Super is owed by whoever is legally liable to pay the performer. That is the whole test. It is not decided by who holds the bank account the money passes through, and it is not decided by what either party calls themselves. The ATO sets this out with worked examples on Super for sportspeople, performers, film makers and related activities.
Four patterns cover almost every booking a working act takes. Read them against your last three gigs and see which one each was.
Pattern A: you engaged the players yourself
You take the booking in your own right, the venue pays you, and you engage the other players. You owe super on each player's fee, and the venue owes super on the fee it pays you.
In the ATO's example, Sophie is paid $900 by a pub. She engages Ryan and Amelia herself for $200 each and tells the pub nothing about them. The pub owes super on Sophie's $900. Sophie owes super on each of the two $200 fees. Both obligations are real and they sit with different people. This is the ordinary situation for a wedding or function band, and it is the one this product is built around.
Source: ATO, Super for sportspeople, performers, film makers and related activities (QC107606), example 12
Pattern B: you took the booking as agent for the group
You told the hirer you were dealing with them on behalf of everyone in the band, and the hirer agreed to pay the group through you. The hirer is the liable payer for every member, on the shares you agreed, even though the money arrives in your account and you distribute it.
The ATO's example has a pub paying Neisha $980 inclusive of super as agent for three performers, with shares of $420, $280 and $280. The pub owes $45, $30 and $30 of super, and pays Neisha $875 to hand on. Neisha owes nothing.
This only works if the hirer actually agreed to it. Labelling yourself an agent is not enough. Keep the booking correspondence that shows the hirer knew they were engaging the group. The hirer also needs each member's fund details, which is what a super details pack is for.
Source: ATO, Super for sportspeople, performers, film makers and related activities (QC107606), example 10
Pattern C: the hirer engaged each member separately
The venue agreed to pay each member of the band directly. The venue owes super for each of them. Your job is only to help everyone invoice correctly.
In the ATO's example a venue pays each of three band members $280 inclusive of super. Each member receives $250 and $30 goes to each of their funds. The venue is the payer in every case.
Source: ATO, Super for sportspeople, performers, film makers and related activities (QC107606), example 7
Pattern D: an agency on-sells the act
An entertainment agency that contracts the performer in its own right and then on-sells to a client is the liable payer. The end client being a private couple makes no difference: the agency is a business, so the private and domestic exclusion is not available to it.
The ATO's example has an agency paying a DJ $2,000 on top for a wedding. The agency owes $240 of super.
An agent who merely represents the performer and receives the fee on their behalf is a different thing. There the hirer is the liable payer, and super is worked out on the fee net of the agent's commission. In the ATO's example a promoter pays $1,200 through an agent who takes 10%, so super is 12% of $1,080, which is $129.60.
Fee through an agent, 10% commission
- Fee agreed with the promoter
- 1,200.00
- less the agent's commission
- 120.00
- Fee for the performance
- 1,080.00
- Super the promoter owes
- 129.60
- Costs the promoter
- 1,329.60
How to decide, and why we will not decide for you
Draft ruling SGR 2026/D1 governs intermediaries. Because the answer turns on what you and the hirer actually agreed, no software can read it off your booking form. This product shows you the two situations side by side in plain words, asks you to pick, and stores your choice with the date. It will not tell you that you are or are not an agent.
Three questions usually settle it. Did the hirer know they were engaging the whole group? Did you quote a single fee for the act, or a set of individual fees? If a player pulled out, who would owe the replacement their money? If the answer to the last one is you, you are almost certainly in pattern A.
Whichever pattern applies, write it down at the time of the booking. Reconstructing it two years later from a bank statement is the part that goes wrong.
Source: ATO, Super for sportspeople, performers, film makers and related activities (QC107606)