Moving to Australia from the UK: a practical guide for OTs and speech and language therapists

If you’re a UK occupational therapist or speech and language therapist, the professional side of the move is usually the simpler part: an HCPC-approved OT qualification completed between 2010 and 2030 qualifies for Ahpra general registration without a portfolio assessment (you’ll still need an orientation and cultural responsiveness training), and most UK SLTs can use the Speech Pathology Australia (SPA) Mutual Recognition Agreement. The practical side is where people get caught out. UK passport holders can now spend up to three years in Australia on working holiday visas without any farm or regional work (Home Affairs, from 1 July 2024). If you were living in the UK before you came, Medicare covers you from the day you land. A UK car licence converts in Queensland with no tests. A UK pension transfer, the ambulance bill and bringing a cat are the things to plan early.

This page covers the move itself. For the registration detail, go to the UK OT guide or the UK SLT guide.

Your registration, in one table

Speech pathologists aren’t registered with Ahpra. SPA says you need to be eligible for its Certified Practising membership to work in most Australian organisations, and it strongly discourages travelling to work before your assessment is done.

The working holiday visa: better for UK clinicians than it used to be

General information only. A registered migration agent should confirm your options, and the rules are on Home Affairs.

• Age: UK passport holders can apply for the Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) at 18 to 35. From 1 July 2026, your age is assessed when you lodge, so you need to lodge before your 36th birthday.
• No specified work for a second or third visa: for second and third 417 applications lodged on or after 1 July 2024, UK passport holders don’t need to do specified (farm or regional) work.
• Up to three years in total: you can hold up to three separate working holiday visas, with total stay capped at three years. The years don’t have to be consecutive, and you can apply in or outside Australia. Dual nationals are capped at three working holiday visas in total.
• The six-month rule: the usual six-month limit with one employer doesn’t apply to health, disability and aged care work, “until the Government makes further decisions” (Home Affairs). Check your role fits.

For a clinician, that changes the maths. Three years is long enough to register (or get your SPA outcome), work with one employer and decide whether to stay, without being tied to a sponsor from day one. More on this in the working holiday guide for allied health.

If you’d rather come sponsored: the Skills in Demand (482) visa needs at least one year of relevant experience and a salary of at least A$79,423 (from 1 July 2026). UK passport holders are exempt from the 482 English test.

Medicare: what UK residents get, and what it doesn’t cover

UK clinicians get Medicare through the reciprocal health care agreement, but only if the UK was where you lived before you arrived. You need to enrol, and your cover then runs from your arrival date until your visa expires. It covers:

• medically necessary care outside hospital
• care as a public patient in a public hospital (inpatient and outpatient)
• some PBS medicines at the general rate

You enrol through myGov or an enrolment form, with your visa, passport and proof you lived in the UK, such as your UK GHIC or two dated documents like a lease, bank statement or utility bill.

What Medicare doesn’t cover: ambulance services, most dental care, glasses and contact lenses, and private patient hospital costs. The ambulance one surprises people. Queensland Ambulance Service says there are no reciprocal arrangements for ambulance services with overseas visitors, and that international visitors are responsible for the cost. Its page doesn’t say how temporary residents living in Queensland are treated, so ask QAS directly and consider ambulance cover.

Some visas carry condition 8501, which means you must keep adequate health insurance while you’re in Australia. Check your own visa conditions in VEVO, and ask your migration agent whether Medicare enrolment is enough for your visa.

Driving: a UK licence converts with no tests

The UK is a “recognised country” in Queensland. If you hold a UK car or motorcycle licence (not a learner licence), or have held one in the last five years, you can transfer to the matching Queensland class (car C, or motorcycle RE or R) without a road rules test or a practical driving test. Heavy vehicle classes still need both tests.

When you must switch depends on your visa:

• Temporary visa (working holiday, 482): you can drive on your valid UK licence. The Queensland Government page sets no time limit for temporary visa holders.
• Permanent (resident) visa: you must get a Queensland licence after living in Queensland for three months. The clock starts from arrival if you held the visa before moving, or from the grant date if it was granted later.

