By Ross Heron | CEO, Australian Payroll Association
Voice of Confidence | Episode 3 of 7 | Vicky Doyle, CEO, Rest
Ross Heron sits down with Vicky Doyle on Payday Super, superannuation reform and why payroll is the central connection.
You know that moment when a massive project finally goes live and you sit back and think, "Well, that was a nightmare. But did it actually make things simpler?" That's roughly where we are with Payday Super. The transition period is winding down, the systems are running, and for the first time in a while, payroll professionals might be allowed to exhale.
In the 2026 APA Payroll Industry Report, poor or incomplete data flowing into payroll systems was identified as the top operational risk by 65% of respondents, for the second year running. Payday Super has only sharpened that reality, bringing data quality issues into focus with every single pay cycle.
So when I sat down with Vicky Doyle, CEO of Rest, one of Australia's largest super funds with more than two million members and 320,000 employers, I wanted to hear what this transition looks like from the other side of the fence.
One in seven Australians
Rest has been around since 1988, originally serving retail workers under closed enterprise bargaining agreements. If you worked at Kmart, your super went to Rest. Full stop. Choice legislation changed that, but Rest kept growing. Today, one in seven Australians has a Rest account, and their members range from age 14 to 91.
Vicky has led the fund for eight years, during which the big shift has been member expectations. "People were more interested in investment returns but weren't that engaged in their super eight, nine years ago," she told me. "Now they are more engaged." And they expect the same digital experience they get from their banking app.
"It was a nightmare, but it actually has simplified it"
That's the feedback Vicky hopes to hear from payroll professionals twelve months from now. And the numbers already suggest she might.
In July alone, $480 million in contributions hit Rest accounts that previously would have been deferred until September. For a 26-year-old in retail or hospitality, that kind of compounding can mean tens of thousands of dollars more at retirement.
Rest surveyed its employers and found nearly 75% supported the principle of Payday Super but needed time and support to implement it operationally. "It's not operationally easy," Vicky acknowledged. Rest advocated strongly for the transition period and launched a brand-new contributions system called Rest Pay. The response has been "overwhelmingly positive," with 11,000 employers registering, including some who don't even have employees with Rest.
The reconciliation problem payroll people live every day
I asked Vicky why Rest pushed so hard for Payday Super. Her answer came back to a scenario every payroll professional would recognise: a part-time worker with multiple jobs, different pay cycles and no way to reconcile whether their super has actually been paid.
"If it's too complicated, people just go, 'I don't know if I've been paid super.' And so they just ignore it."
Paying super at the same time as wages gives employees transparency and a real connection to their future. One 21-year-old Rest member put it perfectly: "I'm broke every week, but I know my future is better than where I am today."
Payroll is the central connection
When I asked Vicky how she sees the relationship between super and the payroll function, she didn't hesitate. "I see the payroll function as essential and kind of the centre," she said. "Without the expertise of payroll, then all sorts of things can go wrong with superannuation."
She's worked in small businesses and alongside payroll managers. She understands the technical complexity and the real consequences when something goes wrong. "I have the greatest respect for payroll professionals," she said. Coming from the CEO of a fund that services 320,000 employers, that carries weight.
What's coming next for super (and what it means for your data)
Minister Daniel Mulino has announced reforms that could reshape the superannuation landscape. Australia's super system is already the fourth largest in the world and is on track to become the second largest, behind only the United States, within a couple of years.
The proposed reforms include a new class of affordable, simple advice to help members approaching retirement. Vicky shared a striking statistic: 44% of eligible Australians don't access the age pension within the first two years they could have.
For payroll, the bigger signal is data sharing. The ATO sharing data safely, linked to payroll and super contributions, could simplify processes that are currently manual, slow and frustrating. When the APA's survey identifies poor data as the number one operational risk for the second consecutive year, this kind of reform matters.
AI, trust and who you ask for advice
Rest is using AI in its contact centre to surface member information faster and transcribe calls to identify issues in real time. "Every day we know what's happening," Vicky said. "And we can fix them the very next day."
But the statistic that stopped me was this: two-thirds of Australians are already using or considering AI tools for superannuation and retirement information, and one in three have already done so. That's a trust question as much as a technology one. "We can't control the inputs," Vicky said. "It's going to be really important for the APA, for Rest, for employers to be really the truth for Australians."
That mirrors the argument we make at the APA. When it comes to payroll advice, go to the trusted source. Our own survey found only 13% of payroll teams are currently using AI. The opportunity is enormous, but so is the need for trusted guidance.
When the hackers come for payroll
Vicky shared Rest's experience of a cyber attack last year, when credential stuffing hit eight super funds simultaneously. Rest closed its online portal on a Saturday night to protect member savings. Days later, global market volatility sent members scrambling to check their balances, and suddenly two million people wanted to know if their money was safe.
Rest didn't lose a dollar, and Vicky credits rehearsal, board simulations and years of investment in cybersecurity capability. But the lesson that struck me came from a story I heard in the UK: hackers specifically target new payroll hires who post their role on LinkedIn, because they know that person holds the keys to every employee's data.
If that doesn't sharpen the case for payroll security, nothing will.
What this means for you
- Payroll professionals: The hard yards of Payday Super implementation are paying off. Now focus on data quality, because every pay cycle makes upstream errors more visible.
- Bookkeepers and accountants: Tools like Rest Pay are designed to simplify super contributions for smaller employers. If your clients are still struggling with the transition, point them to resources that make the process easier.
- HR professionals: The proposed super reforms will create new touchpoints between HR data, payroll and super funds. Clean employee master data is becoming non-negotiable.
- Finance professionals: Super contributions now flow every pay cycle, not quarterly. Forecast cash flow accordingly and treat Payday Super as a whole-of-business operating change.
- Payroll compliance officers: Data sharing between the ATO, super funds and employers is on the horizon. Audit your data governance now, before it becomes a compliance exposure.
Watch the full conversation
This is only half the story. In the full video, Vicky also talks about:
- How Rest's app became one of the highest-rated in financial services, and the deliberate decision to keep it simple
- Her leadership lesson about moving from "knowing all the answers" to getting out of the way
- Why she thinks work-life "balance" is a myth, and what she tells her team instead
Watch Episode 3 of Voice of Confidence with Vicky Doyle
This is the third of seven Voice of Confidence conversations with leaders shaping Australian payroll. Sign up to Payroll News at austpayroll.com.au/newsletter-sign-up so you don't miss the next one.
What's changed most for you since Payday Super went live? Drop a comment below.
Voice of Confidence is the Australian Payroll Association’s leadership series, featuring conversations with the people shaping the future of payroll in Australia.
