Most employers do not get caught out by the law they never heard of. They get caught out by the change they heard about, filed away, and did not diarise.
Between 1 July 2026 and the end of 2027 there are six separate changes with hard start dates, each requiring a different function to act — payroll, HR, contracts, privacy, and in one case the board. This article sets them out in order, with what actually has to be done before each date.
What’s the real issue?
The real issue is that these changes do not arrive through the same door.
Payday super lands on your payroll provider. The wage review lands on your pay rates. Junior rates land on your rostering. The gender equality targets land on your executive. Automated decision-making transparency lands on your privacy policy. The non-compete ban lands on your contract templates.
Organisations that treat “employment law changes” as one item on one person’s list tend to action the first two and miss the rest. And the volume of disputes suggests there is little tolerance for getting it wrong: the Fair Work Commission recorded 44,075 lodgments in 2024–25, a 10 per cent increase on the previous year, with unfair dismissal at 37 per cent and general protections involving dismissal at 14 per cent of the total.
What this looks like in practice
An anonymised composite.
A mid-sized Queensland employer with 180 staff did the obvious things well. Payroll updated the wage rates from the first full pay period in July. Finance moved superannuation to the fortnightly cycle. Leadership considered the July changes handled.
What did not happen:
- Nobody owned the junior rates change. With a large cohort of 18 to 20-year-old casuals in retail-covered roles, the December step-up had not been modelled, and the six-month service condition meant tracking individual start dates that payroll did not hold reliably.
- Nobody owned the privacy change. The organisation used a recruitment platform that ranked applicants automatically. No one had asked whether that triggered the new automated decision-making disclosure obligation commencing in December.
- Nobody owned the contract review. Every template still contained a twelve-month non-compete applied uniformly from the receptionist to the CFO.
None of these were hard problems. All of them were owned by nobody.
What does the law say — and when does it bite?
1 April to 31 May 2026 — WGEA gender equality targets
Relevant employers with 500 or more employees must now select three gender equality targets, at least one of which must be numeric, from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s targets menu — chosen during the 2025–26 reporting period, with the reporting window running 1 April to 31 May 2026. Targets must then be met, or demonstrable improvement shown, over a three-year cycle.
A numeric target might be increasing the representation of an under-represented gender by a set number of percentage points. An action-based target might be conducting a comprehensive pay gap analysis or consulting employees on gender equality. This is a leadership obligation, not a reporting formality — the targets you choose commit you for three years.
1 July 2026 — payday superannuation
Superannuation contributions must be received by the employee’s fund within seven business days of payday, replacing the quarterly model. The rate remains 12 per cent, but the calculation base has broadened to qualifying earnings and the superannuation guarantee charge has been rebuilt with daily compounding interest and an administrative uplift. The superannuation guarantee charge is also a director penalty notice liability.
We have covered this change in detail separately; the short version is that it is a payroll systems project, a cash flow project and a governance item, not a diary change.
1 July 2026 — the annual wage review
From the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026:
- The National Minimum Wage increased by approximately 6 per cent to $1,004.90 per week or $26.44 per hour — crossing $1,000 a week for the first time.
- Modern award minimum wages increased by 4.75 per cent.
- The Commission also began a structural adjustment to the lowest award classifications, lifting the C13 rate by an additional amount above the general increase and phasing it out over three stages, with the C12 rate ultimately becoming the floor for ongoing employment. The entry-level rate applicable to no more than the first six months of employment must be at least $978.10 per week or $25.74 per hour.
The practical point for most employers is not the National Minimum Wage — very few employees sit on it — but the 4.75 per cent award increase, the new floors, and the flow-on to annualised salaries and set-off arrangements. Every wage increase compresses the buffer that an annual salary relies on to absorb award entitlements, and following the Coles and Woolworths decision that buffer must work in each pay period.
1 July 2026 — paid parental leave reaches 26 weeks
Government-funded Paid Parental Leave increased to 26 weeks (130 days) — the final stage of a phased expansion. The period reserved for each parent in a couple on a use-it-or-lose-it basis increased from three weeks to four weeks, and single parents can access the full entitlement. Couples may take up to four weeks concurrently.
This is a government payment, not an employer liability, but it changes your planning: longer absences, more partners taking leave, and employer-funded parental leave policies that may now sit awkwardly alongside the government scheme.
