Speech pathology is the one profession in this series where the award level follows the degree.
A new graduate speech pathologist costs a clinic at least $76,200, $77,900 or $84,200 a year in wages and super from February 2027, depending on whether they hold a bachelor, an honours or a master's degree. Speech pathology is the one profession in this series where the award level follows the degree. By mid-2030, on an assumed 4% annual wage review and with no promotion, the three pathways reach about $122,700, $126,400 and $130,100. All three bill the same NDIS item at the same $193.99 limit.
The short answer
Speech pathology, AQF 7
| February 2027 | Mid-2030 | |
|---|---|---|
| Wages + super, full-time award minimum | $76,200 a year (determined rate) | $122,700 a year (forecast) |
| Billings needed at 45% wages+super | $169,400 a year | $272,700 a year (forecast) |
| Per billable hour at 45% | $154 | $248 (forecast) |
Speech pathology, AQF 8
| February 2027 | Mid-2030 | |
|---|---|---|
| Wages + super, full-time award minimum | $77,900 a year (determined rate) | $126,400 a year (forecast) |
| Billings needed at 45% wages+super | $173,100 a year | $280,900 a year (forecast) |
| Per billable hour at 45% | $157 | $255 (forecast) |
Speech pathology, AQF 9
| February 2027 | Mid-2030 | |
|---|---|---|
| Wages + super, full-time award minimum | $84,200 a year (determined rate) | $130,100 a year (forecast) |
| Billings needed at 45% wages+super | $187,000 a year | $289,000 a year (forecast) |
| Per billable hour at 45% | $170 | $263 (forecast) |
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).
Schedule B lists speech pathologist at three levels: AQF 7, AQF 8 and AQF 9. When a profession is listed at more than one level, cl B.2(b)(i) classifies the employee at the AQF level of the qualification they hold, where that level is listed. All three are listed, so the degree on the graduate's testamur sets their starting rate:
| Qualification held | AQF level | Level 1, 1st year, from 1 Oct 2026 | Wages+super, Feb 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor degree (pass), e.g. Bachelor of Speech Pathology | 7 | $1,308.80 a week | $76,200 |
| Bachelor honours degree, e.g. Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours) | 8 | $1,337.10 a week | $77,900 |
| Master's degree, e.g. graduate-entry Master of Speech Pathology | 9 | $1,444.90 a week | $84,200 |
The award title decides, not the course length. Most bachelor programs run four years. Some confer only an honours award (AQF 8); some confer a pass bachelor (AQF 7) or honours (AQF 8) depending on the student's results, so two graduates of the same course can start on different rates; graduate-entry master's programs confer AQF 9. Ask for the testamur or academic transcript, not the course name, and record it on file. If the employer requires a higher qualification for the role than the one held, cl B.2(d) applies the required level.
Certification, not Ahpra. Speech pathology is not registered under the national Ahpra scheme. It is self-regulated through Speech Pathology Australia, whose Certified Practising Speech Pathologist credential is what the NDIS speech pathology items require.
Three graduates, eight dates
Bachelor (AQF 7):
| When | Experience band | What changes | Base wage | With 12% super | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2027 | 1st year | Starts | $68,100 | $76,200 | Determined |
| Late June / July 2027 | 1st year | Award stage 2, plus the July review | $74,300 | $83,200 | Projected |
| February 2028 | 2nd–3rd year | Experience band moves | $79,500 | $89,100 | Projected |
| Late June / July 2028 | 2nd–3rd year | Award stage 3, plus the July review | $86,100 | $96,500 | Projected |
| February 2029 | 2nd–3rd year | No band change | $86,100 | $96,500 | Projected |
| Late June / July 2029 | 2nd–3rd year | Award stage 4, plus the July review | $93,200 | $104,400 | Projected |
| February 2030 | 4th–6th year | Experience band moves | $101,900 | $114,100 | Projected |
| Late June / July 2030 | 4th–6th year | Award stage 5, plus the July review | $109,600 | $122,700 | Projected |
Honours (AQF 8):
| When | Experience band | What changes | Base wage | With 12% super | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2027 | 1st year | Starts | $69,500 | $77,900 | Determined |
| Late June / July 2027 | 1st year | Award stage 2, plus the July review | $76,100 | $85,300 | Projected |
| February 2028 | 2nd–3rd year | Experience band moves | $81,600 | $91,400 | Projected |
| Late June / July 2028 | 2nd–3rd year | Award stage 3, plus the July review | $88,600 | $99,200 | Projected |
| February 2029 | 2nd–3rd year | No band change | $88,600 | $99,200 | Projected |
| Late June / July 2029 | 2nd–3rd year | Award stage 4, plus the July review | $95,900 | $107,400 | Projected |
| February 2030 | 4th–6th year | Experience band moves | $104,600 | $117,100 | Projected |
| Late June / July 2030 | 4th–6th year | Award stage 5, plus the July review | $112,900 | $126,400 | Projected |
Master's (AQF 9):
| When | Experience band | What changes | Base wage | With 12% super | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2027 | 1st year | Starts | $75,100 | $84,200 | Determined |
| Late June / July 2027 | 1st year | Award stage 2, plus the July review | $82,000 | $91,800 | Projected |
| February 2028 | 2nd–3rd year | Experience band moves | $87,300 | $97,700 | Projected |
| Late June / July 2028 | 2nd–3rd year | Award stage 3, plus the July review | $94,600 | $106,000 | Projected |
| February 2029 | 2nd–3rd year | No band change | $94,600 | $106,000 | Projected |
| Late June / July 2029 | 2nd–3rd year | Award stage 4, plus the July review | $102,400 | $114,700 | Projected |
| February 2030 | 4th–6th year | Experience band moves | $108,000 | $121,000 | Projected |
| Late June / July 2030 | 4th–6th year | Award stage 5, plus the July review | $116,100 | $130,100 | Projected |
Full-time, 38 ordinary hours a week, rounded to the nearest $100, commencing in the profession in February 2027. The gap between the pathways is not fixed. In February 2027 the master's graduate costs about $7,900 a year more than the bachelor graduate and the honours graduate about $1,600 more (computed on unrounded figures). By mid-2030 those gaps are about $7,400 and $3,700, because the award's staged increases differ by AQF level: the AQF 7 path rises 61.0% over the period, AQF 8 62.3% and AQF 9 54.6%.
