Australian Payroll Summit
The must attend event for payroll professionals
Hosted by Australian Payroll Association, this one day event brings together senior leaders, technical experts and high performing professionals to explore the evolving payroll landscape. In a world where compliance expectations are rising and technology is reshaping the function, payroll professionals must be proactive, informed and future ready.
Whether you're managing a complex in-house function or working within a growing SME, the summit equips you with the insights, tools and connections you need to thrive in the modern payroll environment.
This is more than an event, it's an investment in your professional development, your network and your impact.
Event Details
Join us for a dynamic day of presentations, peer exchange, and industry updates. Learn from subject matter experts on topics including compliance, technology, fraud mitigation and operational best practice.
Date: Friday, 20 March 2026
Time: 7:30am – 4:30pm
Location: Hilton Hotel, 488 George Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
Agenda
| TIME | SCHEDULE |
| 7:30am | Registration Opens Join us for coffee and breakfast served in exhibitor area |
| 8:45am |
WELCOME |
| 9:00am | Supercharge Yourself with AI: Practical AI You Can Use Right Now for Payroll and More
Adam Cogan | Chief Architect, SSW AI is transforming the way payroll teams work by supercharging productivity, eliminating tedious admin and unlocking new levels of accuracy. Discover how everyday tasks like drafting emails, building checklists and analysing data can be done faster and smarter with the right tools. This dynamic session reveals powerful, practical ways to use AI in your BAU workflow, which platforms deliver the best results and the must know rules for safe, responsible use. Gain greater confidence and a toolkit of simple techniques to enhance your work. |
| 9:45am | NSW Long Service Leave Essentials: Compliance and Practical Payroll Application
Toni Minovski | Industrial Relations NSW This session explains the complexities of NSW Long Service Leave, including week based entitlements, manual calculations and how continuous service applies to unpaid leave and casual employees. Toni will also cover reinstated service, pro rata entitlements on termination and challenges distinguishing casual unavailability from being unrostered. Attendees will gain clarity on the new LSL methodology and practical payroll application. |
| 10:30am | MORNING TEA |
| 11:00am | Demystifying Payroll: Key Updates and Challenges in Payroll
Member Service Team | Australian Payroll Association Join the APA Member Services team for a practical and engaging look at the latest payroll changes and the real world challenges shaping the profession in 2026. This session breaks down complex legislation, unpacks common compliance hurdles and shares actionable strategies to boost accuracy, minimise risk and streamline your daily payroll operations. |
| 11:45am |
Master Fair Work Compliance & Avoid Costly Mistakes This session outlines Fair Work’s role in supporting compliance and enforcing penalties for employer breaches. Attendees will explore key resources, common Award interpretation challenges and the potential consequences of non compliance. The session also covers frequent audit issues, the remediation process, recent legislative updates and best practice steps employers can take to reduce risk and strengthen compliance. |
| 12:30pm | LUNCH |
| 1:30pm |
The New Payroll Fraud: How Attackers Actually Steal Money in 2026 |
| 2:15pm |
Superannuation on Payday: ATO Insights to Help You Prepare for July 2026 This session provides essential ATO guidance to prepare for Payday Super, covering Qualifying Earnings, timing rules and transitional compliance expectations. Attendees will learn about changes to STP and SuperStream, the SBSCH closure, new penalties for late payments and practical strategies for managing cross cycle timing. The session also highlights available ATO support and employer resources. |
| 3:00pm | AFTERNOON TEA |
| 3:30pm |
Modern Payroll Compliance: Leveraging AI for Governance, Reporting and Risk Reduction As payroll regulations grow more complex, AI is emerging as a critical enabler of compliance and governance. Tracy will discuss current payroll compliance challenges, demonstrate how AI driven software can streamline controls and reporting and share practical use cases and lessons learned from the field. |
| 4:15pm |
CLOSING |
Speakers
Hear from Australia's leading voices in payroll, including compliance experts and thought leaders. Their sessions are designed to help you stay ahead and deliver more value in your role.
