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ANZSCO 2525Skill level 1Health and care

Physiotherapist

Assess and treat physical movement and pain disorders through exercise, manual therapy and education.

Registration: AHPRA registration as a physiotherapist

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Salary

Cited figures from Job Outlook and QILT. ExamExplained does not publish predictive earnings or projections.

FigureAUDSource
Full-time weekly earnings$1650Job Outlook (2025-06-01)
Graduate starting salary$67,000QILT (2025-03-01)

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What a physiotherapist actually does

Physiotherapists run booked clinics in 30 to 60-minute slots. A typical private-practice morning sees a string of musculoskeletal patients with back pain, knee injuries, shoulder reconstructions or whiplash claims. The first session is usually an assessment with history, range-of-motion testing and special tests; follow-up sessions blend hands-on treatment (mobilisations, soft-tissue work, dry needling in some states) with prescribed exercises and education. Hospital physios work across wards: rehabilitation, neurology, cardiothoracic, orthopaedic post-op and intensive care, with a heavy emphasis on getting people moving safely before discharge. Sports physios spend evenings and weekends on sidelines or in clinic dealing with acute injuries. Most physios work 38-40 hours a week with shorter shifts in hospital and longer days in busy private clinics. The work is physically demanding (you're on your feet, often using your hands and body for hours) and KPIs around billable sessions can pile pressure on in private practice.

Typical tasks

  • Conduct musculoskeletal and neurological assessments.
  • Design and supervise rehabilitation programmes.
  • Educate patients on injury prevention and self-management.

Skills you'll use

  • Musculoskeletal assessment and special-test interpretation
  • Manual therapy including joint mobilisation and soft-tissue work
  • Therapeutic exercise prescription
  • Gait analysis and movement retraining
  • Pain-science education and behaviour-change conversations
  • Reading MRI, X-ray and ultrasound reports
  • Documentation for WorkCover, TAC and NDIS funding
  • Strength and conditioning principles

How to become one

  1. 1Finish Year 12 with English plus at least one science subject (Biology or PE Studies common)
  2. 2Complete a 4-year accredited Bachelor of Physiotherapy or a 2-year graduate-entry Doctor of Physiotherapy
  3. 3Pass the clinical placement hours required by the Physiotherapy Board of Australia (around 1,000 hours)
  4. 4Apply for AHPRA registration as a physiotherapist in your final semester
  5. 5Start as a graduate physio in private practice, hospital or community rehabilitation
  6. 6Consider postgraduate study or APA titling in a specialty (sports, musculoskeletal, paediatric, neurological, women's health)
  7. 7Decide whether to stay clinical, build a private practice, or move into research and teaching

Where you can work

  • Private musculoskeletal and sports clinics
  • Public and private hospitals (wards, ICU, outpatients)
  • Community rehabilitation and aged-care services
  • Defence Force health services
  • Professional and elite sports teams
  • NDIS-funded paediatric and disability services
  • WorkCover and TAC injury management
  • Telehealth-based remote physiotherapy

Career progression

Typical stages and salary bands. Salary figures are sourced from Job Outlook, QILT or industry bodies; brackets are 25th-75th percentile not absolute floors or ceilings.

  1. Graduate physiotherapist
    0-2 years
    Typical roles: Graduate physiotherapist, Hospital rotational physio
    Salary band: $67,000 - $78,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  2. Senior physiotherapist
    3-7 years
    Typical roles: Senior clinician, Private-practice physio, Specialist rotation lead
    Salary band: $85,000 - $110,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  3. Specialist or practice owner
    8+ years
    Typical roles: APA-titled specialist, Practice principal, Clinical manager
    Salary band: $110,000 - $150,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)

Is this for you?

You might love this if

  • You're hands-on, fit and comfortable being physically close to people
  • You like solving puzzles about why pain or movement is off
  • You enjoy coaching people through difficult exercise sets
  • You can stay calm with patients who are anxious about pain
  • You can sell the value of treatment without being pushy

This might not suit you if

  • You prefer mostly screen-based or desk-based work
  • You don't like delivering bad-news prognoses to athletes
  • You can't handle the body contact required for manual therapy
  • You want a job that's done at 5pm with no evening or weekend rosters

Three ways in

Uni, TAFE and trade routes for physiotherapist. Not every career has all three; we only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.

University

Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.

TAFE / VET

Nationally accredited Certificate and Diploma qualifications.

No direct TAFE pathway to this career.

Apprenticeship trade

Earn while you learn through an Australian Apprenticeship.

Not an apprenticeship trade.

Sources

ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Job Outlook directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.