Is Super On Top of Your Salary in Australia? What 'Package' Actually Means

It depends entirely on how the job ad or offer letter is worded, and that is exactly the problem. 'Package' or 'total remuneration' of $120,000 means the 12% Super Guarantee is already included inside that figure, so your actual base salary is closer to $107,143 with roughly $12,857 in super sitting inside it. '$120,000 + super' or '$120,000 base' means super is calculated on top, adding roughly $14,400 for a total cost to your employer of $134,400. Same headline number, nearly $27,000 apart in what actually lands as base salary. Always ask which one you are being offered before you compare two roles.

Ask the recruiter or hiring manager directly: 'Is that figure inclusive of super, or is super paid on top?' If they cannot answer clearly, ask for the base salary figure in writing before you accept. Some job ads flag it explicitly ('$120k + super' or '$120k package, inc. super'), but plenty just say '$120,000' with no qualifier at all, and in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane job ads that ambiguity is genuinely common, not a rare drafting slip. Your payslip will confirm it within the first pay cycle either way, since super shows as a separate employer contribution line, never a deduction from your pay.

12% of your Ordinary Time Earnings (broadly, your normal hours worked, including most allowances and bonuses tied to ordinary hours, but excluding overtime). This is the final step of a phased increase that ran from 9.5% up to 12% between 2021 and 1 July 2025, and the ATO has no further scheduled increases beyond 12% for 2026-27 or currently legislated years after it. So 12% is the rate to use for any package-vs-base-salary comparison you run today.

No, and this is the other reason the distinction matters. Your base salary is your taxable income, run through the ATO's Income Tax brackets and the Medicare Levy. Super contributions are not part of your taxable income for personal income tax purposes; instead they go into your super fund and are typically taxed at a flat 15% contributions tax inside the fund, well below most people's marginal income tax rate. That is part of why a package-inclusive offer, which quietly shrinks your taxable base salary, is worth catching before you sign, since it also nudges you slightly further from the next tax bracket than a base+super offer of the same size would.

In raw dollar terms, yes, meaningfully. A $120,000 package caps your employer's total cost at $120,000, made up of about $107,143 base and $12,857 super. A $120,000 base salary with super paid on top costs your employer $134,400 total, made up of the full $120,000 base and $14,400 super. If you compare two job offers that both say '$120,000' without checking which framing each one uses, you could be comparing roles that are actually $14,400 apart in real value, before you have even looked at anything else about the job.

The 12% Super Guarantee applies to almost all employees earning any amount, including most part-time and casual workers, since the old $450/month earnings threshold for super eligibility was removed. Contractors are more nuanced: whether super applies depends on whether you are deemed an employee for super purposes under the ATO's contractor tests, not just what your contract calls you. If you are quoted a day rate or hourly rate as a contractor, always confirm in writing whether super is included in that rate or paid separately, since the same package-vs-add-on ambiguity shows up there too.

Partly convention (many employers genuinely believe 'salary package' is self-explanatory once you're used to reading it), and partly because a package-inclusive figure looks like a bigger, more competitive headline number for the same employer cost. A $120,000 package sounds identical to a $120,000 + super role in a job ad title, but the second one is worth $14,400 more to you every year. It is worth asking every single time rather than assuming.