What Does a New Grad Physio Cost a Clinic?

A new graduate physiotherapist costs a clinic at least $76,200 a year in wages and super from February 2027, and about $122,700 by mid-2030 on an assumed 4% annual wage review, with no promotion. Physiotherapy sits at one qualification level in the award, AQF 7, so the starting rate is the same whether the graduate holds a bachelor degree or a doctorate. Below: the dated table, which figures are determined and which are projected, the costs that sit on top, and the billings the role has to produce.

The short answer

Forecast figures assume a 4% Annual Wage Review each year from 2027, no promotion, and 44 revenue-generating weeks of 25 billable hours. The 40% and 50% ratios, every dated step, the costs that sit on top of wages and the evidence for each figure follow below.

Which rate applies

The Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020 (MA000027) covers employers in the health industry and their employees in its classifications (cl 4.1(a)), and any employer engaging a health professional employee in those classifications (cl 4.1(b)). The second limb is occupational: it can reach a health professional employed outside a clinic, such as by a disability provider or a school, unless another award or agreement applies. The award's terms do not apply where an enterprise agreement applies, and an employee earning above the high income threshold under a guarantee of annual earnings is outside the award's terms. Where an employer is covered by more than one award, the employee falls under the classification most appropriate to their work and where they do it (cl 4.7).

On commencement, the award classifies a health professional at Level 1 at the AQF level its Schedule B lists for the profession (cl B.2). From 1 October 2026 Schedule B lists physiotherapy at one level, AQF 7, so under cl B.2(a) a new graduate physiotherapist starts at Level 1, AQF 7, 1st year: $1,308.80 a week full-time.

That holds whatever qualification the graduate holds. Physiotherapy graduates enter through a bachelor degree (AQF 7), a bachelor honours degree (AQF 8), or a graduate-entry master's or Doctor of Physiotherapy (AQF 9). The qualification held does not change the level for a single-listed profession. The one exception is cl B.2(d): if the employer requires a higher qualification for the role, the level of that required qualification applies. The profession-by-profession list is in AQF levels by profession under the Health Professionals Award.

One graduate, eight dates

Full-time, 38 ordinary hours a week, rounded to the nearest $100, commencing in the profession in February 2027. On the assumed reviews, that is a 61.0% rise in wages plus super, and none of it is a promotion. Three things lift the pay and they stack: the award's staged increases from 30 June, the Annual Wage Review from 1 July, which in most payrolls land as one step, and the experience bands, which move on the anniversary of the employee's experience in the profession.

Determined, published and projected

Three kinds of number sit in every table on this page, and they carry different weight.

• Determined. The 1 October 2026 Level 1 rates are in the award now, set by Fair Work Commission determination PR814029 (made 7 September 2026 with [2026] FWCFB 231) and printed inclusive of the 2026 Annual Wage Review. Only the February 2027 row rests on a determined rate alone; every later row adds an assumed review to a published stage rate, so the tables mark it Projected.
• Published, not yet operative. The Commission decided in [2026] FWCFB 123 that the new rates phase in over five stages, and its appendix at [2026] FWCFB 216 publishes the rate for every stage to 30 June 2030. Each later stage still has to be put into the award by its own determination. The appendix prints those figures before any later Annual Wage Review.
• Projected. The 4% a year for 2027 to 2030 is our assumption, not a determination. Every figure from July 2027 carries it and moves if the actual reviews differ. Read the shape of the curve as the finding and each figure as a planning estimate. Figures are nominal, as payroll will show them.

The award bands Level 1 by years of experience in the profession. The model counts whole years from a February 2027 start with no prior experience, which is why nothing moves at the February 2029 anniversary. How a particular person's experience is counted can move the dates.

Strip the assumed reviews out and the published stage schedule alone still takes the same person to $1,801.00 a week at stage 5 in the 4th–6th year band: about $104,900 a year with super, a 37.6% rise on the starting floor before a single future review is counted.

The floor, not the payroll. Every figure here is the award minimum for a full-time employee on 38 ordinary hours. A clinic already paying above it starts from its own offer, and the contract sets how that offer moves. The floor still rises by these steps underneath it, and the margin between the offer and the floor narrows at every step unless the offer moves too.

What wages and super leave out

The tables are annualised rates in force at each date, not cash paid across a calendar year, and they cover base wages and super only. The fully loaded cost of employing the same person is higher. Some of the gap is fixed by the award; the rest depends on your state, your insurer and the way you run the role.

Where they apply, these costs sit on top of the table above. A model built on wages and super alone is built short.

Evenings and Saturdays. The award names physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathic practices in its span of ordinary hours: in those practices a day worker's ordinary hours can fall between 7.30 am and 9.00 pm Monday to Friday and 8.00 am to 4.30 pm on Saturday (cl 13.2(b)). Evening appointments inside that span are ordinary time. Saturday hours are still paid at 150% (cl 26.1), so each Saturday hour costs at least $17.22 more than a weekday hour at the AQF 7 first-year rate.

