E.g. nurse, resume, interview, sales...

Occupational Therapist

Provide personal care, emotional support and physical assistance to help people live their lives as independently as possible

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Job opportunities

2,710

Jobs on SEEK right now

Job growth

22.4%*

Projected job growth in 5 years

What's it like to be an Occupational Therapist?

As an Occupational Therapist (OT) your primary goal is to help people carry out daily tasks independently. You may work in hospitals, workplaces, schools, nursing homes, private clinics or private homes.

Tasks and duties

Assessing injured workers to determine the best way to help them get back to work.
Visiting workplaces to gain an understanding on what challenges an injured worker may face when trying to get back to work.
Reviewing high risk manual tasks at workplaces to determine how they can be performed more safely.
Providing clinical opinions and justification through comprehensive report writing.
Running workshops on health and wellbeing topics.
Consulting with insurers, medical practitioners and employers.
Conducting Pre-Employment Assessments to help ensure workers are fit for work.

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Occupational Therapists focus on providing personal care for individuals (such as bathing, dressing, preparing food), aiding their productivity (including assisting them at work, in volunteer work or at school), and supporting them with leisure activities (such as involvement in sports, art or music). The OT works in consultation with each of their clients to address their goals and provide assistance where necessary.

OTs tend to focus on tasks that will alleviate physical discomfort and promote social connectedness, independence, emotional wellbeing and general health for their clients.

What can I earn as an Occupational Therapist?

All

NSW

VIC

QLD

TAS

ACT

The most common annual salary in AUS for an Occupational Therapist is between $65k and $75k

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Close salary comparison

Source: SEEK job ads

How to become an Occupational Therapist

To become an Occupational Therapist in Australia, there are two different pathways available, and you must hold formal qualifications.

Complete an undergraduate degree in Occupational Therapy. Undergraduate occupational therapy courses in Australia generally take 4 years.
Alternatively, after completing an undergraduate degree in any field, you may complete a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy. This pathway would generally take 5 to 5 ½ years (3 years for the undergraduate degree and 2 to 2 ½ years for the master’s program). There may be prerequisite subjects that you must complete in your undergraduate course to be eligible to apply for a master’s program to become an Occupational Therapist.
Gain work experience. This may include, for example, working as a nanny for a child with special needs or working at a summer camp for people with disabilities.
Register with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia and meet the Board's registration standards in order to practise in Australia.

Explore related qualifications

SEEK users who have worked as an Occupational Therapist have studied these qualifications.

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NSW

VIC

QLD

TAS

ACT

Bachelor of Occupational Therapy

This degree develops skills and knowledge needed to pursue a career as an Occupational Therapist.

Compare institutions

See 7 institutions that offer this course in Australia.

Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours)

This qualification prepares you for a role as a Occupational Therapist and for further research or study in the industry.

Compare institutions

See 7 institutions that offer this course in Australia.

Skills and experience employers are looking for

Hi there, have any of these? Add your skills directly to your SEEK Profile.

Occupational Therapy

AHPRA Registration

Physiotherapy

Aged Care

Drivers Licence

Autonomy

Time Management

Interpersonal Sensitivity

Willingness to Learn

Communication Skills

Skills listed in your SEEK Profile

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Roles where your skills are commonly valued by employers.

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How do Occupational Therapists rate their role?

Latest reviews from 35 Occupational Therapists surveyed on SEEK

Work-life balance

4.3

Job satisfaction

4.5

Career progression opportunities

4.3

Job security

4.4

Pay / Salary

4.0

Variety of work

4.3

Latest reviews

All

Positive

Negative

Nov 2018

OT is very rewarding. If you can think of an industry or sector you could find an OT working there.

Reviewer's Qualification

Bachelor of Occupational Therapy

Experience

5 – 9 years

Organisation size

Small (1-19 employees)

Specialisation

Paediatrics

The good things

If you are someone who loves to help people, if you are practical, enjoy problem solving, and experience huge satisfaction from empowering others then Occupational Therapy is the field for you. I find...

The challenges

Some challenges are the time constraints and sometimes feeling like you might not have enough time in the day or week to give your best care to the client/patient. This is a challenge and confronts yo...

Nov 2018

Occupational Therapy is vital for early intervention mental health for children.

Reviewer's Qualification

Bachelor of Health Science (Occupational Therapy) (Honours)

Experience

1 – 4 years

Organisation size

Large (200+ employees)

Specialisation

Mental health for children.

The good things

Variety, great team with lots of support and knowledge, opportunities for professional development, family able to come first.