Changing therapy jobs in Australia: notice periods, redundancy and restraint clauses for OTs, speech pathologists and physios

Under the National Employment Standards (NES), an employer must give you between 1 and 4 weeks’ notice depending on how long you’ve worked there, plus a week if you’re over 45 with at least 2 years’ service. If you’re under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award, you generally owe your employer the same notice when you resign, without the extra over-45 week.

Restraint clauses are the harder part. The federal government has proposed banning non-compete clauses for workers earning under A$190,100, but at 28 October 2026 that’s draft legislation, not law.

This is general information, not legal advice. For your contract, talk to the Fair Work Ombudsman or an employment lawyer. I’m a physio and I run a multi-site paediatric allied health practice in South East Queensland. My suggestion: read your contract before you resign, not after.

Minimum notice from your employer (NES)

These don’t apply to casuals, fixed-term employees, or dismissal for serious misconduct, among others.

Notice you give when you resign (award)

The Health Professionals and Support Services Award (MA000027) covers OTs, speech pathologists and physiotherapists. If it applies to you, the award’s notice clause (clause 37, in the 2023 consolidation of the award) says:

• You give the same notice as the NES table above, without the extra over-45 week.
• Once your employer has given you notice, you can take up to one day off without loss of pay to look for work.

That wording is from the 2023 consolidation. Check the current award and your contract, which may ask for longer notice.

If you work for Queensland Health, your pay is set under Queensland’s own public sector award and agreement (Queensland Health’s wage-rate page names them), so check your notice terms in those instruments or with your HR team rather than relying on the tables here.

Redundancy pay (NES)

If your role is made redundant, the NES sets minimum redundancy pay by continuous service:

The catch for private practice: small business employers, generally those with fewer than 15 employees (counted the way the Fair Work Ombudsman sets out), are usually exempt. If redundancy pay matters to you, ask how many people the business employs.

Restraint clauses: what they are

Private practice contracts sometimes include clauses that apply after you leave:

• Non-compete: you can’t work for a competitor, or open your own practice, within a set distance or time.
• Non-solicitation of clients: you can’t approach the practice’s clients to follow you.
• Non-solicitation of staff (no-poach): you can’t recruit former colleagues.

Whether a particular clause can be enforced depends on its wording and your circumstances, and that’s a question for a lawyer, not a recruiter. What I’d say is: know what’s in yours before you accept an offer, and before you resign.

The proposed non-compete ban

The release gives no start date. So treat any non-compete in your current contract as still in force until the law changes and you’ve had advice.

For scale: every award minimum rate, and every Queensland Health grade from HP3 to HP6 (top of HP6: A$171,483, from 1 September 2026), sits below A$190,100; HP7 (A$188,128–201,251) straddles it. So if a ban passes at that threshold, anyone paid at award or Queensland Health HP3–HP6 rates would be under it. Non-solicitation and no-poach clauses were put out for consultation in the announcements, not banned outright, so don’t assume a client non-solicitation clause would fall away.

Does any of this differ by profession?

The notice, redundancy and restraint rules are the same for all three professions. What differs is what you take with you:

• OTs and physios: your Ahpra registration (Occupational Therapy Board or Physiotherapy Board) is in your own name and moves with you.
• Speech pathologists: your Speech Pathology Australia Certified Practising status is yours, not your employer’s. If your new role involves Medicare work, you need Certified Practising status for a Medicare provider number there too.
• Everyone: check who holds the client records, and plan your handover. If you’re a contractor rather than an employee, NES notice and redundancy don’t apply; your contract sets the terms. See contractor or employee.

Your next step

• Everyone: find your notice period and any restraint clause in your contract before you start looking, and work out your continuous service in years.
• Queensland Health staff: check the notice terms in your Queensland award or agreement.
• Private practice staff: check whether your clause is a non-compete, a client non-solicitation, a no-poach, or all three, and get advice from the Fair Work Ombudsman or a lawyer if it’s broad.

A confidential chat lets you plan a move around your notice period and any restraint before your employer knows you’re looking. Tell us what you’re after below.