Registration. Physiotherapists are registered with the Physiotherapy Board of Australia through Ahpra, and registration requires professional indemnity insurance. The registration fee and who pays it are set by the board and your contract, not the award.

The billings the role has to produce

A wage only becomes a problem relative to what the role produces. What this person has to bill depends on the share of billings a clinic lets wages plus super consume.

Per billable hour assumes 44 revenue-generating weeks of 25 completed, revenue-producing hours: 1,100 hours a year. 44 weeks is our planning assumption for the weeks a clinician actually produces billings: a 52-week year less four weeks of annual leave, public holidays, sick leave and training. It is not a statutory figure. The wages and super above are still costed the way the award and the National Employment Standards require, on the full 52-week year, because paid leave is still paid; only the billings side is divided by 44. Cancellations and empty slots come out of the 25 hours, not the 44 weeks, so no absence is counted twice. The hourly figure moves the moment either assumption changes.

At 45%, the $248 an hour the role needs by mid-2030 is about $124 for a completed 30-minute appointment or $83 for a 20-minute one. Those are arithmetic on the hourly figure, not a fee recommendation. On the same ratio, the same person has to produce roughly $100,000 a year more in billings by mid-2030 than on the day they start. It is the floor rising underneath them.

If the diary runs fewer or more completed hours, the hourly figure moves:

We treat 50% as the ceiling rather than the target. In our planning, wages plus super should be no more than half of a clinician's billings, so the role bills at least twice its cost; clinics with different overheads or owner pay will set their own line. Clearing it is not profit; the other half still has to carry rent, admin, equipment and the owner's margin. Our approach to timing is that the first year's target should already point at the end state. We don't set goals for year one that will be redundant by year two.

Where physiotherapy's prices are set for you

The billings table is a target per hour. Some payers set or cap the price instead. Where a scheme fixes or caps what an hour or a service pays, the question becomes how many minutes of the graduate's time that price pays for. The figures below are the schemes' published prices set against the hourly billings this role needs; none of them is a fee recommendation, and private health insurance sets no fee at all. NDIS figures are the national price limits; the schedule sets higher limits for remote and very remote areas.

• NDIS. The price limits became an enforceable maximum on 24 September 2026, for agency-managed and plan-managed participants; self-managed participants are not bound by them. Physiotherapy's limit was cut from $193.99 to $183.99 from 1 July 2025, so it now sits $10 an hour below occupational therapy and speech pathology. Billing is by the minute, pro rata, and the schedule's provider-travel item is priced at 50% of the rate. At the current limit, a role that is all NDIS needs about 33.7 completed billable hours a week by mid-2030 to hold wages+super at 45%, against the 25 the table assumes. The limit is reviewed each year; the arithmetic holds the current figure still.
• DVA. The physiotherapy standard consultation is $77.10 from 1 July 2026, and DVA has announced an increase to $110 for that consultation from 1 July 2027. The 2027 item schedule is not yet final.
• Workers compensation is state-based. NSW is shown only as an example: the 2026 Fees Order caps a physiotherapy subsequent consultation at $100.90 from 1 February 2026, and from 1 October 2026 the number of consultations allowed before insurer pre-approval fell from eight to four.
• The APA's hourly rate guidance. The Australian Physiotherapy Association publishes sustainable hourly rate guidance, $273 an hour for standard services in its current version, and says it does not set or recommend fees. It is a reference point for funders, not a market price.

What to look at now

The question is not only whether a clinic can pay the starting wage, but whether the role still works once the bands change and the stages land. Most of these levers are easier to move before the increases arrive than after.

• Fee schedule. A fee rise that only tracks inflation does not close a gap in which the cost of the same person climbs by band as well as by review.
• Payer mix. Where the role's hours are funded at a fixed price, the hourly figure above has to fit under that price; see where physiotherapy's prices are set, above.
• Diary design and ramp plan. When in the first year the role is expected to reach the billings the table implies.
• Service mix. Where growing experience can be matched to work the clinic can charge more for.
• The hiring decision itself. The offer sets one number. Who is hired has a large bearing on whether the role reaches the billings the table implies.

Change the assumptions. The free New Grad Progression Calculator runs the same physiotherapy path on your own hours and wage review assumption. The free New Graduate Cost Calculator gives first-year cost for seven professions. Neither determines the pay of someone already on your team.

The team you already have

A new graduate is the clean case: one qualification, one clock, no history. For an employee classified under the award on 30 September 2026, clause J.4.3 of PR814029 sets the new award minimum as the higher of two figures: the minimum for their translated classification, and the minimum for their old classification on that day. It compares two award minimums, not what someone is actually paid, and it runs one person at a time. What the October change does to a wage bill is covered in How exposed is your clinic to the 2026 award changes? The dates to line up before it are in Your second pay rise hits October 1.

Questions owners ask

How much should I pay a new grad physio in 2027?