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.
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.
| Cost | What sets it | How to size it |
|---|---|---|
| Annual leave loading | Award cl 27.3: 17.5% on four weeks' leave | About 1.35% of base: $916 a year at the AQF 7 starting rate for a bachelor graduate; $936 at AQF 8 (honours) and $1,011 at AQF 9 (master's) |
| Workers compensation premium | Your state scheme and insurer | Each 1% of premium rate is about $681 a year at the AQF 7 starting base ($695 at AQF 8, $751 at AQF 9) |
| Payroll tax | Your state, once total wages cross its threshold | Same arithmetic: each 1% of rate is about $681 a year at the AQF 7 starting base |
| Vehicle allowance | Award cl 23.3(h)(i): at least $1.01 a km when the employee is required to use their own car | 100 km a week across 44 working weeks is $4,444 a year |
| Supervision time | Your model | One hour a week of a Level 2.1 clinician's time is at least $51.19 an hour in wages from 1 October 2026, about $2,523 a year with super over 44 weeks, before the billings that hour no longer produces |
| Registration, indemnity insurance, CPD | The profession's regulator or professional body, and your contract | Who pays is a contract term, not an award entitlement |
| Recruitment and onboarding | Your process | Time to fill the role and the months before the diary fills |
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: which span of ordinary hours applies is a question to confirm for your practice and roster. For a day worker, ordinary hours fall between 6.00 am and 6.00 pm, Monday to Friday, "unless otherwise stated" (cl 13.2(a)). In "private medical, dental, pathology, physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathic practices" they fall between 7.30 am and 9.00 pm Monday to Friday and 8.00 am and 4.30 pm on Saturday (cl 13.2(b)). The award defines that phrase as "the practice of any practitioner, such as" a list of examples that includes medical centres, general practices and physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathic practices, and excludes medical imaging practices, hospitals and hospices (cl 2). Speech pathology is not among the examples, but the list is illustrative: not being named does not by itself place a speech pathology practice outside the definition, and nothing in it expressly places one inside. This page does not resolve it either way: confirm how it applies to your practice and roster before you set the after-hours diary.
What turns on the answer is the cost of an evening hour. Inside the extended span, evening hours are ordinary time. Outside it, work after 6.00 pm is overtime at 150% for the first two hours (cl 25.2) or, for an employee regularly rostered to work ordinary hours outside the span, shiftwork at 115% (cl 2 definition of shiftworker, cl 26.3); at the AQF 7 first-year rate a 150% hour costs at least $17.22 more than a weekday ordinary hour. Ordinary hours worked on a Saturday are paid at 150% (cl 26.1). Until it is confirmed, price any after-hours sessions both ways.
The billings each pathway has to produce
Bachelor (AQF 7):
| Wages+super as % of billings | Billings needed, Feb 2027 | Per billable hour, Feb 2027 | Billings needed, mid-2030 | Per billable hour, mid-2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40% | $190,600 | $173 | $306,800 | $279 |
| 45% | $169,400 | $154 | $272,700 | $248 |
| 50% | $152,400 | $139 | $245,400 | $223 |
Honours (AQF 8):
| Wages+super as % of billings | Billings needed, Feb 2027 | Per billable hour, Feb 2027 | Billings needed, mid-2030 | Per billable hour, mid-2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40% | $194,700 | $177 | $316,000 | $287 |
| 45% | $173,100 | $157 | $280,900 | $255 |
| 50% | $155,700 | $142 | $252,800 | $230 |
Master's (AQF 9):
| Wages+super as % of billings | Billings needed, Feb 2027 | Per billable hour, Feb 2027 | Billings needed, mid-2030 | Per billable hour, mid-2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40% | $210,400 | $191 | $325,200 | $296 |
| 45% | $187,000 | $170 | $289,000 | $263 |
| 50% | $168,300 | $153 | $260,100 | $236 |
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.