1 December 2026 — junior rates begin to phase out
In a Full Bench decision handed down on 31 March 2026 ([2026] FWCFB 75), the Commission determined that junior rates for employees aged 18 to 20 will be phased out under the General Retail Industry Award, Fast Food Industry Award and Pharmacy Industry Award. The Commission accepted evidence that many employees in that age group perform substantially the same duties as older colleagues, including supervisory work.
The detail matters:
- Affected employees move to the full adult rate once they have six months’ service with the same employer. Existing junior percentages continue during the first six months.
- The change is phased, commencing 1 December 2026 and completing by 1 July 2029.
- Rates for employees under 18 are unchanged.
Under the current structure, 18-year-olds are typically paid 70 per cent of the adult rate, 19-year-olds 80 per cent and 20-year-olds 90 per cent. If you employ this cohort at scale, the cumulative cost over the phase-in is significant — and the six-month service condition means you need reliable start-date data for every affected employee.
Employers outside these three awards should watch closely. Similar applications in other awards containing junior rates are a realistic prospect.
10 December 2026 — automated decision-making transparency
New Australian Privacy Principles 1.7 to 1.9, introduced by the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 (Cth), commence on 10 December 2026. Where an entity has arranged for a computer program to make — or to do a thing substantially and directly related to making — a decision that could reasonably be expected to significantly affect the rights or interests of an individual, using their personal information, that use must be disclosed in the entity’s privacy policy.
For employers this reaches recruitment screening and ranking tools, rostering algorithms, performance scoring and any third-party product with automated decisioning embedded in it. The OAIC released an issues paper in May 2026 and final guidance is expected around September, leaving a short runway before commencement.
From 2027 — the proposed ban on non-compete clauses
Announced in the 2025–26 Budget, the Government proposes to ban non-compete clauses for workers earning below the Fair Work Act high-income threshold, and to prohibit wage-fixing and no-poach agreements. Consultation has also canvassed non-solicitation clauses for clients and co-workers, and non-competes for high-income workers.
This is not law yet. The reforms are expected to take effect from 2027, following legislation, and to operate prospectively with transitional arrangements. But contract templates take months to change and existing contracts will need a strategy, so the work starts now.
Running through all of it — wage underpayment enforcement
Wage underpayment is now criminalised in serious cases, and regulatory focus on accurate wage calculation, correct award classification and clear records of hours worked has intensified. Every change above — new rates, new floors, new junior rates, new superannuation timing — is a fresh opportunity to get a calculation wrong at scale.
What are the risks and pain points for employers?
- Ownership gaps. These changes belong to six different functions. Anything unassigned goes unactioned.
- Payroll systems that cannot cope with staged, conditional changes — particularly the junior rates step-up, which is conditional on individual length of service.
- Annualised salaries quietly slipping under award. A 4.75 per cent award increase erodes the set-off buffer, and compliance is now tested each pay period rather than across the year.
- Data you do not have. Reliable start dates for casuals, an inventory of the automated tools embedded in your HR systems, and a clear list of who sits under the high-income threshold.
- A short runway on privacy. Final OAIC guidance around September against a 10 December commencement leaves very little time if you have not started your inventory.
- Treating proposals as settled law — or ignoring them entirely. Both are mistakes. The non-compete ban is not law, but preparing for it is prudent.
Our top five tips: what every employer should do
- Assign a named owner and a date to each change. Put the six items on one page, with the responsible person, the deadline and the action required. This single step prevents most of what goes wrong. Review it at the executive level quarterly, not annually.
- Re-run your annualised salary reconciliations after every wage increase. The award increase does not just lift your award-covered hourly staff — it lifts the entitlements your salaried staff’s set-off clauses have to absorb, in each pay period. Reconcile per pay cycle, not per year, and build genuine buffer room into salaries for roles with fluctuating hours.
- Get your workforce data ready before December. For junior rates, that means accurate start dates and continuous-service records for every 18 to 20-year-old, and payroll settings capable of a conditional step-up. For privacy, that means an inventory of every tool — including third-party and vendor-embedded tools — that uses personal information to make or materially assist a decision about a person.
