Compulsory superannuation in Australia started in 1992 , when the federal government introduced the Superannuation Guarantee (SG), which required employers to pay a percentage of employees’ wages into a super fund.

Key date: 1992 Superannuation Guarantee

  • The modern compulsory system began in 1992 under the Superannuation Guarantee legislation.
  • Employers were initially required to contribute around 3–4% of an employee’s ordinary time earnings into super.
  • This reform greatly expanded coverage so that most workers had some form of retirement savings, lifting super coverage to about 80% of employees by the early 1990s.

Brief background before 1992

  • Superannuation itself existed in Australia long before 1992, with some employer and public sector schemes dating back to the 1800s and early 1900s.
  • In the 1980s , award-based super deals (like 3% employer contributions negotiated via unions and the Hawke/Keating accords) laid the groundwork for the later compulsory SG system.

So, while super has a long history, the compulsory system most people mean when they ask “when did compulsory super start in Australia” dates to 1992 with the Superannuation Guarantee.