What goes on a Australian payslip
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Every Australian payslip must show the employee's gross pay, all deductions, and net pay — along with specific details required under the Fair Work Act. Getting it right is a legal obligation, not a formality.
What the law requires on every payslip
The Fair Work Act and Fair Work Regulations set out mandatory payslip content. Employers must issue a payslip within one working day of paying the employee. A compliant payslip must include:
- The employer's name and ABN
- The employee's name
- The pay period covered
- The date of payment
- Gross pay
- Net pay
- Any loadings, allowances, bonuses or penalty rates paid, including the rate and the number of hours to which they apply
- Any deductions made, showing the amount, the name of the fund or person being paid, and the reason for the deduction
- The superannuation fund name and the amount of the contribution
If the employee is paid at an hourly rate, the payslip must also show that rate and the number of ordinary hours worked at that rate.
Gross pay and how it is calculated
Gross pay is what the employee earns before any deductions. It includes:
- Ordinary time earnings — the base salary or hourly pay for ordinary hours worked
- Overtime, if applicable
- Allowances (for example, a car allowance or a tool allowance)
- Loadings such as casual loading or shift penalties
Gross pay is the starting point for calculating every other figure on the payslip, so accuracy here flows through to everything else.
PAYG withholding — income tax
Australia uses a Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding system. The employer withholds income tax from the employee's gross pay each period and remits it to the ATO on the employee's behalf. The amount withheld is progressive — it increases as earnings increase — and is calculated using ATO withholding tables based on the employee's annual income.
The Medicare levy of 2% is built into the ATO's standard withholding amounts, so it does not need to be listed as a separate line in most cases, though some payroll systems display it separately for transparency.
The payslip should show the amount of PAYG tax withheld for the period. Employees use this figure at tax time to reconcile their return.
HECS/HELP repayments
If an employee has declared a study or training support loan (such as a HECS or HELP debt) on their Tax File Number declaration, the employer must withhold an additional amount each pay period. This is deducted from gross pay using a banded scale set by the ATO — the higher the income, the higher the repayment percentage.
The additional withholding for a study debt should appear as a separate line on the payslip, distinct from ordinary PAYG tax. Employees often miss this, so displaying it clearly reduces confusion and queries to your payroll team.
Superannuation
From 2026, the Superannuation Guarantee rate is 12% of ordinary time earnings. The employer contributes this to the employee's nominated complying super fund. Super is not deducted from the employee's pay — it is an on-top cost to the employer — but it must appear on the payslip showing:
- The name of the super fund
- The amount being contributed for the period
Note that super contributions are typically paid quarterly at a minimum, but many employers pay more frequently. The payslip shows the accrued contribution for the period, even if the payment to the fund has not yet been made.
Single Touch Payroll and record-keeping
Every time you run payroll, the pay event — including gross pay, PAYG withheld and super information — is reported to the ATO in real time via Single Touch Payroll (STP). You do not send payslips to the ATO; STP is a separate employer-to-ATO data feed.
At the end of the financial year, you must finalise each employee's STP data by 14 July. Once finalised, the ATO pre-fills the employee's tax return with their income and withholding figures. This is why accuracy on every payslip matters — errors flow directly into the ATO's records and the employee's tax return.
Employers must keep payroll records, including payslip copies, for seven years. Records must be in English (or a form readily accessible in English) and must not be altered to the employee's disadvantage.
Leave balances
While not strictly required by law, showing accrued leave balances on the payslip is standard practice and strongly recommended. Under the National Employment Standards, most full-time employees are entitled to four weeks of annual leave per year. Displaying the current balance reduces leave-balance disputes and helps employees plan their time off with accurate information rather than estimates.
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