What superannuation is
Superannuation, often shortened to super, is Australia's compulsory retirement savings system. Employers pay a contribution on behalf of eligible employees into a superannuation fund, in addition to the wages the employee receives. The money is preserved for retirement, with limited circumstances in which it can be accessed earlier.
Super is calculated on an employee's ordinary earnings and is part of the regular payroll process. Because it is tied to the hours and earnings an employee accrues, accurate timesheets and a clean payroll run are the foundation of getting super contributions right.
This is a high-level description of the concept. The applicable rate, eligibility and timing are set by Australian law and change over time, so employers should confirm current requirements from the relevant authority.
Superannuation in the Cohiva platform
Cohiva Culture is an HRIS that covers onboarding, rostering, timesheets and payroll export. It captures the worked hours and produces a payroll export, which feeds the payroll process that calculates and pays super. By keeping rostering, timesheets and the export in one record, Culture helps you keep the earnings data accurate and supports your payroll obligations, rather than calculating or remitting super itself.