Every new financial year moves a handful of numbers. FY 2026-27 moved more than usual, and one change (Payday Super) alters how and when money reaches your fund rather than just how much.
This is a plain summary of what changed on 1 July 2026, what it means if you work as a locum, and where each figure comes from. It is general information, not tax advice: your circumstances decide what applies to you.
Payday Super started
From 1 July 2026, employers must pay super at the same time as salary and wages, rather than quarterly. The change came through the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Act 2025 (No. 57, 2025), which commenced on 1 July 2026.
If you take PAYG or casual hospital shifts alongside your ABN work, this is the change you will notice. Super from those engagements should now land with each pay run instead of up to three months later. That makes your contributions easier to reconcile and much harder for an employer to quietly fall behind on.
Two practical consequences:
The ATO clearing house is gone. The same Act repealed section 79A of the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 and the definition of "approved clearing house" that sat behind it. The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House operated under that provision, so it is no longer available. If you pay super for anyone, including yourself through a business structure, you now use a commercial clearing house or pay funds directly.
The maximum contribution base is annual. It used to be a quarterly figure. Under Payday Super it is assessed annually, which matters if your income is uneven across the year, as locum income usually is.
Cents per kilometre rose to 91c
The ATO rate for the cents-per-kilometre method is 91 cents per kilometre for 2026-27, up from 88 cents, which applied across both 2024-25 and 2025-26. The cap is unchanged at 5,000 business kilometres per car per year, so the maximum deduction under this method is now $4,550 per vehicle.
Source: Income Tax Assessment (Cents per Kilometre Deduction Rate for Car Expenses) Determination 2026 (F2026L00785). The cap is in ITAA 1997 section 28-25(1).
One detail worth knowing: the ATO has described the move to 91c as including a one-off uplift rather than pure indexation, so do not assume the same increase repeats next year.
If you drive between sites, this is usually the single easiest deduction to substantiate, because the cents-per-kilometre method needs a reasonable estimate of business kilometres rather than a full logbook and fuel receipts. Our cents-per-km tool applies the current rate.
The concessional contributions cap rose to $32,500
The concessional (before-tax) contributions cap moved from $30,000 to $32,500 from 1 July 2026, through the usual AWOTE indexation.
The cap covers everything concessional in the same year: Super Guarantee from any employer, salary sacrifice, and personal contributions you claim a deduction for. Locums who mix ABN work with hospital shifts routinely underestimate the employer side, then find the cap is largely consumed before they make a voluntary contribution.
Carry-forward still applies. If your total super balance was under $500,000 at the previous 30 June and you did not use your full cap in the preceding five years, you may be able to contribute more than the annual cap. Confirm your actual available amount in myGov rather than estimating it, because the balance test and the five-year window both bite.
The bottom tax bracket fell to 15 per cent
For 2026-27 the resident rates are:
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $18,200 | Nil |
| $18,201 to $45,000 | 15 per cent |
| $45,001 to $135,000 | 30 per cent |
| $135,001 to $190,000 | 37 per cent |
| Above $190,000 | 45 per cent |
The change is in the second row: the bottom bracket dropped from 16 to 15 per cent, legislated in the 2025-26 Federal Budget. The other thresholds and rates are unchanged.
The Medicare levy remains 2 per cent, with the single low-income threshold at $28,011 and full levy phasing in by $35,013 (Medicare Levy Act 1986 s3, as amended by Act No. 58, 2026).
The Medicare levy surcharge tiers for singles are $105,000, $123,000 and $164,000 for 2026-27. If your income sits near a tier and you do not hold appropriate private hospital cover, the surcharge can cost more than the cover would have.
The Super Guarantee rate did not change
It stayed at 12 per cent, the final step in the schedule in SGAA 1992 section 19. There is no further legislated increase after this one, so 12 per cent is the rate to plan around.
What this means in practice
If you do nothing else, do these three:
- Recheck your mileage claim. If you have been using 88c for shifts driven since 1 July 2026, you are under-claiming.
- Recheck your super headroom before June. The cap moved, and Payday Super means employer contributions now arrive on a different rhythm, so a figure you calculated last year is unlikely to still be right.
- Check your PAYG instalments. A lower bottom bracket and any change in your mix of ABN and PAYG work both feed into what you should be setting aside.
Sessional tracks shifts, invoices, mileage and super against the current year's figures, so the numbers in your dashboard move when the rules do. See pricing, or read the tax and BAS guide and the super guarantee guide.
Sources
- Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Act 2025 (Cth), No. 57, 2025, Schedule 1 (repeal of SGAA s79A and the "approved clearing house" definition), commenced 1 July 2026.
- Income Tax Assessment (Cents per Kilometre Deduction Rate for Car Expenses) Determination 2026 (F2026L00785); ITAA 1997 s28-25(1) for the 5,000 km cap.
- Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 s19 (12 per cent).
- Medicare Levy Act 1986 s3, as amended by Act No. 58, 2026.
This article is general information for Australian healthcare locums and is not financial, tax or legal advice. Figures are current for the 2026-27 financial year at the date of publication. Confirm your own position with a registered tax agent.