Physio Hub

The career go-to guide for Physiotherapists working in Australia.

PHYSIOTHERAPISTS IN AUSTRALIA

Degree and Professional Body

Degree

The Undergraduate degree for a Physiotherapist is generally 4 years at most Australian Universities. This includes placement/s in most if not all of the years of study. Universities can offer Bachelor and/or Master level Physio degrees.  

Overall, ATAR requirements to study Physiotherapy tend to be quite high, generally between 95 and 99.95. A lot of students choose to work as Physio Assistants, Allied Health Assistants or Disability Support Workers or work in hospitality, tourism, retail, customer service, ride-hailing or food delivery services etc  while doing their degree. Studies can be a combination of face to face and/or online.

“I’m a Physiotherapist. To save time, let’s just assume that I’m never wrong” – Anon

Professional Body

A Physiotherapist must be accredited with AHPRA – the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency – to practise as a Physio in Australia. 

APA – Australian Physiotherapy Association. “The APA is the national peak body representing the interests of Australian physiotherapists and their patients.” www.australian.physio

Career Paths

Career paths available: 

There are many industries that hire Physiotherapists. These include:

Occupational Rehabilitation: Case Management of injured workers towards the goal of a successful Return to Work. This could be at a Rehabilitation Provider, Insurer or a Final Employer within their RTW Coordination team. Some jobs include Rehab Consultant,  IMA – Injury Management Advisor, RTWC, CTP Consultant, Life Insurance Specialist, Medico-legal Consultant, Catastrophic Claims Consultant, Self-Insurer Consultant

Clinical Services: This could involve working in a private or public hospital, private practice, NDIS, OHS, Aged Care, Specialist Clinical areas like Cardiorespiratory, Gerontology, MSK, Neurology, Paediatric, Pain Management, Sports & Science and Women’s, Men’s & Pelvic Health and so very many more, Lecturing @ Uni and Physiotherapy based research roles ( Generally Subject Matter experts).

“In rehabilitation there is no elevator. You have to take every step, meaning one step at a time.” –  Joerg Teichmann

NDIS: This involves working at an Accredited NDIS Provider where services are provided to clients under the NDIA. Some areas that Physios are in high demand for in NDIS include developmental delays in children, pain, incontinence, neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease or MS, chronic diseases like diabetes, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and obesity, stroke and rehabilitation after surgery.  These roles could involve working from an office, in a community setting, a mobile setting or a work from home setting. A lot of our NDIS clients have AHA’s to assist their Physios with service provision.

Work Arrangement

As a Physio, you can work Full time, Part time or as a Contractor. Your role could be Community based, Mobile, Office based, FIFO or Work from Home or a combination of some of the above.

“Home-work grew-up and became work-from-home.” – Vikrmn


Face to face and Telehealth options are widely available in most roles. This offers flexibility to Physio’s to schedule work around their life, as opposed to the other way around.

Locations

As a Physio, you can work anywhere in Australia. You are in exceptionally high demand in metro, rural, regional or remote locations Australia-wide. Check out some of our jobs available for Physio’s right now. In fact, you can work anywhere in the world as Physiotherapy is a universal degree and your skills can allow you to travel the world while you work.

“You are never too old to set another goal or dream another dream.” – C.S. Lewis

Salary indicators

Graduate OTs  are attracting salaries of $70,000 – $80,000 Base + Super

Physio’s with 1-2 Years of work experience are generally being paid $75,000 – $90,000 Base + Super

3-5 Years: $90,000 – $120,000 Base +Super

5+ Years experience: $120,000 Base + Super and above. This is when Team Leader or Management level roles start to appear as well.Keep in mind that the above are general indicators. There are always exceptions to the rule and unique circumstances. Eg location, industry, role depth, employer salary band-widths, work arrangement etc that also determine the wages offered to Physiotherapists.  If you would like to discuss your salary, feel free to contact us.

“Do something today that your future self will thank you for” – Anon

Benefits Physios Can Ask For

Our Physios are offered and/or we negotiate a range of benefits for them. Please find below a long list of benefits offered to Physios. Benefits differ between industries, roles and organisations. Employers do their best to customise benefits to suit job-seekers. 

$’s: Regular Salary Reviews | Performance Bonus | Extra Superannuation Contributions | Salary sacrifice or Salary Packaging arrangements | Corporate Discounts – one of our NFP clients gives their team discounted Medical and Health Insurance

Tools of Trade: Mobile | Laptop | Tablet  | Speech to Text Software

Admin & Reception Support: Free up time by dictating your reports and let the Admin team do the rest

Travel: Pool Car Access | Novated Lease | Per Km reimbursement | Go Get Car Access | Set amount per timeframe | Petrol Card ( one of our clients gives their team members petrol card access for work and personal use – booya! 