Tax: residency, your TFN and your first pay

• Tax file number (TFN): once you’re in Australia on a visa with work rights, you can apply online for free. The ATO posts your TFN to your Australian address within 28 days of receiving the application, so apply in your first week.
• Tax residency isn’t the same as your visa. The ATO uses four tests: the resides test (the main one), domicile, the 183-day test and the superannuation test. No single factor decides it.
• Working holiday makers: the ATO’s longstanding view is that working holiday makers are foreign residents for tax. That can change if your circumstances change, for example if you apply for a permanent visa, buy a home, or settle into a long-term lease and routine. Foreign residents are taxed differently, so read the ATO’s working holiday residency page or ask a tax agent before you budget.
• Bank account: Home Affairs says if you open an account within six weeks of arriving, your passport is the only ID you need. After six weeks you need at least two forms of ID. Do it early.
• Moving money: Moneysmart’s advice is to compare the exchange rate you actually get plus every fee, because providers differ a lot.

Super, and what to do about your UK pension

Super: your employer pays superannuation (retirement savings) on top of your salary, at 12% of ordinary time earnings since 1 July 2025. Employers may have to pay it whatever your visa or tax residency. If you’re a temporary resident and later leave, you can claim it back (less tax) as a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment, but only after you’ve left and your visa has ended.

Your UK pension: most people should leave it alone until they’ve had licensed advice. The official UK rules are:

• The receiving scheme must be a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme (QROPS). Checking that is your responsibility. If it isn’t, the UK scheme may refuse, or you may pay at least 40% tax.
• A 25% overseas transfer charge may apply unless you’re exempt, for example because you live in the country where the QROPS is based (within the overseas transfer allowance, usually £1,073,100). The charge can still apply if your circumstances change within five full tax years.
• HMRC’s list of recognised schemes isn’t a guarantee that a scheme qualifies.
• Payments before age 55 will, in all but exceptional cases, trigger UK tax charges.

On the Australian side, the ATO treats the transfer as a contribution. Earnings since you became an Australian tax resident are taxable, but none are if you transfer within six months of becoming a resident.

This is general information, not financial advice. A pension transfer is hard to undo. Talk to a licensed financial adviser who works with both UK and Australian pensions before you move anything.

Bringing a cat (or a dog)

The UK is a Group 3 country for importing cats and dogs, which means a long lead time. For a cat or dog:

• You need an import permit, a rabies vaccination and a rabies antibody blood test (RNATT).
• Your pet can’t fly to Australia until at least 180 days after the blood sample reaches the lab. There are no exceptions, so start at least 6 months before you plan to move.
• It then spends at least 10 days at the Mickleham post-entry quarantine facility in Victoria (30 days unless an official government vet verified its identity before the blood test), at A$53 a day.

Read the full step-by-step guides for cats and dogs on the Department of Agriculture site. Read it before you book anything.

The honest downsides

• Distance. Family visits mean a long-haul flight each way. Think about that before you think about salary.
• Renting from overseas is hard. You can’t inspect a place from the UK, so plan short-term accommodation for your first weeks. The Brisbane and SEQ guide covers the local market.
• Bills the NHS never sent you. Ambulance, dental and glasses all cost money here.
• Pay isn’t automatically higher. It depends on your band, the state and the setting. See the OT salary comparison.
• Permanent residency isn’t guaranteed. A working holiday or a 482 is temporary. Staying long term means meeting a further visa’s criteria, which Home Affairs decides.
• Pets fly to Melbourne, not to wherever you’re living.

Where I come in

I’m a physio, and I run a multi-site paediatric allied health practice in South East Queensland. Several of our clinicians came to us from overseas. I’ve walked overseas clinicians through working holiday and Skills in Demand visas alongside registered migration agents. So when you talk to me, you’re talking to someone who knows what the job is actually like.

If you’re a UK OT or SLT planning a move in the next 12 months, the pathway check below will tell you whether a call with me is the right next step.