At least the award minimum. From 1 October 2026, a full-time first-year physiotherapist at Level 1, AQF 7, has a minimum of $1,308.80 a week, about $68,100 a year before super, until the next stage and wage review in mid-2027. Anything above it is your offer; the floor keeps moving.

My graduate has a Doctor of Physiotherapy. Do they start higher?

Not under the award by default. Physiotherapy is listed at AQF 7 only, so cl B.2(a) applies AQF 7 whatever qualification is held. A higher level applies only if the employer requires the higher qualification for the role (cl B.2(d)).

What level is a new graduate physio under the Health Professionals Award?

Level 1, AQF 7, in the first-year experience band.

What does a new grad cost after three years?

On an assumed 4% annual review, a physiotherapist who started in February 2027 enters the 4th–6th year band in February 2030 at about $114,100 with super, against $76,200 at the start.

When does a new grad get their first pay rise?

For a February 2027 start, award stage 2 and the Annual Wage Review, from the first full pay periods on or after 30 June and 1 July 2027, usually the same pay run: about $83,200 with super on a 4% review assumption. The next is the band move in February 2028.

How much does a new grad physio need to bill?

At wages plus super of 45% of billings, a February 2027 graduate needs about $169,400 a year, or $154 per billable hour on 44 weeks of 25 hours. By mid-2030 the same person needs about $272,700, or $248 an hour.

Is wages plus super the full cost?

No. Leave loading, workers compensation, payroll tax where it applies, any vehicle allowance, supervision time and recruitment sit on top. Leave loading alone adds about $916 a year at the starting rate.

Does this apply to other allied health graduates?

Not directly. The award sets Level 1 by AQF level and years of experience, and the level differs by profession: exercise physiology and occupational therapy start at AQF 7 like physiotherapy, osteopathy and chiropractic at AQF 9, and speech pathology at AQF 7, 8 or 9 depending on the qualification held. Each has its own article: exercise physiologist, occupational therapist, speech pathologist, osteopath, chiropractor.

Related reading

• New grad cost by profession: the hub: the dated tables for physio, OT, EP, speech, osteo and chiro, the calculators and every new grad article in one place.
• Hiring a new grad: six challenges by profession: the first rise, the ramp, the margin test, supervision, the month-nine dip and the Level 2 claim, and where each one bites in this profession.
• The Health Professionals Award hub: the key dates, the rates and every source in one place.
• AQF levels by profession under the Health Professionals Award: which level each profession starts at.
• New graduate physio salaries in Australia: advertised graduate salaries set against the award.
• Why new graduate physiotherapy wages aren't the real problem.
• How many patients per hour should a physio see?
• Physio pricing.

Sources

• Fair Work Commission, determination PR814029, made 7 September 2026 with [2026] FWCFB 231 ("stage 1 final determination"), operative 1 October 2026: Level 1 rates at cl 17.1, printed inclusive of the 2026 Annual Wage Review; Schedule B (qualification levels by profession); cl J.4.3(b) (existing employees).
• [2026] FWCFB 216 (14 August 2026), Appendix: the staged Level 1 rates for 30 June 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030, printed before any later Annual Wage Review.
• [2026] FWCFB 123 (26 May 2026): the decision to phase the new structure in over five stages. [2026] FWCFB 47 [6]: the staging method.
• Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020, MA000027, consolidated to 1 October 2026: cl 2 (definitions), cl 4 (coverage), cl 13.2 (span of ordinary hours), cl 23.3(h) (vehicle allowance), cl 25.2 (overtime), cl 26 (penalty rates and shiftwork), cl 27.3 (annual leave loading).
• Australian Qualifications Framework, Second Edition (January 2013): qualification types by AQF level.
• NDIA, NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27, effective 24 September 2026 (NDIS pricing arrangements), Part 4 definitions and the therapy support tables.
• Medicare Benefits Schedule, item 10960, fees from 1 July 2026 (MBS Online).
• Department of Veterans' Affairs, physiotherapy fee schedule effective 1 July 2026 (from DVA's dental and allied health fee schedules); DVA, 2026-27 Budget information sheet (the announced July 2027 increase).
• State Insurance Regulatory Authority (NSW), workers compensation fees for health services, Fees Orders for services on or after 1 February 2026, shown as one example of a state scheme.
• Australian Physiotherapy Association, sustainable hourly rate guidance. Guidance, not a fee.
• Physiotherapy Board of Australia (Ahpra); Australian Physiotherapy Council, accredited programs (retrieved 4 October 2026).

About this information

Culture of One is a business advisory firm, not a law firm. This is an illustrative planning model for a new hire and general information about the Health Professionals and Support Services Award, not legal or workplace-relations advice. It assumes the award covers the employment and no enterprise agreement applies, and it does not assess any individual employee's classification or pay entitlements. Stage rates after 1 October 2026 take effect only when the Commission determines them. Annual Wage Review percentages from 2027, and every figure derived from them, are projections; check the current determination before relying on any forward rate.

Last updated 5 October 2026.