Paying seasonal and temporary staff in Australia
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Paying seasonal and temporary staff in Australia follows the same core PAYG, superannuation and STP obligations as permanent employees — the main differences lie in how you onboard short-term workers and manage their entitlements from day one.
Establish the correct employment basis before the first pay run
Seasonal and temporary workers are almost always hired as either casual employees or fixed-term employees. The classification matters because it determines leave entitlements, notice obligations and how you calculate ordinary time earnings for super.
A casual employee receives a casual loading in lieu of paid leave entitlements such as annual leave. They have no guaranteed ongoing hours. A fixed-term employee is engaged for a defined period and generally accrues the same leave entitlements as a permanent employee, including four weeks' annual leave under the National Employment Standards.
Getting this wrong creates liability. If you classify someone as casual but roster them on a regular and predictable pattern over an extended period, they may have grounds to claim they are in fact a permanent employee.
Collect the right information before processing pay
Before you process a single payment, every new worker — regardless of how short their engagement is — must complete a Tax File Number (TFN) declaration. Without a TFN declaration, you are required to withhold tax at the highest marginal rate plus the Medicare levy, which creates unnecessary complexity for both parties.
You also need to know whether the worker has a HECS/HELP debt. If they do, additional repayment amounts are withheld through payroll on a banded scale determined by their annual income, even if their engagement with you is only a few weeks. The annualised income method applies, so a worker earning a relatively modest amount over a short period can still trigger a HELP repayment band when their weekly earnings are annualised.
Workers should also nominate a complying superannuation fund. If they do not nominate one, you must use their stapled super fund (retrieved from the ATO) or, if none exists, your default fund.
PAYG withholding and the Medicare levy
Income tax is withheld under the pay-as-you-go system at each pay event. The rate is determined by the worker's TFN declaration, their tax offsets claimed (such as the tax-free threshold) and the annualised value of their earnings. Tax is progressive, so the correct withholding rate changes depending on total expected income.
The Medicare levy of 2% is built into the standard ATO withholding schedules. You do not calculate it separately — it is reflected in the tax withheld when you apply the correct withholding schedule for the pay period.
Seasonal workers who only work part of the year sometimes end up having too much tax withheld because the annualisation method assumes they will earn that rate all year. They reclaim any over-withheld amount through their personal tax return. Your obligation as an employer is to apply the correct withholding schedule — not to adjust for their full-year circumstances.
Superannuation obligations
The Superannuation Guarantee applies to most temporary and seasonal workers. From 2026, the rate is 12% of ordinary time earnings, paid to a complying fund. There is no minimum earnings threshold to meet before super becomes payable — contributions are required from the first dollar of ordinary time earnings for eligible workers.
Super must be paid at least quarterly, though paying each pay period reduces the risk of falling behind. It is not included in the PAYG withholding amount; it is an on-cost on top of gross wages. Budget for it before you agree on a pay rate, because underpaying super attracts the Superannuation Guarantee Charge, which includes interest and an administration levy and is not tax-deductible.
Working holiday makers on a 417 or 462 visa are subject to different withholding rates and specific super rules, including the ability to claim super back when leaving Australia. If you are hiring backpackers for harvest or hospitality work, confirm the correct tax treatment with the ATO or a registered tax agent before processing pay.
Single Touch Payroll reporting and year-end finalisation
Every pay event must be reported to the ATO through Single Touch Payroll on or before the pay date. This applies regardless of how few staff you have or how short the engagement is. STP-enabled payroll software handles this automatically each time you process a pay run.
At the end of the income year, you must finalise each employee's STP data by 14 July. For seasonal workers who finished their engagement months earlier, you still need to complete this step. Finalisation is what triggers their income statement in myGov, which they need to lodge their tax return.
If you use a payroll platform that handles multi-country or multi-workforce complexity, confirm it is STP Phase 2 compliant and that it correctly handles casual loading, the absence of leave accruals for casuals, and the super obligations described above. Many generic platforms require manual configuration to get these right for non-permanent workers.
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