Your payslip has two totals that are meant to differ, gross and net, a tax line called PAYG, and a super line. Learn to read those three, then confirm the super reaches your fund.
The fun kind of disclaimer. Not financial advice. Just a translation service for the document your employer emails you every fortnight, assumes you understand, and never once explains. Nobody sat any of us down for the payslip lesson, and yet here it is, quietly running your whole financial life.
Your payslip is the most important financial document you receive all year, and it is written like a receipt from a parallel universe. Rows of acronyms, two different totals that do not match, and a number for super that you may never have looked at twice.
It also changed this month. On 1 July 2026, the rules about when your employer pays your super, and what they calculate it on, both changed. So this is a good moment to learn to read the thing.
The terms, decoded
Gross pay→What you earned before anything is taken out. The big, cheerful number, and not the one that lands in your account.
Net pay→What lands in your account after tax and deductions. The honest number. Also called take-home pay.
PAYG (Pay As You Go)→The tax your employer withholds each pay and sends to the ATO, so you are not hit with one giant bill at year end. Not an extra tax. Your income tax, in instalments.
Superannuation Guarantee (SG)→The compulsory super your employer must pay on top of your wage, currently 12%. It should appear on your payslip. Your money, for later.
Qualifying earnings→From 1 July 2026 your super is 12% of this, not just ordinary time earnings. It folds in commissions and salary-sacrificed amounts too.
Ordinary Time Earnings (OTE)→Your regular wage, generally excluding overtime. It used to be the whole basis for super. Now it is one part of qualifying earnings.
YTD (Year to Date)→Running totals since 1 July, the start of the Australian financial year. What you have earned, and what has been withheld, so far this year.
Salary sacrifice→Some pre-tax pay redirected somewhere, often extra super, before tax is calculated. A mechanism, not a recommendation. From 1 July 2026 it is counted inside qualifying earnings.
STSL (Study and Training Support Loan)→Your HECS or HELP repayment. The label changed, the debt did not. It comes out once your income passes the yearly threshold, and the share taken rises as income rises. The threshold changes each year.
TFN (Tax File Number)→Your tax identity number. If your employer does not have it, a higher withholding rate generally applies until they do.
Award→The legal minimum pay and conditions for your industry or role. Your pay can sit above it. It cannot sit below.
Ordinary hours→Your standard hours before any overtime. Most of the other figures on the payslip are calculated from this.
Penalty rates→A higher hourly rate for hours that are harder to give up: weekends, public holidays, nights.
Allowance→Money for a specific cost or condition of the job: travel, tools, laundry, working somewhere remote. Some allowances are taxed, some are not.
Leave loading→An extra amount, often 17.5%, paid on top of normal pay while you are on annual leave, where it applies. Whether you get it depends on your award or agreement.
Leave balance / accrual→How much annual or personal leave you have built up, usually shown in hours rather than days.
LSL (Long service leave)→Extra leave you build up after several years with the same employer. The rules differ by state.
RESC (Reportable Employer Super Contributions)→Extra super your employer puts in beyond the compulsory amount, usually because you arranged it. It is shown separately because it is counted when other thresholds are worked out.
RFBA (Reportable Fringe Benefits Amount)→The value of non-cash benefits, such as a car or a phone. It is not money you can spend, but it is recorded against your income.
Novated lease→A car arrangement where the payments come out of your pay, by agreement between you, your employer and a financier.
Pay period→The stretch of time this payslip covers. Worth checking against the dates you worked.
Deductions→Anything else subtracted: union fees, salary-sacrificed amounts, sometimes health cover. If you see one you do not recognise, that is worth asking about.
Her Notes
- Two totals matter: gross (before tax) and net (what lands in your account). They are meant to differ. Tax and deductions are the gap.
- Since 1 July 2026, super is paid on every payday rather than quarterly, and it must reach your fund within 7 business days of you being paid. New employees can take longer.
- Super is 12% of your qualifying earnings, a base that now includes commissions and salary-sacrificed amounts, not just ordinary time earnings.
- YTD figures are your financial-year running totals since 1 July. Handy at tax time and for spotting anything odd.
- You are allowed to query your own payslip. Errors happen, and the person they cost is usually you.
The Economist's View
The payslip is a standardised record of remuneration, statutory withholding and mandated superannuation contributions, ensuring compliance and transparency in the employment relationship.
The Woman Living Inside It
The payslip is where you find out whether the super you are owed is being paid. It only has that power if you can read it. Until this month you would have waited a quarter to find out. Now you can check within a fortnight.
Her Move
Open your most recent payslip and find three things: your gross pay, your net pay, and your super line. Check the super looks like roughly 12% of your earnings.
Then do the part that is newly possible. Because super now has to reach your fund within 7 business days of payday, log into your super account a couple of weeks after a pay run and confirm the money arrived. Payslips show what your employer says they paid. Your fund shows what turned up. Those two things are not always the same, and unpaid super is a quiet, cumulative leak that compounds across a career. If the money is not there, that is a question for your employer first. The ATO is the agency responsible for unpaid super guarantee.
Sources
- Australian Taxation Office guidance on the superannuation guarantee, ordinary time earnings and Payday Super (super paid on payday, effective 1 July 2026).
- PAYG withholding and payslip requirements per the ATO and the Fair Work Ombudsman.
General education only. Not financial advice.
Common questions about reading an Australian payslip
What does STSL mean on my payslip?
STSL stands for Study and Training Support Loan. It is the line where your HECS or HELP repayment comes out. The label changed when several study loans were brought under one name, so a payslip that used to say HECS or HELP may now say STSL. It is the same debt. Repayments start once your income passes the yearly threshold, and the share taken rises as income rises. The threshold changes each year.
What do the codes on an Australian payslip mean?
Most of them are abbreviations for four things: what you earned, what was taken out, what your employer paid on top, and what you have built up. Gross and net are the two totals. PAYG is tax withheld. SG and OTE relate to super. STSL is a study loan repayment. YTD means the running total for the financial year. Every line is decoded in the list on this page.
What is RESC on a payslip?
RESC stands for Reportable Employer Super Contributions. It covers super your employer pays beyond the compulsory amount, usually because you arranged it. It is shown separately from the compulsory contribution because it is counted when other thresholds are worked out.
Why does my payslip show a different amount to what reached my bank?
The figure that reaches your account is net pay, after tax and any deductions. The larger figure is gross pay, before them. If the gap looks wrong, the deductions list on the payslip is where the difference is itemised, and your payroll team can explain any line you do not recognise.
What are qualifying earnings for superannuation in Australia?
From 1 July 2026, your employer calculates super as 12% of your qualifying earnings. Qualifying earnings is a term that brings together your ordinary time earnings plus all commissions, salary sacrifice contributions and other amounts already counted as salary or wages for super. It is a broader base than ordinary time earnings, which was used before.
How often does my employer have to pay my super now?
Since 1 July 2026, under Payday Super, employers must pay superannuation on every payday rather than quarterly, and the contribution must reach your super fund within 7 business days of you being paid. There are some exceptions, such as a longer window for new employees.
What is the difference between gross pay and net pay?
Gross pay is what you earned before anything is taken out. Net pay, also called take-home pay, is what lands in your account after tax and deductions. They are meant to differ. The gap between them is your tax withheld and any deductions.