The rules that move casual pay do not change often, but when they do it is usually on 1 July and usually all at once. This page is the dated record: what changed, when it took effect, who it affects, and where to read the authority rather than a summary of it.
Each entry links the regulator, because the regulator is the source of truth and we are not. Nothing here tells you what your obligations are. Your circumstances, your award, and any agreement covering your workplace all change the answer, so check your own position with Fair Work or the ATO before acting on anything below.
Last reviewed 11 August 2026
Superannuation contributions are now tied to when wages are paid rather than to a quarterly cycle. For businesses paying casual workers frequently, this changes super from a quarterly reconciliation into something that has to happen alongside every pay run.
Who it affects: Every employer paying superannuation, but the operational impact is heaviest where pay cycles are short or irregular, which is most casual workforces.
The Fair Work Commission’s annual review outcome flows into the national minimum wage and into modern award minimum rates. Casual rates move with the base rate, and so does every penalty and loading calculated from it.
Who it affects: Any business paying award-covered staff. Rates differ by award and classification, so a single percentage figure does not tell you what your own rates became.
The superannuation guarantee rate completed its legislated step-up and now sits at 12% of ordinary time earnings. This was the final increase in the schedule.
Who it affects: Every employer. For labour costing it matters because on-costs quoted against an older rate understate the true hourly cost of an employee.
Amendments to the Fair Work Act changed how casual employment is defined and introduced a pathway for employees to move to permanent employment. The definition now turns on the real substance of the employment relationship rather than on the label in the contract alone.
Who it affects: Any business engaging casual staff, particularly where someone described as casual has been working a regular, predictable pattern for an extended period.
When MyGig is the Employer of Record, these changes land on MyGig rather than on your payroll. Award rate movements flow into the engine that prices every hour, super is paid with wages at the current rate, and Single Touch Payroll is lodged directly from MyGig’s own payroll system. You keep running the roster.
How the award engine prices an hour is on compliance. Current casual rates by award are on casual award rates, and the daily pay cycle that Payday Super suits is on daily payroll.
MyGig employs your casual workers and carries the compliance that comes with them. Sign up free, or bring your hardest award question to a demo.