Does salary include super? Your take-home pay explained

Does salary include super?

When you see a salary figure in a job advertisement or employment contract, the first question to ask is does salary include super? In Australia, the answer is almost always no. The salary quoted is your base earnings before superannuation. Your employer must pay an additional 12% super guarantee into your nominated super fund, as required by the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Australian Taxation Office. That super is not deducted from your pay – it is an extra cost to the employer. So if you are offered $80,000, your total remuneration is $80,000 plus $9,600 super, but your take-home pay is calculated only on the $80,000.

How your take-home pay is calculated

Your take-home pay is what lands in your bank account after your employer withholds income tax and the Medicare levy. The Australian Taxation Office provides tax tables that employers use to deduct the correct amount each pay period. For the 2026–27 tax year, the rates for Australian residents are:

• $0 – $18,200: Nil
• $18,201 – $45,000: 15c for each $1 over $18,200
• $45,001 – $135,000: $4,020 plus 30c for each $1 over $45,000
• $135,001 – $190,000: $31,020 plus 37c for each $1 over $135,000
• $190,001 and over: $51,370 plus 45c for each $1 over $190,000

These rates are from the and . In addition, most people pay the Medicare levy of 2% of taxable income. The latest published single-person Medicare thresholds are $28,011 and $35,013. If your income is below $28,011 you pay no levy; between $28,011 and $35,013 you pay a reduced rate (10c per dollar over the lower threshold). Above $35,013 you pay the full 2%.

You may also be entitled to the Low Income Tax Offset (LITO). For 2026–27, LITO is a maximum of $700 for taxable incomes up to $37,500, then reduces by 5c per dollar until $45,000, then becomes $325 minus 1.5c per dollar over $45,000 until it reaches zero at $66,667. LITO can only reduce your tax to zero, not create a refund.

Where your salary sits against benchmarks

To give you a sense of where your pay falls, here are two key benchmarks from the Benchmarks page:

• National minimum wage: $26.44 per hour, $1,004.90 per week, or about $52,255 per year (from Fair Work Ombudsman, 1 July 2026).
• Full-time adult ordinary time earnings: $2,083.70 per week, or about $108,352 per year (ABS Average Weekly Earnings, May 2026, seasonally adjusted, excluding overtime and employer super).

Example: Minimum wage take-home

If you earn the minimum wage of $52,255, your taxable income is $52,255. Using the 2026–27 rates:

• Tax on first $18,200: $0
• Tax on $18,201–$45,000: $4,020
• Tax on $45,001–$52,255: $2,176.50
• Total tax before offsets: $6,196.50
• LITO: $216.18 (reduces tax to $5,980.32)
• Medicare levy (2%): $1,045.10
• Total deductions: $7,025.42
• Take-home pay: approximately $45,230 per year (about $1,739 per fortnight).

Example: Full-time ordinary time take-home

If you earn the full-time average of $108,352:

• Tax on first $18,200: $0
• Tax on $18,201–$45,000: $4,020
• Tax on $45,001–$108,352: $19,005.60
• Total tax: $23,025.60
• LITO: $0 (income above $66,667)
• Medicare levy (2%): $2,167.04
• Total deductions: $25,192.64
• Take-home pay: approximately $83,159 per year (about $3,198 per fortnight).

These are estimates only and exclude HELP/HECS repayments, Medicare levy surcharge, salary sacrifice, and payroll rounding. Use the Clearance tool for a personalised calculation.

Super is not part of your take-home

Remember, the super your employer pays (12% from 1 July 2026) goes directly into your super fund, not into your bank account. It is not deducted from your salary. So when you compare job offers, always check whether the figure is plus super or including super. Most Australian salaries are quoted plus super. For more details, see our Super guide.

Key takeaways

• Does salary include super? No – super is additional.
• Your take-home is salary minus income tax and Medicare levy.
• The minimum wage gives a take-home of about $45,230 per year.
• The full-time average gives a take-home of about $83,159 per year.
• Use the Take-home pay calculator to see your own situation.

For more on tax and offsets, visit Tax and Medicare.