This page states the requirement per billable hour and does not convert it into a per-appointment figure: speech pathology is billed by time under the NDIS and by the hour under DVA, and session lengths vary with the client group.
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 speech pathology'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.
Speech pathology is the one profession in this series where two graduates billing the same NDIS item at the same price can cost the clinic different amounts, because the award level follows the degree.
| NDIS, speech pathology items: $193.99 an hour, maximum (from 24 Sep 2026) | Bachelor (AQF 7) | Honours (AQF 8) | Master's (AQF 9) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wages+super as % of a full NDIS diary at the limit, Feb 2027 | 35.7% | 36.5% | 39.4% |
| The same, mid-2030 | 57.5% | 59.2% | 61.0% |
| Completed hours a week to hold 45% by mid-2030 | 31.9 | 32.9 | 33.9 |
| Minutes a bulk-billed Medicare CDM service (item 10970, $63.40) pays for at 45%, Feb 2027 | 24.7 | 24.2 | 22.4 |
| Wages+super as % of a full diary at the DVA hourly rate ($128.80), Feb 2027 | 53.8% | 55.0% | 59.4% |
- NDIS. The speech pathology limit has been $193.99 an hour since 1 July 2019 and became an enforceable maximum on 24 September 2026 for agency-managed and plan-managed participants. Billing is by the minute, with non-face-to-face, report and telehealth items at the same limit and a provider-travel item priced at 50% of the limit. As in occupational therapy, report and programme-writing time counts as a billable hour only where it is claimed. The limit is reviewed each year; the arithmetic holds the current figure still.
- DVA is the only one of the six professions' schedules that prices speech pathology by the hour: $128.80 an hour from 1 July 2026. A full diary at that rate would not hold a first-year graduate at 50% of billings on any pathway.
- Medicare CDM pays the same $63.40 benefit for speech pathology as for the other five professions, for a service of at least 20 minutes.
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 in the billings table has to fit under that price.
- Diary design and ramp plan. When in the first year the role is expected to reach the billings the table implies, and which hours count as billable.
- 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.
- Record the qualification at the offer. Because the level follows the degree, the testamur is a payroll input. A clinic hiring two graduates in the same intake can be paying two different award minimums for the same work, and that is correct.
Free guide
What your new grad will really cost you
A worked example on one page for a graduate at Level 1, AQF 7, the same wage path as a bachelor-qualified speech pathologist: the dated table, the billings at three ratios and the costs that sit on top of the wage. The guide's worked example is a physiotherapist; for honours (AQF 8) and master's (AQF 9) graduates and for speech pathology's payer prices, use the tables on this page.
Your own numbers. The tables on this page carry all three speech pathology pathways to 2030; substitute your own hours, ratio and offer using the assumptions stated under each table. Nothing here 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?
Questions owners ask
How much should I pay a new grad speech pathologist in 2027?
At least the award minimum for the qualification they hold. From 1 October 2026 a full-time first-year speech pathologist is at Level 1, at $1,308.80 a week with a bachelor degree (AQF 7), $1,337.10 with an honours degree (AQF 8) or $1,444.90 with a master's degree (AQF 9).
Is a new grad speech pathologist AQF 7 or AQF 9?
Either, or AQF 8. Speech pathology is listed at all three levels, so cl B.2(b)(i) uses the level of the qualification the graduate holds.
My graduate's four-year degree included honours. Which level is that?
If the award conferred is a bachelor honours degree, AQF 8. If they graduated with the pass bachelor degree from a course that offers honours, AQF 7. The testamur shows which.
Why do two of my new grads have different minimum rates?
Because they hold different qualifications. Under cl B.2(b)(i) the award applies the level of the qualification held, so a master's graduate and a bachelor graduate doing the same work start on different minimums.
What does a new grad speech pathologist cost after three years?
On an assumed 4% annual review, from a February 2027 start, the 4th–6th year band arrives in February 2030 at about $114,100 (bachelor), $117,100 (honours) or $121,000 (master's) with super.
Does the NDIS pay more for a master's-qualified speech pathologist?
No. The NDIS speech pathology limit is $193.99 an hour whatever the qualification. On a full 25-hour NDIS diary at that limit, wages and super are about 35.7% of billings for the bachelor graduate and 39.4% for the master's graduate in February 2027.
Related reading
- 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.
- How exposed is your clinic to the 2026 award changes?: the margin question for the whole team.
- Your second pay rise hits October 1: what to line up before the reclassification.
The same model for each profession in this series: physiotherapist, exercise physiologist, occupational therapist, speech pathologist, osteopath, chiropractor.
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 10970, fees from 1 July 2026 (MBS Online).
- Department of Veterans' Affairs, speech pathology fee schedule effective 1 July 2026 (from DVA's dental and allied health fee schedules).
- 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.
- Speech Pathology Australia: university program accreditation (retrieved 4 October 2026).
- University program pages for the AQF level of the award conferred, e.g. The University of Queensland, Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours), AQF Level 8; The University of Melbourne, Master of Speech Pathology, AQF Level 9.
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.
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