July. Each quarter’s SG should have landed by its date.
- Check the amounts — 12% of your ordinary time earnings for the quarter. On a steady $25,000-a-quarter base salary, expect $3,000 each time.
- Look for gaps — a missing quarter is the classic sign of trouble, and it’s much easier to fix now than to reconstruct two years of underpayments later.
- Check the employer name on each contribution — make sure it’s your current employer paying, and into the right account.
From 1 July 2026, Payday Super makes this check almost real-time: contributions should appear within days of each payday, so a missing payment will stand out immediately.
Can You Choose Your Own Fund?
Yes — most employees can choose which fund receives their SG (choice of fund). Tell your employer your fund’s details when you start; they must pay into it.
If you don’t choose, stapling applies: the ATO tells your new employer your existing “stapled” fund, so you don’t accumulate a new account (and new fees) with every job change. Stapling is why it’s worth consolidating old accounts — multiple funds mean multiple sets of fees and insurance premiums eating your balance.
Is Super Paid on Overtime?
Generally no. Overtime pay for hours beyond your ordinary hours is not ordinary time earnings, so no SG is owed on it. This is the most common payslip surprise: someone earning $90,000 base plus $20,000 overtime gets SG on the $90,000 ($10,800) — not on $110,000.
The exception: if “overtime” is really just part of your ordinary hours under your agreement (e.g. regular rostered extra hours built into the role), it can count. When in doubt, the ATO’s OTE checklist is the authority — and the calculator’s assumption of “all salary is OTE” is exactly what to adjust for.
Common Mistakes
- Comparing “plus super” and “including super” offers at face value — always convert to total package; the gap is $1,285.71 per $100k.
- Assuming the calculator’s figure is what stays invested — 15% contributions tax comes off first.
- Forgetting the $30,000 cap — SG eats most of it at high salaries; the calculator won’t warn you.
- Counting overtime in the calculator — enter base salary, not total earnings with overtime.
- Reading the payslip instead of the fund — payslip super and paid super aren’t always the same thing.
- Ignoring the quarterly cap — above $62,500/quarter, no SG is owed on the excess.
- Letting old funds linger — stapling helps, but consolidating dusty accounts saves fees.
- Not checking the SG base after salary sacrifice — it must be calculated on pre-sacrifice earnings.
Practical Tips
- Negotiate the total package, not the salary — $100k + super beats $100k including super by $12,000 vs $10,714 in super.
- Run the calculator in both modes when comparing offers — it takes ten seconds and kills the ambiguity.
- Check your fund quarterly, aligned to the due dates (28 Oct, 28 Jan, 28 Apr, 28 Jul).
- Do the cap sum every July — SG + sacrifice + deductible contributions ≤ $30,000.
- Salary-sacrifice the gap if you have cap headroom — 15% in super beats most marginal rates.
- Consolidate old super accounts — one fund, one set of fees.
- Screenshot your fund balance each July — a simple yearly record makes missing contributions or surprise fee jumps easy to spot.
- Review your insurance inside super — default cover costs premiums every year; keep it if it suits you, opt out if it doesn’t.
What is the superannuation rate in Australia for 2025–26?
12% of ordinary time earnings, up from 11.5% — the rise took effect 1 July 2025. It’s the rate the Super Calculator Australia uses, and it’s scheduled to stay at 12%.
How do I calculate super on a $100,000 salary?
If it’s “$100,000 plus super”: $100,000 × 12% = $12,000 super, $112,000 total package. If it’s “$100,000 including super”: $100,000 ÷ 1.12 = $89,285.71 base salary, $10,714.29 super. The mode changes the answer by $1,285.71.
Is super paid on overtime?
Generally no — overtime for hours beyond your ordinary hours isn’t ordinary time earnings, so no SG applies. Someone on $90,000 base plus $20,000 overtime gets SG on the $90,000 ($10,800). If the “overtime” is really part of your ordinary rostered hours, it can count.
Does the 12% super come out of my salary?
It depends on your package. “Plus super” means it’s extra — $100,000 salary gets $12,000 on top. “Including super” (or “package”) means it’s carved out — a $100,000 package is really $89,285.71 salary plus $10,714.29 super. Always ask which one a quoted figure is.
Can I choose my own super fund?
Yes — choice of fund lets you nominate where your SG goes; give your employer your fund details when you start. If you don’t choose, stapling keeps you in your existing fund so you don’t collect a new account with every job.
What happens if my employer does not pay super?
They owe the super guarantee charge — the unpaid amount plus interest plus an admin component, and it’s not tax-deductible for them. Check your fund (not just your payslip), ask your employer, and if it’s unresolved, lodge an unpaid-super complaint with the ATO.
What is ordinary time earnings?
Your regular earnings for ordinary hours: base salary, over-award payments, shift loadings, most allowances, commissions, bonuses tied to ordinary hours, and paid leave. It excludes overtime, expense reimbursements and fringe benefits. SG is only owed on OTE.
Is there a maximum salary for super guarantee?
Effectively yes — the maximum contribution base is $62,500 per quarter in 2025–26, so the most SG payable is $7,500 a quarter. Earnings above the base in a quarter attract no SG. From 1 July 2026 it becomes an annual base of $270,830 under Payday Super.
Does the super calculator account for the $30,000 concessional cap?
No — it shows the gross SG with no cap check. At high salaries SG alone can nearly fill the cap ($24,000 of SG on $200,000 salary leaves $6,000). Add up SG, salary sacrifice and deductible contributions yourself and keep the total at or under $30,000.
When does my employer have to pay super?
Quarterly until 30 June 2026 — due 28 October, 28 January, 28 April and 28 July, and it must reach your fund by then. From 1 July 2026, Payday Super requires it within 7 business days of payday.
Final Takeaway
Two formulas cover the whole calculator:
Super on top = Salary × 12%
Inclusive package: Base salary = Package ÷ 1.12
Run your numbers through the Super Calculator Australia — in the right mode — then sanity-check the result against your fund, not just your payslip. And when an offer says “$100,000”, ask the question that matters: plus super, or including?
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