Allied health jobs in Australia: how demand compares for OTs, speech pathologists and physios

Of the three professions, physiotherapy is the largest and has the largest published growth projection I found (the three projections use different horizons): Jobs and Skills Australia counts 45,900 employed physios against 29,600 OTs, and projects physio employment to grow 33.6% in the ten years to May 2035. Speech pathology is the smallest (about 19,800 people, counted together with audiologists), but its job ads rose 78.8% in the five years to September 2025, and OT is the one where Queensland Health publishes a hard vacancy count: 68.82 full-time-equivalent positions in April 2026.

All three are in demand, and none of that guarantees you a job. What differs is the route in, the body that assesses you, what it costs, and how the pay data stacks up. This page puts them side by side, then sends you to your own profession’s guides.

The three professions side by side

Every figure is from Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) or a government source, with its date. The dates don’t match, so read the comparison as a rough shape, not a league table. Speech pathology figures include audiologists, because JSA only publishes them as one group.

Why the pay line misleads if you read it straight across. The OT figure is from May 2023, two years older than the speech and physio figures, and the speech figure includes audiologists, so the line isn’t evidence that one profession out-earns another. For pay you can act on, use the award and Queensland Health rates further down.

Shortage lists. All three are on the Core Skills Occupation List (OT 252411, physio 252511, speech pathologist 252712), and all three were on both of Queensland’s 2025–26 skilled occupation lists for state-nominated 190 and 491 visas (the 2026–27 program hadn’t opened at 27 October 2026). JSA appears to have published a 2026 Occupation Shortage List, but I haven’t yet opened it to confirm each profession’s 2026 rating from the official source, so I’m not quoting it here. Across the economy, JSA’s 2025 list found 29% of occupations in shortage, down from 33% in 2024, and named health as an area where shortages remain, mostly because there aren’t enough qualified applicants.

Who assesses you, and what it costs

This is the part that most changes your plan, and it’s different for each profession. General information only; your own route depends on where and when you qualified.

Speech pathology isn’t a protected title in Australia, but funders such as Medicare and private health insurers require Certified Practising status with SPA.

What the jobs pay

• OT and physio: the Health Professionals and Support Services Award lists both at AQF 7 only, so from 1 October 2026 the Level 1, year 1 minimum is A$1,308.80 a week, and a master’s degree doesn’t lift it. Queensland Health employs both on the HP grades: HP3 runs from A$83,824 to A$120,740 (from 1 September 2026) and HP4 from A$132,689 to A$142,315. It advertises senior physio roles at HP4 and advanced physio roles at HP5.
• Speech: the same award pays speech pathologists by the qualification they hold (AQF 7, 8 or 9), so Level 1, year 1 runs from A$1,308.80 (AQF 7) to A$1,444.90 (AQF 9) a week. Queensland Health employs speech pathologists at HP3 and seniors at HP4.
• Everyone: employers pay 12% super on top. Take-home and a monthly budget are in the Brisbane cost of living guide.

Does Queensland Health sponsor?

Sometimes, case by case. Queensland Health’s careers site says it may be able to support a visa for some professions, case by case, if you’re filling a skilled clinical vacancy; check the profession list on its visas page, because I couldn’t confirm which allied health professions are on it. The visas it usually sponsors are the 482, 186 and 494. Hospital and Health Service pages put it more cautiously: “We sometimes sponsor health professionals.” Either way, internationally qualified candidates must be able to practise in Queensland: Ahpra registration for OTs and physios, and SPA assessment for speech pathologists. Private practices, NDIS providers and aged care make their own decisions. The Queensland Health guide covers how it recruits.

Reading this as someone who hires

I was the inaugural director of a hospital, hiring nurse practitioners, nurses, physios, doctors and rural generalists, and I’m a physio myself. The national numbers tell you there’s work in all three professions; they don’t tell you which setting, caseload or supervision you’ll get, and that’s what decides whether a move works. Use this table to pick your route, then ask any employer about the setting, caseload and supervision before you accept.

Your next step

Go to your own profession’s guides, then check the one thing that decides your route:

• OTs: start with OT jobs in Australia and the OT salary guide, then check which Ahpra route your qualification uses: the UK, Ireland, NZ, Canada, South Africa and USA guides each set it out.
• Speech pathologists: start with speech pathologist jobs in Australia and the speech pathologist salary guide, then check whether you can use the SPA MRA or need the OSQCA. See the UK, Ireland, NZ or US guide, or newly qualified SLTs.
• Physios: check which Australian Physiotherapy Council route your country is on and, for Express FLYR, that you’ve held unrestricted registration in the past five years. The Ireland and New Zealand guides cover physio, and the working holiday guide covers starting without a sponsor.

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