Tracy Angwin
Non Executive Director
Louise Missen
Principal Consultant, Member Services
Maria Nikoletatos
Senior Payroll Consultant
James Vickery
Chief Executive Officer, Benchmark 365
Toni Minovski
Stakeholder Engagement Manager, NSW Industrial Relations
Adam Cogan
Chief Architect, SSWTracy Angwin
Tracy has a background working with payroll vendors and payroll professionals and has spent the last 25 years trying to get one to make sense of the other.
Originally a dairy farmer’s daughter, Tracy is a Non Executive Director and one-time dinner date of Boy George. Tracy leads the team at Australian Payroll Association, who prefer her out of the office where she can’t cause havoc and that’s just how she likes it.
Louise Missen
Like most payroll professionals, Louise fell into the payroll world many moons ago, almost by mistake. She now has over fifteen years’ experience in Australian payroll, working for a number of great Australian brands in different industries. With all this knowledge Louise now focuses on training and supporting our members and students to grow their payroll knowledge.
Away from the office, Louise can often be found spending time with family and friends. She lives by the quote ‘Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you’ by Misty Copeland.
Maria Nikoletatos
Maria was APA’s very first employee, and to this day, she’s still the most entertaining. Known affectionately as our resident payroll nerd, Maria has an unmatched passion for getting payroll right. She’s the person who actually enjoys reading payroll legislation in her spare time (yes, really) and her reputation for razor sharp knowledge is legendary.
As one of APA’s most enthusiastic trainers and our living, breathing knowledge base, Maria is the go to for even the trickiest payroll questions. If she doesn’t know the answer… well, no one does.
James Vickery
Today’s technology landscape is fast-moving and complex. Businesses need access to specialised skills — from cybersecurity to Microsoft 365, AI and automation — often at short notice. MSPs are trusted advisors, but even the best teams need support to scale, respond quickly, and stay ahead of demand.
Benchmark 365 fills that gap. We provide MSPs with expert 24 hour helpdesk coverage, technical depth, and flexible capacity. For businesses, we offer seamless, enterprise-grade support - delivered in partnership with trusted IT providers or directly where needed. In both cases, we help set a new benchmark for responsiveness, reliability, and outcomes.
More than a support network, Benchmark 365 is an educator and connector - strengthening the IT ecosystem through shared knowledge, operational scale, strategic M&A and a commitment to raising the standard for technology service delivery.
James is a tenured member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), with leadership roles across Sydney and Toronto. In 2024, he joined the EO Sydney board as Marketing & Communications Chair and Key Executive Chair and was accepted into the Harvard Business School Inspiring Entrepreneurs Program. In 2025, James graduated Bond University’s Forever Business program.
“In a world where everything is connected, my approach is to be transparent, dedicated, and direct while challenging traditional approaches to technology and business.”
Toni Minovski
Toni Minovski is a senior industrial relations professional with over 25 years’ experience across IR and HR, including 24 years with NSW Industrial Relations. As Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Toni leads strategic engagement with employers, payroll professionals and industry stakeholders, supporting practical compliance with NSW workplace legislation.
Toni is widely recognised for translating complex regulatory requirements into clear, payroll-ready guidance, particularly in high-risk areas such as long service leave and payroll governance. He has delivered education and briefings to thousands of payroll and HR professionals across NSW, helping organisations reduce risk, strengthen compliance frameworks and operate with confidence.
Adam Cogan
Adam Cogan is the Chief Architect and a Microsoft Regional Director at SSW, where he leverages more than three decades of experience building custom enterprise solutions across .NET, Azure, AI, Office 365, SharePoint, Dynamics 365, and the Power Platform. A respected thought leader in the tech community, Adam is a Microsoft Regional Director, Microsoft MVP (ALM), Certified Scrum Trainer, and frequent presenter at major international conferences including TechEd, DDD, and NDC. He mentors teams around the world on software architecture, DevOps, and modern development practices, and has trained thousands of developers while helping guide careers that have grown into industry leadership roles.
Adam is passionate about how AI is reshaping the way we build software and optimise workflows. Through his blog at adamcogan.com, interviews on SSW TV, and recent deep dives into AI agents, automation, and developer productivity, he explores practical, real-world applications of AI technologies that help teams innovate faster and deliver value with confidence. His engaging presentation style combines humour, deep technical insight, and hands-on examples, making complex topics accessible and actionable for audiences of all levels.