{"id":"C2004A04384","name":"Superannuation Guarantee Charge Act 1992","slug":"superannuation-guarantee-charge-act-1992","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"93 of 1992","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":7754,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2004A04384-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title [see Note 1]","content":"##### 1 Short title \\[see Note 1\\]\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Superannuation Guarantee Charge Act 1992.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"##### 2 Commencement\n\n  This Act commences on 1 July 1992.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Incorporation of the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act","content":"##### 3 Incorporation of the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act\n\n  The Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 is incorporated and is to be read as one with this Act.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Act binds Crown","content":"##### 4 Act binds Crown\n\n  This Act binds the Crown in right of each State, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Imposition of charge","content":"##### 5 Imposition of charge\n\n  Charge is imposed on any superannuation guarantee shortfall of an employer for a quarter.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Amount of charge","content":"##### 6 Amount of charge\n\n  The amount of superannuation guarantee charge payable on a superannuation guarantee shortfall of an employer for a quarter is an amount equal to the amount of the shortfall.","sortOrder":5},{"sectionNumber":"7","sectionType":"section","heading":"Severability","content":"##### 7 Severability\n\n  It is the intention of the Parliament that if, but for this section, section 5 would impose a superannuation guarantee charge on a State that exceeds the legislative power of the Commonwealth, section 5 of this Act has effect as if it did not impose that charge.","sortOrder":6}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains tightly focused on its original purpose: imposing a financial charge on employers who fail to meet their superannuation guarantee obligations. There is no indication of scope creep — it does precisely what it was designed to do in 1992 and delegates broader administrative complexity to the companion Administration Act."},"complexity_factors":["Relies heavily on a companion Act (the Administration Act) for definitions and operational detail, meaning it cannot be understood in isolation","Constitutional law dimension — the severability clause (section 7) reflects underlying complexity about Commonwealth power over State taxation","Short and technical in structure, but the simplicity is deceptive as the real complexity lives in the incorporated Administration Act","The term 'superannuation guarantee shortfall' has a precise legal meaning defined elsewhere, which could confuse lay readers"],"plain_english_summary":"## Superannuation Guarantee Charge Act 1992\n\n**What this law does:**\nThis short Act creates a financial penalty called a \"superannuation guarantee charge\" that employers must pay when they fail to contribute enough superannuation (retirement savings) for their employees.\n\n**How the penalty works:**\nIf an employer doesn't pay the minimum required amount of super into their employees' super funds during a given quarter (three-month period), they have what's called a \"shortfall.\" This Act imposes a charge (penalty payment) equal to **the full dollar amount of that shortfall** — so if you underpaid super by $1,000, you owe a $1,000 charge.\n\n**Who does this affect?**\n- **Employers** — any business or individual who employs workers and is required to pay superannuation contributions. This includes government employers in most States and Territories.\n- **Employees** — indirectly protected, as this law creates a financial incentive for employers to pay super correctly and on time.\n\n**Important details:**\n- This Act works hand-in-hand with the *Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992*, which sets out the rules on *how much* super employers must pay and *how* the system is administered. Think of this Act as the \"consequences\" part, and the Administration Act as the \"rules\" part.\n- The charge applies to State governments as well as private employers, with a small legal carve-out (exception) if charging a particular State would exceed the Federal Parliament's constitutional powers.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is the legal backbone that gives the superannuation guarantee system its teeth. Without this penalty mechanism, employers would have little financial consequence for underpaying their workers' retirement savings."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"6","severity":"medium","reasoning":"A charge imposed as a penalty mechanism for failing to meet superannuation guarantee obligations that equals precisely the amount of the shortfall creates no marginal financial incentive to comply. An employer who fails to contribute is charged exactly what they should have contributed anyway. The deterrent effect relies entirely on administrative penalties and interest imposed under the companion Administration Act rather than the charge itself, making the charge economically indistinguishable from the original obligation. While not strictly a logical impossibility, it renders the 'charge' label somewhat misleading as it functions as a mere debt recovery mechanism rather than a true impost.","confidence":0.72,"description":"The 'charge' equals exactly the shortfall amount, making it functionally identical to simply paying the shortfall, with no punitive or deterrent element built into the charge itself."