Occupational Therapy Assistant

An Occupational Therapy Assistant supports qualified occupational therapists in delivering therapy programs. The work centres on helping clients, often people with disability, injury, or age-related conditions, to carry out daily tasks more independently. Assistants may set up therapy equipment, guide clients through exercises or activities, record progress notes, and communicate observations back to the supervising therapist. The role is always supervised. Assistants do not assess or diagnose independently.

A typical day could involve preparing a therapy room or home-visit kit before sessions begin. During sessions, the assistant might guide a client through a fine motor activity, assist with mobility practice, or help someone relearn a self-care routine such as dressing or meal preparation. Between sessions, the assistant may update client records, restock supplies, or attend a brief handover with the supervising therapist. Community-based roles may include travel between client homes, aged care facilities, schools, or clinics.

The standard entry qualification is a Certificate IV in Allied Health Assistance (JSA Occupation Profile). This qualification covers anatomy basics, communication with clients, and the practical skills needed to support therapy programs under supervision. Some employers may accept a Certificate III as a starting point, with the expectation that workers complete the Certificate IV while employed. Courses are available through TAFE and registered training organisations. You can search providers at yourcareer.gov.au. Free or subsidised TAFE options may be available depending on your state or territory. Check dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for current eligibility.

The supervised nature of the role is both its strength and its constraint. Career progression is limited unless you go on to complete a full occupational therapy degree, which is a significant additional commitment. Pay sits at the lower end of the allied health sector, and casual or part-time arrangements are common, which can affect income stability. Emotionally, the work involves regular contact with people experiencing serious illness, disability, or decline, and that can be demanding over time. People changing careers into this role from higher-paying fields should weigh the pay difference carefully before committing.

In practice, roles tend to follow population centres and the reach of disability and aged care services, so metropolitan areas and regional centres with large NDIS provider networks are common locations.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 4117, 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.

• Active Listeningcore
• Confidentiality and Privacy Compliancecore
• Cultural Awareness and Sensitivitycore
• Empathy and Emotional Intelligencecore
• Inclusive Practicecore
• Trauma-Informed Communicationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Case Note Writing
• Conflict De-escalation
• Professional Boundaries Maintenance
• Regulatory and Legislative Awareness
• Risk Identification
• Service Navigation and Referral
• Written Communication

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

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.

Last updated: 8 October 2026