Cost of living in Brisbane on an OT, speech pathologist or physio salary (2026–27)

On a Queensland Health HP3 starting salary of A$83,824, a single clinician takes home about A$1,278 a week, or about A$5,540 a month, using the ATO’s 2026–27 resident tax rates and the 2% Medicare levy. Public transport (a flat 50c fare) and electricity (the regulator’s A$1,988-a-year cap for South East Queensland) take only about A$188 a month of that; the two lines that decide whether Brisbane works for you are rent, which you need to check yourself, and childcare, because families on 482 or 494 visas generally can’t get the Child Care Subsidy.

Below is the budget I’d sketch with any overseas OT, speech pathologist or physio thinking about Brisbane, built only from official figures. I run a multi-site paediatric allied health practice in South East Queensland, and several of our clinicians came to us from overseas.

Step 1: what lands in your account

General information only, not tax advice. These use the 2026–27 resident tax rates plus the 2% Medicare levy, with no offsets, deductions or HELP debt; monthly is the yearly take-home divided by 12 (our arithmetic). The tax workings are in the OT salary guide.

Your employer pays 12% super on top of salary, into a super fund, not your bank account, so it isn’t in these figures.

Which line applies to your profession:

• Occupational therapists: the Health Professionals and Support Services Award covers OTs, and its minimum for a first-year OT is A$1,308.80 a week (about A$68,058 a year) from 1 October 2026, whatever your degree level, because the award lists OTs at AQF 7 only. Queensland Health HP3 starts at A$83,824 and runs to A$120,740.
• Speech pathologists: the same award covers speech pathologists, and from 1 October 2026 it sets Level 1 pay by the qualification you hold (AQF 7, 8 or 9), so a master’s-qualified speech pathologist may sit above the AQF 7 rate in the first row. Queensland Health employs speech pathologists at HP3, so the second row applies there too. For a wider view, Jobs and Skills Australia puts median full-time earnings for audiologists and speech pathologists combined at A$2,003 a week before tax (May 2025).
• Physiotherapists: the same award lists physios at AQF 7 only, so the first row applies to you exactly as it does to OTs, and a master’s doesn’t lift it. Queensland Health employs physios on the same HP stream (it advertises senior physio roles at HP4 and advanced roles at HP5), so the HP3 row is the comparable entry point. For a wider view, Jobs and Skills Australia puts median full-time earnings for physios at A$1,888 a week before tax (May 2025).

One catch: not everyone on a visa is taxed as a resident. The ATO’s longstanding view is that working holiday makers are foreign residents for tax, and foreign residents pay different rates. If you’re on a working holiday visa, check the ATO’s residency page before you trust these numbers.

Step 2: the fixed costs official figures can tell you

Transport: about A$22 a month

Every adult journey on Translink’s South East Queensland network costs a flat 50 cents, across all zones and modes, and transfers count as one journey. A weekday return commute works out at about A$22 a month (2 journeys × 50c × about 22 working days; our calculation), whatever the distance. Two exclusions: Airtrain, the airport line, and dedicated school buses. The Queensland Government made the 50c fare permanent policy in February 2025, and Translink shows no end date, but it’s a policy, not a law, so recheck it before you move.

This is the line that most changes the usual “live close to work” advice. Commuting costs the same from any distance, so a longer trip on a train line widens the suburbs you can consider without a car.

Electricity: up to about A$166 a month

The Australian Energy Regulator’s default market offer for South East Queensland (Energex area) is A$1,988 a year for 2026–27, including GST, on a flat-rate residential tariff assuming 4,600 kWh a year. That’s about A$166 a month (our calculation). It’s down 7.2% from A$2,143 in 2025–26, and the time-of-use version is A$1,914.

The default market offer is a cap and reference price, not what everyone pays. Many market offers are cheaper, and your bill depends on how much you use. Treat A$166 as a cautious figure for a household on the default offer.

Health cover: budget for it, even if you’re covered by Medicare

• If your visa carries condition 8501, you must keep adequate health insurance while you’re in Australia. It’s mandatory on some visas and discretionary on others, so check yours in VEVO; Home Affairs strongly recommends private cover for anyone not eligible for Medicare either way. Home Affairs sets out what “adequate” means on its health insurance page, and letting cover lapse breaches the condition. Prices vary by insurer and family size, so get quotes before you set your budget.
• Even with Medicare, it doesn’t cover ambulance services, most dental, or glasses and contact lenses. Whether you get Medicare at all depends on your country and visa: see Medicare and health cover by country.
• Above A$105,000 as a single for 2026–27 (the top of HP3 is A$120,740), you may pay the Medicare levy surcharge if you don’t hold private hospital cover. Who has to pay depends on your circumstances, so check the ATO’s surcharge page.