- Start the contract review now, and separate the threshold cases. Identify which of your employees earn below the high-income threshold and are currently subject to a non-compete. Those are the clauses most likely to become unenforceable. In parallel, strengthen the protections that will survive: confidentiality, intellectual property assignment, notice and garden leave provisions, and properly drafted non-solicitation clauses.
- Use the changes as a compliance audit, not just an update. A wage increase is the natural moment to test award coverage and classifications. Payday super is the natural moment to test your pay codes. The privacy commencement is the natural moment to build the AI inventory you needed anyway. Do the deeper work while the change is already on the agenda.
Frequently asked questions
What actually changed on 1 July 2026?
Three things: superannuation became a pay-cycle obligation with a seven-business-day receipt deadline; the National Minimum Wage rose to $1,004.90 per week ($26.44 per hour) with modern award minimums up 4.75 per cent from the first full pay period on or after 1 July; and government Paid Parental Leave reached 26 weeks.
Do the wage increases apply from 1 July exactly?
From the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. A pay period that straddles the date is paid at the old rates until the new period begins.
Our salaried staff are well above award. Does the wage increase affect us?
Yes, potentially. If they are award-covered and paid an annualised salary with a set-off clause, the increase raises the award entitlements the salary must absorb — and following the Coles and Woolworths decision, the set-off must satisfy those entitlements in each pay period rather than on average across the year.
Which awards are affected by the junior rates change?
The General Retail Industry Award, the Fast Food Industry Award and the Pharmacy Industry Award. Employees aged 18 to 20 with at least six months’ service with their employer move to the full adult rate, phased from 1 December 2026 and completing by 1 July 2029. Rates for under-18s are unchanged.
Do we have to set WGEA gender equality targets?
Only relevant employers with 500 or more employees. Those employers select three targets, including at least one numeric target, and must meet or demonstrate improvement against them over a three-year cycle.
Is the ban on non-compete clauses law?
No. It is a Government proposal announced in the 2025–26 Budget, expected to take effect from 2027 following consultation and legislation, and to operate prospectively. Employers should prepare, not assume.
What do we need to do about the December 2026 privacy change?
Identify whether you use any computer program — including third-party or vendor tools — that uses personal information to make, or to substantially and directly assist in making, decisions significantly affecting a person’s rights or interests. If you do, your privacy policy must disclose it by 10 December 2026. Failure to disclose adequately is a breach of the Privacy Act.
Is the increase in Paid Parental Leave a cost to employers?
The payment itself is government-funded. The impact on employers is operational — longer absences, more partners taking leave, and the need to check that employer-funded parental leave policies still work sensibly alongside the government scheme.
We’re a small business — do all of these apply?
Payday super, the wage review, paid parental leave, the junior rates change (if you are covered by one of the three awards) and the privacy obligation are not scaled by size. The WGEA targets apply only to employers with 500 or more employees. The non-compete reforms, as proposed, contain no small business exemption, though exemptions remain under consultation.
How Harrisons can help
Six changes, five functions, eighteen months — and a Fair Work Commission handling more than 44,000 lodgments a year. The cost of missing one of these is rarely a single fine; it is a systemic error repeated across every pay period until someone notices.
We help Australian employers — SME business owners, Queensland local government councils, and community and not-for-profit organisations — get in front of it:
- Build a compliance calendar with named owners, dates and the specific action each change requires.
- Audit pay rates, classifications and annualised salaries after each wage increase, per pay period.
- Prepare your contracts for the restraint reforms while strengthening the protections that will survive them.
- Ready your privacy policy and automated decision-making inventory before 10 December 2026.
Don’t let a change you already know about become a five-year liability. Get in touch with our team today and start with a 2026–27 compliance readiness review.
This article provides general information for Australian employers and is not legal advice. Rates, thresholds and commencement dates change, and proposed reforms may be altered before they become law. For advice tailored to your organisation, contact Harrisons.
Claire Harrison is the Founder and Managing Director of Harrisons, a flourishing HR consulting business that sprouted in 2009 from Claire’s passionate belief that inspiring leaders and superstar employees are the key success factor to any business. With over 20 years’ experience, Claire has worked as a HR Director of multi-national organisations, as a Non-Executive Board Director, and a small business owner. Claire’s corporate career includes working with companies such as BHP, Westpac, Fonterra and Mayne Nickless.
