OT, speech pathology and physio jobs in South East Queensland: where the roles are in 2026

Written by Callum Trevorrow. Last checked 28 October 2026 against official sources.

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Queensland Health had 68.82 full-time-equivalent occupational therapy positions vacant in April 2026, and the two largest gaps were in South East Queensland: Metro South (16.66 FTE) and West Moreton (8.13 FTE), according to a Queensland Parliament answer. I couldn’t find an equivalent published figure for speech pathology or physiotherapy vacancies by health service, and nobody publishes a count of private practice, NDIS or aged care roles.

So no single list tells you where SEQ’s allied health jobs are. What you can map is who employs, where they advertise, and where the services and the population are growing. That’s what this page does, for clinicians already working in Australia; if you’re moving from overseas, start with working in Brisbane and SEQ. I’m a physio, and I run a multi-site paediatric allied health practice in South East Queensland.

The public health services in South East Queensland

Queensland Health is made up of 16 Hospital and Health Services (HHSs). Five cover the Brisbane-to-coasts area this page deals with, plus Children’s Health Queensland, which runs statewide from Brisbane:

If you live in Moreton Bay, Metro North is your public health service: Redcliffe and Caboolture, which it calls “major secondary hospitals”, are both in the Moreton Bay area. It describes itself as “Australia’s largest public health service” and also runs community and oral health, mental health and the Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS).

Metro South says it serves about 1.3 million people (24% of Queensland), with 17,376.43 paid FTE staff in 2024-25. Hospitals are only part of the picture. Metro South also lists community health centres from Beenleigh and Browns Plains to Inala and Wynnum-Manly, and West Moreton lists Goodna Community Health, Ipswich Health Plaza and Ripley Specialised Inpatient Services.

Two cautions:

• Mater Hospital Springfield is not Queensland Health. It’s a 186-bed public hospital “delivered in partnership with Mater”, fully open since May 2026, and its roles are with Mater. It isn’t on West Moreton’s facility list.
• Noosa Hospital is run by Ramsay Health, which provides some public services there. It isn’t a Sunshine Coast HHS hospital.

Where Queensland Health’s vacancies are

The same Parliament answer (question on notice 489 of 2026, pay period ending 26 April 2026) breaks the 68.82 FTE of vacant OT positions down by health service. For the SEQ services:

It’s OT only, a single pay period, and public health only, and vacant FTE counts unfilled positions, not live adverts. For the statewide trend and OT attrition, see OT jobs in Australia. I couldn’t find an equivalent answer or Queensland Health release for speech pathology or physiotherapy vacancies by HHS, so I won’t estimate one.

Where roles are advertised

• Queensland Health: roles are listed on SmartJobs, and you apply through the Queensland Health Careers Portal, which needs its own account, separate from your SmartJobs one. On 28 October 2026 the portal listed 1,081 Queensland Health jobs across all professions, including roles at Metro South, Metro North, Sunshine Coast, Darling Downs and West Moreton. Some HHS “how to apply” pages still describe the old My SmartJob process, so follow the portal.
• Department of Education: state schools employ speech language pathologists, OTs and physios directly, at HP3, HP4 senior and HP5 principal advisor levels, through statewide talent pools on SmartJobs. See therapists in Queensland schools.
• Mater, private practices, NDIS providers, aged care and NGOs: they aren’t on the Queensland Health portal. Each advertises where it chooses, so there’s no single list, and no official count of these roles.

Where future public roles may be

Hospital expansions are the clearest public signal of where services will grow. They aren’t a promise of jobs: none of the announcements below gives allied health staffing numbers.

In the south-west corridor, Mater Hospital Springfield and Ripley Specialised Inpatient Services are now open, and the Ipswich Hospital Stage 2 and Logan Hospital expansions are under construction; Ipswich and Logan for therapists has the detail.

