Super stapling for employers

How to request Stapled Fund information

1. Establish the employment relationship

Submit a Tax File Number (TFN) declaration or run a Single Touch Payroll (STP) event. This establishes the employment link between you and your new staff member.

2. Log in to ATO online services for business

Once you’ve established the employment relationship:

Go to the “Employee super account” section and select Request for a new form
Fill in their details, including Tax File Number, Full Name, Date of Birth and address

3. Submit the request

Usually, you’ll get a response within minutes
If the ATO advises that there is no stapled super fund, you can go ahead and make employee super contributions to your default fund.

Special situations

Contractors: If they’re entitled to super but not in your STP, use secure mail in ATO Online Services to request their stapled fund.
Incomplete information: If you don’t have enough details to run payroll, you can still make a request—just follow the ATO’s guidance on pay slips and software workarounds.
Stapled fund rejects payment: If the stapled fund won’t accept your payment, ask the employee to choose another fund or submit another request for a new stapled fund via the ATO. If all else fails, the ATO may let you use your default fund.

Pro tip: set up a default fund

Keep things simple by setting up a default fund pre-hiring and updating your onboarding process to include TFN declarations early.

Set up a default fund

The Super Guarantee Charge (SGC) and late super payments

Understand what happens when employers make late super payments, how to lodge a Super Guarantee Statement with the ATO, how the Super Guarantee Charge (SGC) works and is calculated, plus steps to take to get super compliance back on track.

Offering your employees choice of super fund

Understand employer obligations when onboarding new employees, including offering a choice of super fund, default super funds and employer responsibilities.