How to compare two job offers as an OT, speech pathologist or physio: a worked example

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

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Two offers with the same headline salary can be thousands of dollars apart once you check whether the 12% super guarantee is on top or included, whether 17.5% leave loading is paid, and what the car arrangement is really worth. The super guarantee is 12% of ordinary time earnings from 1 July 2025 (ATO), and the ATO’s cents per kilometre rate for 2026-27 is 91 cents.

This page shows how to put two offers on the same footing: total yearly value, then value per hour you actually work. The worked example uses two made-up offers so you can see every step.

This is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. For your situation, check with an accountant, the ATO or the Fair Work Ombudsman. I’m a physio and I run a multi-site paediatric allied health practice in South East Queensland.

The seven lines to compare

Then two totals: total yearly value (lines 1 to 4 and 6 in dollars; packaging, line 7, kept separate) and effective hourly rate (total value divided by the hours you’ll actually be working).

If one offer is a parental leave cover role, also compare its end date and early-end terms: see parental leave cover roles.

A worked example (illustrative only)

The two offers below are hypothetical. The salaries, PD terms and car terms are example inputs I’ve made up to show the method, not market rates. The statutory rates (super, leave, loading, the ATO car rate, the FBT cap, tax brackets) are the real ones, with sources above.

The clinician: a full-time OT with 5 years’ experience, so on the award’s Level 1, 4th–6th year band: A$1,565.30 a week minimum from 1 October 2026.

Offer A (example inputs), a private practice: A$92,000 “including super”. The contract says the salary absorbs all award entitlements, including leave loading. 38 hours a week, 4 weeks’ leave, 3 PD days and a A$1,000 PD budget. Home visits in your own car, with a A$5,000 a year car allowance. You expect about 4,000 work kilometres a year. No salary packaging.

Offer B (example inputs), an NGO: A$85,000 plus super. Leave loading paid at 17.5% on the award rate. 38 hours a week, 4 weeks’ leave, 5 PD days and a A$1,500 PD budget. Pool car for visits. The employer confirms it’s a public benevolent institution and offers salary packaging.

Step 1: separate base and super

• Offer A: A$92,000 ÷ 1.12 = A$82,142.86 base, and A$9,857.14 super. That’s A$1,579.67 a week, only about A$14 a week above the award minimum for this clinician.
• Offer B: A$85,000 base, plus 12% super = A$10,200. That’s A$1,634.62 a week.

On base pay alone, both are above the award’s weekly minimum for an OT in the 4th–6th year band. Offer A’s headline is A$7,000 higher, but its base is A$2,857 lower. Step 2 shows why Offer A’s base may not be enough once its contract absorbs leave loading.

Step 2: leave loading

The award’s 17.5% loading is calculated on the minimum rate, not necessarily on your actual salary. For this clinician: 17.5% × A$1,565.30 × 4 weeks = A$1,095.71 a year.

• Offer A: nil (the contract says the salary absorbs it).
• Offer B: A$1,095.71.

Check Offer A against the award floor, including the loading it absorbs. For the salary to cover both, it would need to reach the weekly minimum plus the loading. For this clinician that’s A$1,565.30 × 52 = A$81,395.60, plus A$1,095.71 of loading: about A$82,491 a year. Offer A’s base is A$82,143, about A$348 short. If an award covers you, that’s a question to put to the employer in writing, or to the Fair Work Ombudsman. Offer B’s base (A$85,000) is above the weekly minimum, and it pays the loading separately.

Step 3: the car

Under the ATO’s rules, a car allowance is assessable income: you declare it in your tax return. You can then claim your own work-related car expenses, either at the cents per kilometre rate (91 cents for 2026-27, up to 5,000 work kilometres) or with a logbook.

• Offer A: A$5,000 allowance, taxed as income. At 91 cents × 4,000 km = A$3,640 you could claim as a deduction. That rate is a deduction rate, not a measure of what your car actually costs you, but it’s a fair yardstick to set against the allowance.
• Offer B: pool car. No allowance and no cost to you.

