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VIC Compliance Calendar

What a Victorian business owes, to whom, and on what rhythm — SRO, WorkSafe and beyond.

The shape of a Victorian compliance year

Victoria adds its own layer on top of the federal obligations every Australian business carries. The federal layer — BAS, super, STP, income tax, TPAR, FBT — belongs to the ATO and runs identically nationwide. The Victorian layer belongs to the State Revenue Office (SRO), WorkSafe Victoria and a couple of industry schemes that surprise people. Everything below is cadence and coverage, not dates: the authorities publish the current due dates, and those are the only ones worth putting in your calendar. It's general information — run your specific situation past your accountant.

Federal obligations at a glance

  • Quarterly — BAS (GST, PAYG withholding, PAYG instalments) and superannuation guarantee, noting the payday super reform that moves super to per-pay-run timing — confirm commencement and rules with the ATO.
  • Every pay run — STP reporting.
  • Annually — STP finalisation, income tax return, TPAR for reportable industries, FBT return if you provide benefits, ASIC annual review for companies.

SRO Victoria: payroll tax

Once Australia-wide wages pass the Victorian threshold, you register with the SRO and generally lodge monthly returns with an annual reconciliation. Two Victorian wrinkles worth knowing: grouped entities are assessed on combined wages, and larger payrolls attract the mental health and wellbeing surcharge on top of standard payroll tax. The SRO publishes current thresholds, rates and surcharge tiers — check them rather than relying on anything printed, including this page.

WorkSafe Victoria: WorkCover insurance

  • Hold a WorkCover policy — compulsory for most Victorian employers above WorkSafe's minimum remuneration threshold.
  • Declare rateable remuneration annually — your estimated and actual wages set the premium; get the estimate wrong and you'll be trued up later.
  • Premium notices — arrive on WorkSafe's cycle, with instalment options; diarise the renewal so the policy never lapses.

Victorian extras that catch people

  • CoINVEST — portable long service leave for the construction industry. If you employ construction workers, quarterly returns and levies to CoINVEST are compulsory, separate from ordinary LSL.
  • Portable Long Service Authority — a separate portable scheme covering community services, contract cleaning and security. Registration and regular levy returns apply if you're in scope.
  • Public holidays — Victoria observes two holidays most states don't: AFL Grand Final Friday and Melbourne Cup Day (metropolitan; some regional councils substitute a local holiday). Check the Victorian Government's annual list before setting rosters — award penalty rates hang off it.
  • Long service leave — Victoria's LSL Act has its own accrual and early-access rules; confirm current entitlements with Business Victoria before an employee reaches a milestone.

Building the rhythm into operations

Notice how many separate authorities appeared above — ATO, SRO, WorkSafe, CoINVEST, the Portable LSL Authority, ASIC. Each has its own portal, cycle and correspondence, and that fragmentation is precisely why state obligations get missed. Consolidate them: one compliance calendar, current dates pulled from each authority once a year, and a named owner per item. That's a core piece of running operations that don't depend on the founder remembering everything — and if they currently do, the owner absence test will tell you quickly.