The award sets a health professional's entry level by their profession — except where it lists more than one, and the qualification they hold decides.
The short version
- A health professional's classification starts with an AQF level, and the award sets that level from their profession and their qualifications — not from seniority and not from how well they are performing.
- Where the schedule lists one level, that level applies to everyone entering the profession. An individual's particular degree does not change it.
- Where it lists more than one, the level follows the qualification the person actually holds. For those you need to see the testamur, not just the job title.
- By our count, 47 professions are named and 14 carry more than one level. Those 14 are the ones that cost an employer time, because they are the only ones where the answer is not the same for every person in the role.
Which AQF level does the Health Professionals Award give each profession?
The award's profession schedule names a profession and the AQF level that goes with it. Where only one AQF level is listed for the profession, that level applies. Where more than one is listed, the AQF level of the qualification held by the employee applies. By our count of the schedule, 47 professions are named and 14 of them carry more than one level.
Source: [2026] FWCFB 123, determination, Schedule B.2 (award text)
Our count, not the award's: The counts of 47 professions and 14 multi-level professions are our count of the schedule. The award does not state either number.
Which professions have more than one entry level?
These 14 professions are listed with more than one AQF level. In each of them the level follows the qualification the employee actually holds, so two colleagues doing the same job can sit at different levels. Where the qualification the employee holds is not itself one of the levels listed, the level used is the listed one closest to the qualification they hold and required for entry into their profession.
- Client Advisor / Rehabilitation Consultant — AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9
- Community Development Worker — AQF 5, AQF 7
- Counsellor — AQF 5, AQF 6, AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9
- Dental Prosthetist — AQF 6, AQF 7
- Dietitian — AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9
- Health Information Manager — AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9
- Nuclear Medicine Technologist — AQF 7, AQF 8
- Orthoptist — AQF 8, AQF 9
- Prosthetist / Orthotist — AQF 7, AQF 8
- Radiation Therapist / Radiation Therapy Technologist — AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9
- Social Worker — AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9
- Speech Pathologist — AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9
- Welfare Worker — AQF 5, AQF 6, AQF 7
- Youth Worker — AQF 5, AQF 6, AQF 7
Source: [2026] FWCFB 123, determination, Schedule B.2 (award text)
Our count, not the award's: Which professions appear on this list, and that there are 14 of them, is our reading and count of the schedule. The award does not publish a count.
What AQF level is a speech pathologist under the Health Professionals Award?
Speech pathology is one of the multi-level professions. All three AQF levels — 7, 8 and 9 — are specified, and the employee is paid according to the qualification held. The Full Bench's reasoning was that speech pathology has no standard pathway for entry, so there is no single qualification that can stand for the profession.
Source: [2026] FWCFB 123 at [49]–[50] (Full Bench finding)
What AQF level is a physiotherapist under the Health Professionals Award?
One level: AQF 7. The Full Bench found AQF Level 7 to be the clear standard minimum qualification for entry into physiotherapy. Because only one level is listed, it applies to everyone entering the profession and an individual's particular degree does not change it.
Source: [2026] FWCFB 123 at [61] (Full Bench finding)
Does a masters degree change your award level?
It depends on whether the profession is listed with one level or several. In a single-level profession, no: a further qualification does not increase pay unless it justifies reclassification to a higher level, because the standard minimum qualification is a proxy for the profession's work value and is not personal to the individual. In a multi-level profession it can, because there the level follows the qualification held. A separate rule attaches to the job rather than to the person: where the employer requires a higher qualification for the role itself, the AQF level of that required qualification applies if it is higher than the level otherwise identified. That is the employer's requirement doing the work, not the individual's extra study.
Source: [2026] FWCFB 123 at [84] (Full Bench finding); [2026] FWCFB 123, determination, Schedule B.2 and B.2(d) (award text)
What if a profession is not on the award's list at all?
Where the profession is not listed, the level is that of the standard minimum qualification for entry to that profession, or where no such qualification exists, the qualification held. A profession's absence from the list does not mean the award excludes it — the list is not a definition of who is covered.
Source: [2026] FWCFB 123, determination, Schedule B.2(c) (award text)
Our recommendation, not an award requirement: Taking advice on these cases, rather than settling them from a lookup, is our recommendation and not a requirement of the award.
Is the award's profession list final?
