Medical Receptionist

A medical receptionist keeps a healthcare practice running smoothly from the front desk. The core work involves booking and confirming patient appointments, managing incoming calls, processing billing and Medicare claims, maintaining patient records, and directing people to the right clinician or service. The role sits at the intersection of customer service and health administration. You are often the person who sets the tone for a patient's experience, so clear communication and discretion matter a great deal.

A typical day might start with reviewing the appointment schedule and flagging any gaps or conflicts. Throughout the morning, calls come in from patients wanting to book, reschedule, or ask about referrals. Between calls, there is data entry: updating patient records, processing invoices, and handling Medicare or private health fund paperwork. Walk-in patients need to be checked in and directed appropriately. Afternoons often involve following up on outstanding referrals, preparing files for the next day's clinicians, and closing out the billing for the day. The pace varies by practice size, but busy periods, such as Monday mornings or flu season, can be demanding.

The minimum education level associated with this role is Year 12 (JSA Occupation Profile). Many employers also look for a Certificate III in Health Administration or a similar short qualification in medical terminology and practice software. These courses are widely available through TAFE and registered training organisations. You can search for relevant courses at yourcareer.gov.au or check whether subsidised training options apply in your state at dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe. Familiarity with practice management software such as Best Practice or Medical Director is a practical advantage, though most employers provide on-the-job training. Prior experience in customer service, administration, or a health-adjacent role is often valued.

The role can look straightforward from the outside, but the reality involves managing competing demands simultaneously: a ringing phone, a patient at the desk, a clinician asking for a file, and a billing query, all at once. Medical receptionists also handle distressed or unwell patients, which requires patience and emotional steadiness that does not always come naturally under pressure. Pay sits at the lower end of the administrative spectrum, and career progression within the role itself is limited unless you move into practice management or health administration more broadly. People changing careers from higher-paid fields may find the income adjustment significant. The work is also largely site-based and not suited to remote arrangements, which is a practical constraint worth considering.

Medical receptionists work wherever healthcare services operate, which means roles exist in capital cities, regional centres, and rural towns. General practice clinics, specialist consulting rooms, allied health practices, and community health centres all employ people in this role. Regional and rural areas may offer more consistent demand given lower workforce density.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 5421, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

See full salary breakdown by state

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• Active Listeningcore
• Appointment Schedulingcore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Confidentiality and Privacy Compliancecore
• Customer Needs Assessmentcore
• Data Entry and Accuracycore
• Empathy and Emotional Intelligencecore
• Health Record Administrationcore
• Health Terminology Literacycore
• HICAPS and Medicare Claiming Systemscore
• Multitaskingcore
• Telephone Etiquettecore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Email Management
• Invoicing and Billing Administration
• Policy and Procedure Adherence
• Practice Management Software (e.g., Best Practice, MedicalDirector)
• Record Management
• Telephone Triage
• Time Management and Prioritisation
• Written Communication

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

What Medical Receptionist workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 10 October 2026