Salary Sacrifice into Super Calculator: Where Your Pay Sits on the Line
When you use the salary sacrifice into super calculator, you enter a yearly salary before tax. The tool then shows you the equivalent weekly and hourly amounts based on a 38-hour week, and it tells you how far your figure sits from the national full-time average. That average is $2,083.70 a week, or about $108,352 a year, according to the ABS Average Weekly Earnings for May 2026. But because salary sacrifice reduces your taxable income, the number you type in may be lower than your gross package—and that changes where you land on the line.
How Salary Sacrifice Moves the Figure
Salary sacrifice into super is an arrangement where you ask your employer to pay part of your pre-tax salary into your superannuation fund. The ATO treats that amount as an employer contribution, so it is not included in your assessable income. For the calculator, you enter your salary after the sacrifice amount has been deducted. If your total package is $120,000 and you sacrifice $20,000, you enter $100,000. The tool then compares $100,000 to the national full-time average of $108,352. That puts you about $8,352 below the line. Without the sacrifice, you would have been above it.
This is important because the line is based on ordinary-time earnings before any salary sacrifice. The ABS Average Weekly Earnings measure includes all full-time adult employees, regardless of whether they sacrifice part of their pay. So if you sacrifice, your entered salary will likely be lower than the average, even if your total remuneration is above it. The calculator does not adjust for this—it simply shows the distance from the line based on the figure you provide.
State and Territory Differences
Where you work also affects the comparison. The national full-time average is a single number, but each state and territory has its own average. For example:
- Australian Capital Territory: about $119,090
- Western Australia: about $115,825
- New South Wales: about $109,658
- Victoria: about $106,137
- Queensland: about $106,064
- South Australia: about $102,450
- Northern Territory: about $103,173
- Tasmania: about $96,008
If you work in the ACT and sacrifice into super, your entered salary might still be above the national line but below the ACT average. The calculator only shows the distance from the national line, not your state’s average. To see how you compare locally, you can check the States and territories page.
Award and Minimum Wage Context
Your award or agreement can also move the figure. The national minimum wage from 1 July 2026 is $26.44 an hour, or $1,004.90 a week, about $52,255 a year on 38 hours (Fair Work). Award minimums rose by 4.75% from that date. If you are on an award, your base rate is set by that award, and any salary sacrifice must not reduce your pay below the award minimum. The calculator does not check award compliance; it simply compares whatever salary you enter to the full-time average. If your award rate is below the average, your entered salary will be further from the line.
Medians vs Averages
It is also worth knowing where the medians sit. The full-time median is about $90,532, and the all-employees median is about $74,100 (ABS Employee earnings, August 2025). These are different from the average. If you sacrifice into super and your entered salary is around $90,000, you are near the full-time median but below the average. The calculator uses the average as the line, not the median. For more on how occupations compare, see Job medians.
Using the Calculator Responsibly
The on-site tool is straightforward: you type in a yearly salary before tax, and it returns a weekly and hourly figure based on a 38-hour week, plus the distance from the full-time average. It does not have a frequency switch, a login, an award search, or a tax return. It does not ask for your super sacrifice amount—you need to calculate that yourself. The ATO’s tax rates for 2026–27 are: nil up to $18,200; 15% from $18,201 to $45,000; 30% from $45,001 to $135,000; 37% from $135,001 to $190,000; and 45% above $190,000. The Medicare levy is 2% before any reductions. Salary sacrifice into super can reduce your taxable income, potentially lowering your tax bracket, but the calculator does not model that.
Why the Line Moves
The national full-time average is updated twice a year, in May and November, from the ABS Average Weekly Earnings release. The current figure is from May 2026. But your personal line can move depending on your state, your award, and how much you sacrifice. The calculator gives you a snapshot against the national figure, but for a fuller picture, you can explore How the figures are set and Guides on salary sacrifice and super.
In summary, the salary sacrifice into super calculator is a tool to see where your pre-tax salary (after sacrifice) sits relative to the national full-time average. It does not publish a specific figure for salary sacrifice itself—that is up to you to enter. The line is $108,352 a year, but your state’s average may be higher or lower, and your award may set a floor. Use the calculator as a starting point, then dig into the state and industry pages to understand the full picture.