},{"type":"other","section":"4","severity":"low","reasoning":"The selective binding of the Crown to State and Territory manifestations but not the Commonwealth Crown creates an asymmetry where the Commonwealth government as an employer may occupy a legally ambiguous position with respect to the charge. While Commonwealth employers are likely captured through other mechanisms, the express omission of the Commonwealth Crown from this provision is notable and potentially creates interpretive uncertainty about whether Commonwealth entities face the same obligations as State entities.","confidence":0.65,"description":"The Act purports to bind the Crown in right of States, ACT and NT, but conspicuously omits the Crown in right of the Commonwealth."},{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"7","severity":"low","reasoning":"Section 4 binds the Crown in right of each State, implying obligations run to State entities. Section 7 then creates a carve-out whereby if imposing the charge on a State exceeds Commonwealth legislative power, the charge simply does not apply. This renders section 4's binding of State Crowns partially hollow with respect to the core operative provision of the Act, creating a tension between the declaratory reach of section 4 and the practical retraction of section 7.","confidence":0.6,"description":"The severability clause is potentially self-defeating: if section 5 has effect 'as if it did not impose that charge' on a State, then the Act imposes no charge on the State, yet section 4 purports to bind the Crown in right of each State."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"medium","section_a":"4","section_b":"7","confidence":0.7,"description":"Section 4 expressly binds the Crown in right of each State, while section 7 effectively un-binds State Crowns from the core charge imposition where Commonwealth legislative power is insufficient."},{"severity":"low","section_a":"5","section_b":"7","confidence":0.75,"description":"Section 5 imposes charge on 'any' employer for a quarter without qualification, while section 7 creates a conditional nullification of that imposition for State employers, meaning 'any employer' does not in fact mean any employer in all circumstances."}]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act maintains its original narrow purpose: imposing a charge on superannuation guarantee shortfalls. It has not expanded beyond this core function since 1992. The incorporation mechanism in section 3 delegates complexity to the companion Administration Act, keeping this Act deliberately simple and focused."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 7 sections spanning 2 pages","No defined terms in the Act itself — all definitions imported from the companion Administration Act via section 3","Minimal conditional logic: only one qualification (the severability clause in section 7)","No cross-references to other legislation except the single incorporation of the Administration Act","Straightforward mathematical calculation: charge equals shortfall (section 6)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this legislation does**\n\nThis Act creates a financial penalty called the \"superannuation guarantee charge\" that employers must pay if they fail to put enough money into their employees' superannuation (retirement savings) accounts.\n\n**Who it affects**\n\n- **Employers** who don't meet their legal obligation to contribute the minimum required amount of superannuation for their employees each quarter (three-month period)\n- **The government**, which collects this charge\n\n**How it works**\n\n- The charge is imposed on any \"superannuation guarantee shortfall\" — meaning the gap between what an employer was supposed to pay into super and what they actually paid\n- The amount of the charge equals the amount of the shortfall (dollar for dollar)\n- The Act works together with the *Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992*, which contains the detailed rules about how to calculate shortfalls, when payments are due, and how the charge is administered\n\n**Why it matters**\n\nThis Act ensures employers have a strong financial incentive to pay superannuation correctly and on time. Without it, there would be no immediate penalty for underpaying or skipping super contributions, putting workers' retirement savings at risk.\n\n**Key technical note**\n\nThe Act includes a \"severability clause\" (section 7) — a legal safety net that ensures if the Commonwealth doesn't have constitutional power to charge a particular State government, that part of the law simply falls away rather than invalidating the entire Act."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/superannuation-guarantee-charge-act-1992","history":"/api/acts/superannuation-guarantee-charge-act-1992/history","analysis":"/api/acts/superannuation-guarantee-charge-act-1992/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/superannuation-guarantee-charge-act-1992/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/superannuation-guarantee-charge-act-1992/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/superannuation-guarantee-charge-act-1992/documents"}}