Recruiter fees in Queensland: what the 2026 agents code means for employers
Hiring an OT, speech pathologist or physio?Talk to us about a role
Under Queensland’s Private Employment Agents Code of Conduct, in force from 1 September 2026, a recruiter can only recover a fee from you if they tell you the fee and confirm the amount in writing before they provide the service (s20). Breaching that, or most other parts of the code, carries up to 14 penalty units, about A$2,400 at the 2026–27 Queensland penalty unit value (A$172.70; our arithmetic).
We’re a private employment agent in Queensland, and we follow the code ourselves. Our founder, Callum, was the inaugural director of a satellite hospital and spent more than three years in allied health workforce development for a large health region, so he’s been the one hiring too. This page explains what it means for you as the employer. It’s general information, not legal advice.
What an agent may charge you
Section 20 is short. An agent can’t recover a fee from an employer for finding workers unless, before providing the service, they:
- tell you the fee, and
- give you a written notice confirming the amount.
“Employer” here means anyone who asks an agent to find someone to do work for them, so it covers a sole-practitioner clinic as much as a hospital. The code doesn’t add a refund rule, so any replacement guarantee or refund is whatever your agreement with the agent says. Read it before you sign.
What to ask a recruiter: “Can you confirm your fee in writing before you start?” If they can’t, they shouldn’t be charging you.
Who an agent can’t charge
This is where overseas recruitment differs from local hiring. Subject to the Industrial Relations Act 2016 (s400), the code says an agent must not seek or accept a fee, deposit or bond:
- from a work seeker who lives, or intends to live, temporarily in Australia, for finding them work in Australia (s18); or
- from a work seeker in Australia, for finding them work outside Australia (s18).
Separately, s19 stops an agent charging any work seeker, as a condition of finding them work, for the agent’s own services or resources (such as resume or interview help), making them use a nominated supplier, or taking a benefit from that supplier.
For you, the practical point is simple: if your recruiter is asking an overseas clinician on a temporary visa to pay them, walk away. A clinician who’s been charged by an agent isn’t starting with you on a good footing.
We don’t charge clinicians anything.
What the agent has to give the clinician
Before providing a service to a work seeker, an agent must give them an information statement in the approved form (s29). It says the agent must not charge fees in breach of the Industrial Relations Act, that the agent and staff have a working knowledge of the law on placement and employment, that placements will be made as the law requires, and how to complain to the Department.
We give work seekers the Queensland Government’s information statement before we provide any service to them.
Records and adverts
- Registers: agents keep a worker register, an employer register, a placement register and correspondence, for 6 years (ss21–25). Your business details sit in the employer register.
- Adverts: an agent’s job ads must show its business name, address and phone number (s27).
- No false information (s26).
The penalty, with the arithmetic
Each of the obligations above (ss18 to 29, apart from a few sub-sections) carries a maximum of 14 penalty units. That’s up to 14 penalty units, about A$2,400 at the 2026–27 Queensland penalty unit value (A$172.70 from 1 July 2026; our arithmetic).
Recruitment agent or labour hire?
In Queensland, permanent placement is not labour hire, and no licence is needed for it. A labour hire licence is needed if the business supplies workers it engages or pays itself, for example locums. If an agency offers to supply you a clinician on its own payroll, ask for its labour hire licence.
A short checklist for employers
- Fee and terms confirmed in writing before the search starts.
- The agent doesn’t charge clinicians, and certainly not those on temporary visas.
- Candidates receive the Queensland information statement.
- A labour hire licence, if the agency supplies workers on its own payroll.
- If you’ll be sponsoring, know which costs you can’t pass on: see sponsor obligations.
Next step
If you’re looking to recruit an OT, speech pathologist or physio, tell us about the role. We’ll confirm our fee in writing before we start, as the code requires.
Related guides
- Hiring an overseas occupational therapist: an employer's guide (2026)Hiring an OT from the UK, Ireland or NZ: registration, working holiday vs 482 sponsorship, costs and timing. From a clinic owner who has done it.
- Hiring an overseas speech pathologist: an employer's guide (2026)What employers need to know before hiring a speech pathologist from the UK, Ireland, the USA or NZ: the SPA MRA, the 1,000-hour rule, visas and onboarding.
- Hiring an overseas physiotherapist: an employer's guide to APC routes, timing and sponsorship (2026)Which overseas physios can be assessed in about 3 weeks, which need a Melbourne workshop, supervision, 482 salary floor and sponsorship basics for employers.
- Sponsor obligations for allied health employers, in plain termsThe ten sponsor obligations that matter for a therapy clinic: equal terms and pay, costs you can't pass on, discriminatory recruitment, ads and notifications.
- What it costs to sponsor an overseas therapist in 2026Sponsoring an OT, speech pathologist or physio: the one-off sponsor fee, per-hire nomination and levy, the A$79,423 salary floor, and the costs to check.