OT, speech pathologist and physio pay in Queensland: Queensland Health grades against the award minimum

In Queensland, the public benchmark for OTs, speech pathologists and physios starts at A$83,824 a year (Queensland Health HP3.0, from 1 September 2026), while the legal floor for a private employer covered by the award starts at A$1,308.80 a week, about A$68,058 a year (Health Professionals and Support Services Award, from 1 October 2026). If you’re an employee covered by the award, an offer can’t be below the award floor, and Queensland Health is the public benchmark, so knowing both helps you read an offer.

Every figure here comes from Queensland Health’s published wage rates, the award itself, or the ATO, with its date. I haven’t used salary-survey or job-board estimates: those mix settings, states and seniority.

I run a multi-site paediatric allied health practice in South East Queensland, and before that I was the inaugural director of a hospital, hiring nurse practitioners, nurses, physios, doctors and rural generalists.

The two numbers that matter

• Queensland Health’s Health Practitioner (HP) grades are what Queensland’s public hospitals and health services pay. They’re published, and they apply to OTs, speech pathologists and physios alike. HP3 is a competent clinician working independently and in a team (graduate roles start here); HP4 is a senior clinician with clinical leadership or a small team; HP5 and above add specialised clinical or management responsibilities.
• The Health Professionals and Support Services Award (MA000027) sets the minimum a private practice, NGO or other employer covered by it must pay. It names OTs, speech pathologists and physiotherapists. An employer can pay more than the award, but it can’t pay less.

From 1 October 2026 the award is in the first of five annual stages of increases, 12 months apart, running to 2030, on top of the Annual Wage Review (4.75% from 1 July 2026). So expect the floor to rise each July (annual wage review) and each October (the phase-in) until 2030.

Queensland Health: the same grades for all three professions

Queensland Health pays OTs, speech pathologists and physios on the same HP grades (annual, from 1 September 2026): HP3 A$83,824 (HP3.0) to A$120,740 (HP3.7); HP4 A$132,689–142,315; HP5 A$149,360–155,647. Graduate OT roles have been advertised at HP3. For how the grades work and how applications run, see working for Queensland Health and how your seniority transfers. The rest of this page is about the award floor and the package around it.

Annual award figures below are the weekly rate × 52, full-time, before tax. Queensland Health annual figures are its own (fortnightly rate × 26.089).

Occupational therapists

The award pays OTs on the AQF Level 7 scale only. A master’s degree doesn’t lift your award minimum.

Speech pathologists

Speech pathology is the one profession of the three where the award pays by the qualification you hold: AQF 7, 8 or 9. For the steps in between (AQF 8: A$1,444.90 in years 2–3, A$1,584.90 in years 4–6; AQF 9: A$1,545.20 and A$1,659.30), the same five-stage phase-in applies. Clause J.4 of the award protects the pay of anyone already classified on 30 September 2026. Queensland Health employs speech pathologists at HP3 and senior speech pathologists at HP4.

Physiotherapists

Like OTs, physios are on the award’s AQF Level 7 scale only, so a master’s-entry physio has the same award minimum as a bachelor’s graduate. Queensland Health advertises physio roles on the HP stream, with senior roles at HP4 and advanced roles at HP5.

Above Level 1 in the award

For all three professions, the award’s higher classifications start at Level 2, pay point 1: A$1,945.40 a week (about A$101,161), and reach A$2,499.10 a week (about A$129,953) at Level 4. These are higher classifications, not further steps for time served at Level 1.

Super and leave loading: the rest of the package

• Super. The super guarantee is 12% of ordinary time earnings from 1 July 2025, paid into your fund on top of salary. Always check whether an offer is “plus super” or “including super”. A Queensland Government graduate program advert (West Moreton, mental health) quotes 12.75% super, so public offers can be higher than the minimum.
• Leave loading. The award adds 17.5% to annual leave pay for non-shiftworkers, calculated on the award minimum rate, not necessarily on an above-award salary. If a private offer is well above award, ask whether loading is paid at all. Full-time employees get at least 4 weeks’ paid annual leave under the National Employment Standards.

Salary packaging: where the setting really changes your take-home

Some employers can offer salary packaging with a fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemption, which lets you pay some expenses from pre-tax salary. The ATO caps differ by employer type (FBT years ending 31 March 2026 and 2027):

Meal entertainment and entertainment facility leasing have a separate A$5,000 grossed-up cap. A private practice that isn’t one of these employer types can’t use these caps. Whether a particular NGO or NDIS provider is a public benevolent institution is specific to that employer, and whether a public role offers packaging is for the employer to confirm. Ask, and have an accountant check the numbers for you.

How to use these tables on a real offer

1. Find your floor. Your profession, your award level and your years of experience (and for speech pathologists, your degree level). If you’re an employee covered by the award (not a contractor, and not under an enterprise agreement), a private offer below that line is below the legal minimum.
2. Find your public benchmark. The HP grade the role would be in Queensland Health. This is the figure a private employer is competing with.
3. Add the package. Super (on top or included?), leave loading, salary packaging, and any professional development budget or days.
4. Then look at the workload. A higher salary with a heavy client-hours target can be worth less per hour than a lower one. If part of your pay depends on billings, see contractor or employee before you sign.

For how overseas grades line up with these, see how your seniority transfers, and for Queensland Health applications, working for Queensland Health. Profession-specific pay comparisons: OT salary and speech pathologist salary.

Your next step

• OTs and physios: check your award level and years of service, and note where your current salary sits against HP3 and HP4.
• Speech pathologists: check your degree’s AQF level (bachelor’s, honours or master’s), because it changes your award minimum.
• Everyone: write down your current base, super and any packaging, so you can compare like with like.

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