Step 3: rent, which you’ll need to price yourself

I’m not putting a Brisbane rent figure on this page, because I haven’t been able to check the current numbers against the primary source, and the rental market moves fast. Rent will be your biggest cost, so price it yourself before you accept an offer:

1. Look up current rents for the suburbs near your job, for example asking rents and vacancy rates at SQM Research, and compare them with live listings.
2. Price the commute, not just the distance. With the 50c fare, a suburb on a train line further out may cost far less overall than an inner suburb.
3. Use the bond rule to plan your upfront cash. In Queensland the bond can’t be more than four weeks’ rent, and rent in advance at the start is capped too. The renting from overseas guide explains those rules and how to apply with no Australian rental history.

Step 4: childcare, and why your visa decides the price

Who can get the Child Care Subsidy (CCS). On the day you claim, you or your partner must live in Australia and hold Australian citizenship, a permanent visa, a Special Category visa (New Zealand citizens) or certain partner or protection temporary visas. Skills in Demand (482) and 494 visas aren’t on that list. So a family where neither partner holds one of the eligible visas pays full fees. A 186 is a permanent visa, so it qualifies. This is general information; Services Australia decides.

What care costs before subsidy. The average centre-based day care fee in Queensland was A$14.10 an hour in the March quarter of 2026 (A$14.50 nationally). No official daily fee is published, but at that average a 10-hour day comes to about A$141 (our calculation). The Productivity Commission puts the national median at A$711 a week for 50 hours of care, before subsidy (2025).

What CCS does to that. From 6 July 2026, the subsidy is 90% for family incomes up to A$88,520, tapering to 0% at A$538,520. It applies to the lower of your actual fee and the hourly cap, which is A$15.19 for children below school age. Since January 2026, every eligible family can get at least 72 hours of subsidised care a fortnight.

Here’s what that means for one child in care for 30 hours a week (3 days of 10 hours) at the Queensland average fee. All figures are our calculation from the official rates; your centre’s fees will differ.

The 90% row only applies if your family income is A$88,520 or less; two Queensland Health HP3 salaries together would put a family above it. Check your own rate with Services Australia.

Putting it together: single, couple and family

Monthly take-home on a Queensland Health HP3 entry salary, less the costs above. What’s left has to cover rent, food, phone, health cover and everything else. Our arithmetic, from the figures on this page.

On the award year-1 rate, start from A$4,647 instead of A$5,540, and every “left” figure drops by A$893.

What the table shows honestly: for a single clinician or a couple, transport and power barely dent a Queensland Health salary, and rent is the real test. For a family on a temporary visa, childcare alone can take a third of a single HP3 take-home, so a second income, care from family, or a pathway to a permanent visa changes the maths more than any pay rise. A registered migration agent can tell you which visa options suit your family; I can’t assess that for you.

I’ve walked overseas clinicians through working holiday and Skills in Demand visas alongside registered migration agents, so I’d always put the childcare line next to the visa question, not after it.

What this page doesn’t include: groceries, phone, car costs, and school fees. Children of temporary visa holders may pay tuition at Queensland state schools; the Brisbane and SEQ guide explains who to ask.

Your next step

• OTs: check whether you’d start on the award year-1 rate or a Queensland Health HP3 salary, then compare the take-home lines above. The OT salary guide has the full tables.
• Speech pathologists: check which AQF level your qualification sits at, because it can change your award rate, and whether your route is the SPA MRA or the OSQCA (see the UK, Ireland, NZ or US guide).
• Physios: the take-home lines above apply to you as they do to OTs. Your Australian Physiotherapy Council route (Express FLYR A$1,742, FLYR A$3,490 or APEP A$8,321) and Ahpra registration come before your first pay, so budget for them.
• Families: check whether your likely visa makes you eligible for CCS, because it’s the biggest swing in this budget.

The pathway check asks those questions and points you to the right next step, including whether an info session is the best place to start.