If an award covers you and you have to use your own car, also check the allowance against the award’s vehicle allowance: at least A$1.01 per kilometre (Health Professionals and Support Services Award, cl 23.3). Offer A’s A$5,000 clears that for 4,000 km (4,000 × A$1.01 = A$4,040). If you’d drive more than about 4,950 km, it wouldn’t.

Step 4: total yearly value

The A$97,000 headline of Offer A (A$92,000 plus a A$5,000 allowance) looked A$12,000 better than Offer B’s A$85,000. Once you’ve added the pieces and allowed for the driving, Offer B is ahead by about A$3,436.

Step 5: effective hourly rate

Hours at work: 38 hours × 48 weeks (52 less 4 weeks’ leave) = 1,824 hours, less PD days at 7.6 hours each (38 ÷ 5). Public holidays are the same for both, so I’ve left them out.

• Offer A: 1,824 − (3 × 7.6) = 1,801.2 hours. A$98,000 ÷ 1,801.2 = A$54.41 an hour, or A$94,360 ÷ 1,801.2 = A$52.39 after the car yardstick.
• Offer B: 1,824 − (5 × 7.6) = 1,786 hours. A$97,795.71 ÷ 1,786 = A$54.76 an hour.

If one offer expects unpaid extra hours for notes or travel, add those hours here and the hourly rate drops. That’s one place a client-hours target can show up in the numbers.

Step 6: salary packaging (kept separate)

Offer B’s employer is a public benevolent institution, so its employees can get up to A$30,000 grossed-up of FBT-exempt benefits a year, about A$15,900 of benefits (ATO, FBT years ending 31 March 2026 and 2027).

As a rough illustration: at Offer B’s salary, taxable income sits in the 30% bracket (A$45,001–135,000, 2026-27), plus the 2% Medicare levy. Paying A$15,900 of eligible expenses from pre-tax pay instead of after-tax pay would save up to about A$5,088 in tax (A$15,900 × 32%), before the packaging provider’s fees.

I’ve kept this out of the total because it depends on what you can package and what it costs to run. Ask an accountant to check it for you. A private practice that isn’t an eligible employer type can’t offer these caps.

What the example shows

• “Including super” can hide a lower base.
• A salary that “absorbs” award entitlements has to be checked against the minimum plus those entitlements, not the minimum alone.
• An allowance looks like extra pay, but it’s taxed and your car costs come out of it.
• PD days are paid time off the clinical floor, which lowers your hours at work and lifts your hourly rate.
• None of this tells you which job is better to work in. Caseload, supervision, team and travel matter just as much.

Where the profession changes the answer

Run the same two offers for a different clinician and the picture changes:

• Occupational therapists and physiotherapists: your registration is with the Occupational Therapy Board or the Physiotherapy Board (Ahpra). The award pays both on the AQF Level 7 scale only, so the example above holds for a physio with the same experience. See OT jobs in Australia and physio jobs in Australia.
• Speech pathologists: Speech Pathology Australia assesses and certifies you; you’re not registered with Ahpra. The award pays by the qualification you hold. For a speech pathologist with a master’s degree (AQF 9) in their 4th–6th year, the award minimum is A$1,659.30 a week (about A$86,284 a year). On these example figures, both offers would be below that minimum: Offer A’s base is A$1,579.67 a week and Offer B’s A$1,634.62. With honours (AQF 8) the minimum is A$1,584.90, which Offer A also misses. If an award covers you, always check an offer against your own AQF level.
• What the practice can bill: NDIS price limits for 2026-27 (national, direct service) are A$193.99 an hour for OTs and speech pathologists and A$183.99 for physiotherapists. That’s what a practice can charge, not what you’re paid, but a A$10 lower hourly limit for physio NDIS work can be one reason a physio offer and an OT offer from the same practice differ.

Your next step

• Occupational therapists and physiotherapists: find your award band (years in the profession) and check both offers’ base pay, excluding super, against it.
• Speech pathologists: check your degree’s AQF level first, because it sets a higher award minimum if you hold honours or a master’s.
• Everyone: ask each employer in writing whether super is on top, whether leave loading is paid, what the PD terms are, how any target is measured, and what the car arrangement is. Then run the six steps above.

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