No. The new Schedule B will be reviewed during the next two years to examine whether it should be retained or updated.
Source: [2026] FWCFB 123 at [19] (Full Bench finding)
Our recommendation, not an award requirement: Checking the schedule at the time you make a decision, rather than copying it into your own documents, is our recommendation.
Do you have to tell an employee their classification?
Yes. An employer must advise an employee in writing of their classification on commencement and of any subsequent change.
Source: MA000027 clause 12.2 (award text)
The full lookup: every profession named in the schedule
All 47 professions, with the AQF level or levels the schedule gives each one. The 14 marked "More than one" are the ones where the individual's own qualification decides which level applies.
| Profession | Entry level |
|---|---|
| Acupuncturist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Aromatherapist | One level — AQF 5 |
| Art Therapist | One level — AQF 9 |
| Audiologist | One level — AQF 9 |
| Biomedical Engineer | One level — AQF 8 |
| Biomedical Technologist | One level — AQF 5 |
| Cardiac Technologist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Child Psychotherapist | One level — AQF 9 |
| Chiropractor | One level — AQF 9 |
| Client Advisor / Rehabilitation Consultant | More than one — AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9 |
| Clinical Perfusionist | One level — AQF 9 |
| Community Development Worker | More than one — AQF 5, AQF 7 |
| Counsellor | More than one — AQF 5, AQF 6, AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9 |
| Dental Hygienist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Dental Prosthetist | More than one — AQF 6, AQF 7 |
| Dental Therapist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Dietitian | More than one — AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9 |
| Diversional Therapist / Recreation Therapist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Exercise Physiologist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Genetic Counsellor | One level — AQF 9 |
| Health Information Manager | More than one — AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9 |
| Masseur, Remedial | One level — AQF 5 |
| Medical Imaging Technologist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Medical Laboratory Technician | One level — AQF 5 |
| Medical Librarian | One level — AQF 8 |
| Medical Scientist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Music Therapist | One level — AQF 9 |
| Myotherapist | One level — AQF 6 |
| Naturopathist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Nuclear Medicine Technologist | More than one — AQF 7, AQF 8 |
| Occupational Therapist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Oral Health Therapist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Orthoptist | More than one — AQF 8, AQF 9 |
| Osteopath | One level — AQF 9 |
| Pharmacist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Physiotherapist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Podiatrist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Prosthetist / Orthotist | More than one — AQF 7, AQF 8 |
| Psychologist | One level — AQF 9 |
| Radiation Therapist / Radiation Therapy Technologist | More than one — AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9 |
| Reflexologist | One level — AQF 5 |
| Research Technologist | One level — AQF 7 |
| Social Worker | More than one — AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9 |
| Sonographer | One level — AQF 8 |
| Speech Pathologist | More than one — AQF 7, AQF 8, AQF 9 |
| Welfare Worker | More than one — AQF 5, AQF 6, AQF 7 |
| Youth Worker | More than one — AQF 5, AQF 6, AQF 7 |
Where to check this against the primary source
The profession schedule and the classification rule both sit in one public document: the determination annexed to the Fair Work Commission's decision. Nothing on this page is a substitute for reading it, and if a classification decision turns on what you read here, read it there.
- Primary source — Fair Work Commission, [2026] FWCFB 123 (26 May 2026). The decision and the annexed determination. Schedule B contains the profession table and the rule for reading it; the written-notice obligation is in the award itself, at clause 12.2.
- Plain-language summary — Fair Work Ombudsman: Changes to the Health Services Award. The Ombudsman uses the short name "Health Services Award" for the same instrument this page is about — the Health Professionals and Support Services Award, MA000027. Useful for orientation; it does not reproduce the profession schedule.
Related reading
- Evidence-based economics for clinic owners
- The 2026 Health Professionals Award changes: what they actually cost your clinic
- Clinic owners: your second pay rise hits October 1
About this information
This page is general information about how the award's profession schedule works. It is not legal or industrial-relations advice, and it does not take account of any particular clinic's circumstances. The award and the Fair Work Commission's determinations are the authority; where this page and those documents differ, those documents govern. Decisions about an individual employee's classification are worth taking advice on.
Current as at 11 August 2026.
Recent Insight Articles
Explore more expert insights to deepen your understanding and find practical solutions for advancing your clinic's growth and sustainability.