Where the population is growing

Private and NDIS work follows people. The Queensland Government Statistician’s Office (QGSO) figures for the year to 30 June 2025 (preliminary):

Looking ahead, QGSO’s 2025 projections (medium series, 2021 to 2046) are published for statistical regions (SA4s), which are larger than council areas. Moreton Bay - North is projected to grow 2.3% a year (268,977 to 471,086), level with the Ipswich region as the fastest in Greater Brisbane (projections for Ipswich and Logan are on the Ipswich and Logan page). Inner Brisbane’s SA4s grow more slowly, from 0.7% a year (Brisbane - West) to 1.8% (Brisbane Inner City).

Adult fares on the Translink network are a flat 50 cents a journey across all zones, so fares are a small part of a commute across SEQ.

Queensland’s share of each profession

Jobs and Skills Australia’s state shares put Queensland at about a fifth of each workforce:

• OTs: 20.2% of the national OT workforce (November 2024), behind Victoria (28.6%) and NSW (25.0%).
• Speech pathologists: 20.7% of employment in the combined audiologists and speech pathologists group (November 2025), behind NSW (32.2%) and Victoria (24.1%).
• Physios: I couldn’t open a published state share for physiotherapists.

Western Australia isn’t shown on either JSA page, so these aren’t complete tables.

Your profession in SEQ

The same grades and award apply across SEQ. Where they differ is your registering or assessing body, and how the award pays you.

• Occupational therapists: you need registration (general or limited) with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia (Ahpra). Queensland Health pays HP3 A$83,824 to A$120,740 and HP4 (senior) A$132,689 to A$142,315, from 1 September 2026. Under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award, OTs are paid at the AQF 7 level only, from A$1,308.80 a week at Level 1 year 1 to A$1,689.50 at year 7 and above (from 1 October 2026). A master’s degree doesn’t lift the award minimum for OTs.
• Speech pathologists: you’re not registered with Ahpra. Queensland Health asks for a speech pathology degree and eligibility for Speech Pathology Australia (SPA) membership, and employs speech pathologists at HP3 and seniors at HP4 on the same rates as above. For Medicare work in private practice you need SPA Certified Practising status. The award pays speech pathologists by the qualification they hold: AQF 7, 8 or 9. At Level 1 year 1 that’s A$1,308.80 (AQF 7), A$1,337.10 (AQF 8) or A$1,444.90 (AQF 9) a week.
• Physiotherapists: you need registration (general or limited) with the Physiotherapy Board of Australia (Ahpra). Queensland Health advertises physio roles on the same HP grades, for example senior physiotherapists at HP4 and advanced physiotherapists at HP5. The award covers physios and lists them at AQF 7 only, from A$1,308.80 a week at Level 1 year 1, so a master’s degree doesn’t lift the award minimum.

For all three professions, award Level 2.1 starts at A$1,945.40 a week and Level 4 at A$2,499.10. For a side-by-side of public, award and private pay, see pay by setting; for promotion, see HP3 to HP4 career paths; and if you’re weighing a move out of Queensland Health, see hospital to private practice.

How we can help

We place clinicians in permanent and fixed-term contract roles, including parental leave cover, in South East Queensland. We don’t place locums. In a fixed-term role your contract is with the employer, not with us. For clinicians already working in Australia, it’s confidential and free. We won’t promise you a role; we’ll tell you honestly what’s out there.

Your next step

• OTs: decide whether you’re after public (HP grade) or private work, and check whether Metro South, West Moreton or Metro North, the three SEQ services with the most vacant OT positions in the Parliament answer, are within reach.
• Speech pathologists: check your SPA status. If you want private Medicare work, you’ll need Certified Practising status; for Queensland Health, eligibility for SPA membership.
• Physios: check your Physiotherapy Board registration is current, and know your award classification before you compare offers.

Because so much of this market isn’t advertised in one place, a confidential chat is the quickest way to find out which SEQ employers are hiring for your profession and setting, without your current employer knowing you’re looking. Use compare job offers once you have two on the table.