What changed on 1 July 2026 for anyone paying screen talent

A handful of federal changes landed on 1 July 2026 that touch people paying performers, crew, creators or voiceover in Australia. The headline is Payday Super, but the tax tables and super thresholds moved too. Below are the changes reviewed for Screenpay's supported rule set, with the figure and source, plus items that still need separate confirmation. This is not a complete legislative or industrial-relations update.

1. Payday Super is now in force

The single biggest change. Super Guarantee is no longer a quarterly job. For an ordinary contribution tied to a payday on or after 1 July 2026, the fund generally has to receive it within 7 business days, with enough information to allocate it. Statutory extended periods can apply to qualifying cases; eligibility must be established rather than inferred from a profile label.

Two details worth holding onto. A qualifying first contribution can have a 20-business-day period, but a generic new-starter, restart or fund-switch label is not enough by itself to prove the statutory conditions. And super is now worked out on qualifying earnings; the payment components still have to be classified rather than swept into one gross figure.

The penalty process changed too

For paydays from 1 July 2026, you no longer lodge a Super Guarantee statement when you pay late or short. The ATO calculates the new Super Guarantee Charge itself and issues you a notice of assessment. The window in which a late contribution becomes a compliance event shrinks from quarterly to per-payday.

2. It applies to performers and labour contractors

This is why the change needs review on a shoot, not just in an office. The extended SG definition can cover contracts principally for an individual's labour and specified performance or production work. The contracting entity and actual engagement still matter; an ABN alone does not settle coverage.

Full detail on the performer super rule is in the Payday Super guide.

3. The Super Guarantee rate did NOT change

Easy to misread in all the noise. The statutory percentage stays at 12% for 2026-27. It reached 12% on 1 July 2025, so Payday Super changes timing and the earnings-base framework, not that percentage. Existing budgets still need their coverage, qualifying-earnings basis and annual maximum-base position reviewed; do not apply 12% to every line by assumption.

4. The super thresholds moved

• ·Maximum super contribution base is now $270,830 of qualifying earnings for 2026-27 for each employer and employee, replacing the old quarterly cap of $62,500. A payment that crosses the base is capped only by the remaining balance; later payments from that employer are treated as nil for this calculation.
• ·Concessional (before-tax) contributions cap rises from $30,000 to $32,500, from 1 July 2026, through wages indexation.

5. The PAYG tax tables changed with the tax cut

The 2026-27 personal income tax cut takes effect, and with it every withholding schedule. The second marginal rate drops from 16% to 15% on the $18,201 to $45,000 bracket (the tax-free threshold stays at $18,200). The ATO updated all 15 PAYG withholding schedules and 12 tax tables to apply from 1 July 2026, so PAYG withheld on employee payees changes from the first payment batch of the new year.

What to check separately

We hold ourselves to citing a source for every figure, so here is what we deliberately did not put a number on, and where to get it:

• ·Minimum wage and award increases. The Fair Work Commission Annual Wage Review increase also applies from 1 July, but we could not confirm the exact percentage or whether the entertainment awards (for example the Broadcasting, Recorded Entertainment and Cinemas Award) are affected. Confirm the figure and your award coverage with the Fair Work Commission before relying on it.
• ·MEAA and CGA screen references. MEAA agreements and contract templates, and CGA's recommended commercial guidance, are different kinds of source. They are not government rates and are not interchangeable; confirm the governing contract, current document and negotiated amount directly with the relevant parties.
• ·Super on Paid Parental Leave. Worth clearing up: the super contribution on Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave began on 1 July 2025 for children born or adopted on or after that date. It is not a new 1 July 2026 change.

How Screenpay handles it

Screenpay requires a dated, classified super earnings base for each SG-applicable booking and applies the recorded rate to that base. It surfaces s12(3)/s12(8) review prompts and supports the ordinary seven-business-day Payday Super workflow. Extended-period cases are not supported for approval in this release and must use an externally reviewed workflow. Ordinary employee PAYG is not calculated from the schedules inside Screenpay; you enter and confirm the external ATO, payroll or adviser result. The supported Australian-resident no-TFN Scale 4 mode is calculated only after its exact source and eligibility facts are confirmed.

• ·Recorded SG rate applied to the confirmed, dated earnings base, with the selected rule shown.
• ·s12(3)/s12(8) classification review prompted before approval.
• ·The ordinary seven-business-day Payday Super planning date surfaced on every supported run that carries super; extended-period cases are directed to external review.
• ·Externally sourced ordinary PAYG, or a confirmed supported special mode, shown as its own line.

Guide reviewed 7 August 2026. Sources reviewed: ATO (Payday Super; key superannuation rates and thresholds; contributions caps; tax tables); Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Act 2025 (Act No. 57 of 2025); Treasury Laws Amendment (More Cost of Living Relief) Act 2025 (Act No. 28 of 2025); Federal Register of Legislation. The review date is not a guarantee that every applicable rule is current. Minimum wage, award and MEAA/CGA figures are not stated here and must be confirmed with the Fair Work Commission and the relevant instrument. Confirm application to your engagements with a registered tax agent or your production accountant. See the other guides.