Occupational therapist salary in Australia (2026), compared with the UK, Ireland, NZ, the USA and Canada

The legal minimum for a new-graduate occupational therapist in Australia is A$1,308.80 a week, about A$68,058 a year, under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award from 1 October 2026, the first of five annual stages of award increases running to 2030. Public health pays more: Queensland Health starts OTs at A$83,824 (HP3, from 1 September 2026), and its senior HP4 grade reaches A$142,315. Your employer pays 12% superannuation on top of that.

Every figure below comes from the award, a government pay scale, a public health job advert or a government statistics agency, with its date. Recruiter salary surveys aren’t used.

Australian OT pay: the floor and the public benchmark

The award sets the minimum rates for OTs employed under it, and it names occupational therapists. Full-time weekly rates from 1 October 2026, for a Health Professional with a bachelor-level (AQF 7) qualification such as an OT degree:

These 1 October 2026 rates are the first of five stages of increases, 12 months apart, running to 2030, so expect the award minimum to rise each year. For OTs (and physios) the award has one Level 1 scale, AQF Level 7, whatever degree you hold; only some professions, such as speech pathology, get higher minimums for a master’s.

Queensland Health is a useful public benchmark because it publishes its rates. From 1 September 2026:

Other states set their own public rates, so check the state you’re targeting. For a wider view, Jobs and Skills Australia puts median full-time earnings for OTs at A$1,526 a week before tax, but that figure dates from May 2023.

If you’re sponsored, the floor is higher. A Skills in Demand (482) sponsor must pay at least A$79,423 a year (from 1 July 2026). It must also pay the market salary rate, give you the same terms as an Australian in the same role, and never pay below the award. So a sponsored OT can’t legally be paid the award’s year-1 rate.

Australia against the UK, Ireland, NZ, the USA and Canada

Converted at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rates on 27 October 2026: £0.5264, €0.6286, NZ$1.2335, US$0.7021 and C$0.9841 to A$1. Gross pay only.

How to read it:

• UK: Queensland Health HP3 starts above the top of NHS Band 5 in A$ terms. The HP3 range overlaps the upper half of Band 6 and all of Band 7.
• Ireland: HP3 starts higher than the HSE staff grade and reaches further, and most of the HSE senior grade sits within the HP3 range; its top point (about A$122,124) is just above the top of HP3 (A$120,740). The top HSE staff grade point includes a long-service increment.
• New Zealand: the Health NZ range comes from a live job advert, and it may not reflect the 2.5% rise from December 2025. A further 2% is due in December 2026.
• USA: the BLS median converts to roughly the very top of HP4, and above everything below it. On headline pay, a US OT earning the median is unlikely to earn more in Australia.
• Canada: Job Bank reports hourly pay (low C$36.17, high C$55.00). The award year-1 rate is A$34.44 an hour, but that’s a legal minimum, not a median, so it isn’t a like-for-like comparison.

What the table doesn’t show: tax, pension or super, leave and cost of living all differ by country. Full-time employees in Australia get at least four weeks’ paid annual leave under the National Employment Standards. The exchange rate will also have moved by the time you read this.

What you’d take home: a general example

General information only, not tax advice. This uses the 2026–27 resident tax rates plus the 2% Medicare levy, with no offsets, deductions or HELP debt.

For 2026–27, residents pay nothing on the first A$18,200, then 15c for each dollar up to A$45,000, then 30c up to A$135,000. Super of 12% is paid on top of salary, into your super fund, not your bank account.

Two catches for people arriving from overseas:

• Not every visa holder is a tax resident. The ATO’s longstanding view is that working holiday makers are foreign residents for tax, and foreign residents pay different rates. Check with the ATO or a tax agent before you budget.
• Higher earners without private hospital cover may pay the Medicare levy surcharge. For 2026–27 it starts at 1% for singles earning over A$105,000. Who has to pay depends on your circumstances, so check the ATO’s surcharge page.

Private practice and the NDIS

Private practices, including NDIS-funded paediatric practices, set their own pay, and must meet the award where it applies. Ask any private employer three things: the base salary, how many client hours a week they expect, and whether super is on top of the figure they’ve quoted or included in it. If any part of the pay is linked to billings, ask for that in writing too.

From my side of the table

I run a multi-site paediatric allied health practice in South East Queensland, and several of our clinicians came to us from overseas. On these numbers, pay alone is unlikely to justify the move for a US OT earning the median, and for UK and Irish OTs it depends on your band, the setting and the state. Good clinicians make good moves for good reasons, and the reasons are usually bigger than the salary line.

For what’s in demand and where, see OT jobs in Australia. If you’d like to talk through how your current pay would translate, the pathway check below is the place to start.