Super Co-Contribution Calculator
Get up to $500 free — AU 2026-27

It is a payment the government makes into your super when you make a personal after-tax contribution and your income is below a threshold. The government matches 50 cents for every dollar you put in, up to a maximum of $500 a year. For 2026-27 you get the full $500 if your total income is $49,293 or less and you contribute at least $1,000 of your own after-tax money; the entitlement then tapers away and reaches nil at $64,293. You do not apply for it — the ATO works it out from your tax return and your fund's contribution report, and pays it straight into your super account, usually within about 60 days of both being processed.

$1,000 of personal after-tax money, because the match is 50 cents in the dollar and the maximum is $500. Contributing more than $1,000 does not increase the co-contribution — the match is capped at $500 regardless. If your income is above the $49,293 lower threshold your maximum is lower than $500, so the contribution needed to reach it is lower too: at $56,793 (halfway up the taper) your maximum is about $250, which takes only $500 of your own money. Putting in more than that earns you nothing extra from the government.

The lower income threshold is $49,293 and the higher income threshold is $64,293 for the 2026-27 financial year. At or below $49,293 you qualify for the full $500 (if you contribute $1,000). Between the two, the maximum reduces by 3.333 cents for every dollar of income above $49,293 — that is $500 spread across the $15,000 gap. At or above $64,293 there is no entitlement. 'Total income' for this test means assessable income plus reportable fringe benefits and reportable employer super contributions, less allowable business deductions, so it is not simply your salary.

You need to satisfy all of these: make a personal after-tax (non-concessional) contribution to a complying super fund during the year and NOT claim a tax deduction for it; earn at least 10% of your total income from employment or carrying on a business (the '10% test', which is why it generally does not help someone living purely on investment income); be under 71 at the end of the income year; be an Australian resident for the year; lodge an income tax return; have a total super balance below the general transfer balance cap ($2.1 million) at the previous 30 June; and not have exceeded your non-concessional contributions cap.

For most people under the threshold, yes — and this is the point that is widely missed. Salary sacrifice is a CONCESSIONAL contribution taxed 15% in the fund, so for someone in the $18,201-$45,000 bracket (15% plus the 2% Medicare levy) the net tax benefit is only about 2 cents in the dollar. The co-contribution instead gives you an immediate 50% return on the first $1,000 of after-tax money — $500 for $1,000, guaranteed and risk-free. Nothing else in Australian super comes close to that rate on a low income. Many people qualify for both the co-contribution and the low income super tax offset (LISTO) in the same year.

They are separate and you can receive both. The low income super tax offset (LISTO) refunds the 15% contributions tax on your CONCESSIONAL contributions, up to $500 a year, for people with adjusted taxable income of $37,000 or less — it is automatic and requires nothing from you beyond your fund holding your tax file number. The co-contribution matches your own AFTER-TAX contributions at 50 cents in the dollar, up to $500, and requires you to actually make a contribution and lodge a return. LISTO rewards contributions already going in; the co-contribution rewards new money you add yourself.

No — and doing so is the most common way people accidentally lose the co-contribution. The co-contribution only matches NON-CONCESSIONAL (after-tax) contributions. If you lodge a Notice of intent to claim a deduction with your fund, the contribution is reclassified as concessional, and it no longer qualifies for the match. If you are near the lower threshold it is worth doing the sums both ways: at those income levels the 50% match on $1,000 almost always beats the deduction, because your marginal rate minus the 15% contributions tax is only a couple of cents in the dollar.

The contribution must reach your super fund by 30 June to count for that financial year — allow several business days, because it is the date the fund receives it that matters, not the date you send it. BPAY and direct-debit contributions made in the last week of June regularly land in July and count for the following year. The ATO then determines your entitlement after you lodge your tax return and your fund reports the contribution, and pays it directly into your super account, typically within about 60 days of having both. There is nothing to claim on the return itself.