Free guide · for clinic owners planning a graduate hire
What your new grad will really cost you
A worked wage and billings model for an Australian clinic owner.
One graduate physiotherapist, hired February 2027, followed to mid-2030: what the award actually puts on your payroll, and what that person has to bill for it to work.
Free. No card. Built on the Fair Work Commission’s published staged rates.
Invited to speak
The free guide
The starting salary is the number you negotiate. It is not the number to build around.
A full-time graduate physiotherapist under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award, starting in February 2027, has an award minimum of $1,308.80 a week at Level 1, AQF Level 7, first year — about $68,100 a year, or $76,200 once super is on it. That part is easy to find.
What is harder to see is the three things that lift that number at once over the next three years, and how far they take it.
Inside the guide
- The full year-by-year table: one graduate, February 2027 to mid-2030, base and including super, with the reason for every step
- Where the award’s five stages land, where the July wage reviews land, and where the experience bands move — and why some years carry two increases and some carry one
- What the figures exclude, named: leave loading, workers compensation, payroll tax, registration, supervision, recruitment
- The billings this role has to produce for the wage to work, at three different wage-to-billings ratios, per year and per billable hour
- Which figures are settled and which are projections, marked as such
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Five things the table shows
The guide follows one person, one role, one set of assumptions — so the shape of the cost is visible end to end.
Three things lift the pay, and they stack
The award’s five-stage rebuild, the Annual Wage Review every July, and the experience bands. From 2027 to 2030 the award’s stages fall on 30 June and the July review follows a day later, so each year they land as one step.
Some years carry two increases, some carry one
In the guide’s model the experience bands move on the employee’s own anniversary, not in July. The table shows which years double up and which one moves nothing at all.
Same job. No promotion.
On the guide’s assumptions — full-time, no promotion, a 4% wage review each year — the same hire goes from about $76,200 to about $122,700 a year including super by mid-2030. The table shows every step.
The wage is not the whole cost
Leave loading, workers compensation, payroll tax, registration and CPD, supervision time and recruitment sit on top, wherever they apply to you. A clinic model built on the wage figure alone is built short.
The number to build around is billings
For wages plus super to stay at 45% of billings, the same person has to bill about $169,400 a year at the start and about $272,700 by mid-2030. The guide runs it at 40% and 50% too.
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Owners who’ve done this work
What clinic owners say about working with Shane
“My individual mentoring sessions with Shane over the past year have helped my practice grow from a solo operation to a small team of five. When I have felt out of my depth, he has helped me navigate the issues with a personalised and collaborative approach that has respected and honoured my own personal values and business vision.”
Samantha King — Physiotherapist, True Balance Physio
“Shane’s course was a game-changer. It gave me the exact tools I needed to sharpen my business and streamline operations. The structure was clear, the insights were practical, and I walked away with strategies I wouldn’t have figured out on my own.”
Jonathan Sandler — Director & Principal Physiotherapist, Unbreakable Physiotherapy
“I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Shane for over six years — from our early days as partners at Life Ready to seeking his advice just last week. Shane has always brought a unique perspective, combining strategic insight with a genuine care for growth. His guidance has been instrumental in helping me thrive, both professionally and personally.”
Leon Green — Managing Executive, Life Ready Maribyrnong
Get the guide
Clinic owners planning a graduate hire, or already carrying one, who want the shape of the commitment before they sign it. Enter your name and email and the guide lands in your inbox.
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