Knowledge & Assessment Suitcase: Subscriptions, both hard-copy and soft-copy | Professional Development $’s, Comprehensive induction | On-going mentoring and in-services by Subject Matter Experts. “A Physiotherapist has the brain of a scientist, the heart of a humanist and the hands of an artist” — Anon 

Extra Leave: One of our clients is a School and they give their Staff 7 weeks leave. Other clients give their staff reservist leave, doona days, Volunteer, Pet and Birthday leave. 

Parental Leave: One of our clients gives their staff the difference between their wage and the government mandated parental leave subsidy for the full 16 weeks – Now read that again.

Social and team building Do’s: Paid for by the company. One of our clients paid for their whole team to do axe-throwing and a cooking class – not on the same day….

Health, Wellness & EAP: Pool, yoga  or gym access or contribution | Confidential EAP to assist you when you need a hand 

Career Mapping: Our clients spend a lot of time and money training and supporting you. They would like to see you mutually thrive. Your success and growth = their success and growth.

There are so many more benefits that our clients offer and that can be customised to your needs. Check out some of our successful placement Case-studies to find out how Medijobs has added value to our job-seekers’ salary and benefits package negotiations.

“Every pro was once an amateur. Every expert was once a beginner. So dream big and start now.” – Anon

Advantages of being a Physio

 

  1. Career for life: You’ve got career constancy as a Physio. For example, you can work as a Physio Assistant, AHA or Disability Support worker while you study, work in a clinical practice on graduation, transition into a Case Management role in Occupational Rehab role as a Physical Rehab Consultant. From there, you may choose to move into management based roles, specialise in a catastrophic injury management role, work at a final employer as part of their RTW Coordinator team or transition back into clinical work in the NDIS. You’ve got options!  
  2. YOLO: Travel across Australia and the world: Your role allows you to work anywhere and everywhere in the world – literally!
  3. Show me the Money: The salary and benefits offered by employers to attract Physios are wide and varied. Graduates straight out of Uni can get a starting salary of $70,000 – $80,000 Base + Super depending on the role, industry and location. Not to mention the many other perks such as a mobile phone, car, NFP benefits, performance bonuses, CPD and training $’s etc etc etc. 
  4. Flexibility: You can work full-time, part-time, as a contractor, in the Community, WFH, from an office, via telehealth or face to face. As your lifestyle and stage of life change, you can keep your skills current and customise your work around your needs.

“I don’t always tape an ankle in less than a minute. But when I do, I throw the roll and walk away like a Boss.” – Anon

Challenges of being an Physio

These are anecdotal observations based on our conversations with thousands of Physiotherapists over time. 

  1. KPI’s: Some of our Physios tell us that they find the idea of billable targets challenging as it associates their work with a dollar amount. 
  2. Case Management vs Clinical: Some roles, especially those in occupational rehab involve applying your clinical skills in a case management setting. Some Physios have indicated that they find this challenging as they miss the clinical, hands-on side of things. They say that the CPD helps.
  3. Tired hands and bodies: Some of our Physios find the effects of hands-on work tiring over time and is the reason that some of our Physios transition out of clinical, hands-on work. 

“Easily distracted by gait patterns” – Anon

International Physiotherapists

“Supported by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), the Physiotherapy Board of Australia ( https://www.physiotherapyboard.gov.au/registration/overseas-practitioners.asp x  )

 is responsible for registering physiotherapists and students, including overseas-trained practitioners who wish to practise in Australia.

Overseas trained physiotherapists should contact the Australian Physiotherapy Council ( https://physiocouncil.com.au/ )

 to have their qualifications assessed, if their qualifications do not appear on the Board’s website as approved programs of study for application for general registration as a physiotherapist in Australia.” www.australian.physio (https://australian.physio/inmotion/international-physiotherapists

 

We’ve noticed, anecdotally, that it takes International Physios an average of 6 months – 2 years to get their unconditional AHPRA Accreditation. A lot of Physios initially get limited Physio Accreditation and work as AHA’s or Phyio Assistants pending them submitting their paperwork, passing the relevant exams and supervised work experience. We highly recommend starting your Physio Accreditation process early in the piece of your migration journey to Australia to give you plenty of time to get your AHPRA accreditation.

 

Calling all Kiwi’s: Australia and New Zealand are signatories to the Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Act. This means that the qualifications of Physios from NZ are recognised in Australia. They qualify for accreditation once they apply to register with AHPRA. You’ll find all the details for New Zealand trained and registered Physiotherapists here ( https://www.physioboard.org.nz/i-want-to-be-registered/australia

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“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” ~Abraham Lincoln

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“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” – Babe Ruth

Our team at Medijobs Australia would love to have a chat with you if you’re considering studying Physiotherapy as a degree, are studying Physio right now or are about to Graduate or are a Physiotherapist at any stage of your career.

We’re here to add value to your career journey – all you have to do is reach out. 

Contact Medijobs Australia