Superannuation (Super Guarantee)
Australian Business & ComplianceAlso: Super · Super Guarantee · SG
Quick definition
Superannuation is Australia's compulsory retirement savings system. Under the Super Guarantee, employers must pay a set percentage of an employee's ordinary earnings into a super fund, on top of wages. For marketers it matters because it quietly raises the real cost of every in-house hire, which flows straight into customer acquisition cost.
Add this to the salary for the part of the loaded cost super covers. Payroll tax and leave sit on top of that again. Use the loaded figure in every CAC and channel comparison.
How it varies across Australia
Australian customer acquisition cost runs structurally higher than the United States equivalent partly because of super. Every salaried marketer or sales rep costs more than their headline wage, and teams that benchmark against United States cost ratios consistently understate their own.
See how acquisition economics vary across Australian industries →What it actually means
Superannuation is the Australian system of compulsory retirement savings. The mechanism that touches business is the Super Guarantee, which requires employers to pay a percentage of an employee's ordinary time earnings into a super fund, on top of their wages. The rate has been rising over time toward twelve per cent.
It is not optional and it is not deducted from the wage. It is an additional cost the employer carries for every eligible worker, including in some cases contractors who are effectively employees.
For marketers this is a hidden input to customer acquisition cost. When you build a proper CAC, you include the salaries of the people doing acquisition. Super sits on top of every one of those salaries, so the true cost of an in-house marketer, sales rep or content producer is their wage plus super, plus other on-costs like payroll tax and leave.
The practical consequence is that a salaried channel always costs more than the headline salary suggests. A team that models acquisition on base wages alone understates its real CAC, and the gap is large enough to change whether a channel looks profitable.
Super is the line that makes an Australian marketer cost more than their salary, and quietly lifts your CAC with them.
How to calculate it
Super = ordinary time earnings × the super guarantee rate
Worked example. A marketer on eighty thousand dollars with a super guarantee rate of eleven point five per cent costs an extra 80,000 × 0.115 = 9,200 dollars in super. Their fully loaded cost before payroll tax and leave is already eighty-nine thousand two hundred dollars, not eighty thousand.
The Australian context
The Super Guarantee is specific to Australia and has no direct United States equivalent, which is a major reason Australian labour costs and therefore Australian CAC sit higher than United States figures. The rate has been legislated to rise in steps. Any acquisition model or in-house versus agency comparison built on Australian salaries needs super included, or it will systematically understate the cost of the in-house option.
Where people get this wrong
Related terms
Common questions
What is the Super Guarantee?
The legal requirement for Australian employers to pay a percentage of an employee's ordinary earnings into a superannuation fund, on top of their wages. It is compulsory, it is not deducted from the wage, and the rate has been rising over time toward twelve per cent.
Why does superannuation matter for marketing?
Because it raises the true cost of every in-house hire. Super sits on top of the salaries of your acquisition team, so it flows directly into customer acquisition cost. Models built on base wages alone understate the real number.
Does super explain why Australian CAC is higher than the United States?
Partly. Super and other on-costs make Australian labour more expensive than the United States equivalent, so acquisition that relies on salaried teams costs more. It is one reason United States CAC benchmarks should not be applied directly to Australian businesses.
How should I account for super in a hire versus agency decision?
Use the fully loaded cost of the hire: wage plus super plus payroll tax plus leave, not the headline salary. Compared on salary alone an in-house hire always looks cheaper than it is, which distorts the decision.
About New Rebellion
New Rebellion is a marketing intelligence consultancy. We build tools, score Australian businesses on how their marketing actually performs, and publish Debrief every day. This dictionary is part of how we work in the open.
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