Employment Outlook
Occupational Therapy Assistant
Average wage for
Employment Levels
Around 17,500 people are currently employed as Occupational Therapy Assistants in Australia. This is set to increase to 20,000 people by 2023, according to the Department of Employment.
Employment by State
23.2% of all Occupational Therapy Assistants are employed in NSW. The area with the lowest number of Occupational Therapy Assistants is TS, with only 0.9%.
Gender Split
This is a very female dominated industry with 8.8% of Occupational Therapy Assistants being male and 91.2% female.
Age Brackets
The most popular age for people working as Occupational Therapy Assistants is 25-34 years old, with 38.2%. A small percentage (3.2%) of people get into this career path older, aged 60-64. There is also a number of people who enjoy a career as Occupational Therapy Assistants, with 32.1% aged 35-44.
Hours Worked
Occupational Therapy Assistants work an average of 32.9 hours a week compared to all jobs average of 40.0 hours.
Education Level
The majority of Occupational Therapy Assistants have a Bachelor Degree qualification (82.4%) or are at a Post Graduate level (17.6%).
Occupational Therapy Assistant Duties & Tasks
- Assess physical and mental abilities of individuals to determine realistic rehabilitation goals
- Assist clients in finding and securing jobs
- Choose activities that will help individuals learn life-management skills
- Collaborates with other professionals regarding an individual’s overall case management
- Provides adaptive equipment, such as an enlarged keyboard, to help individuals function more effectively in their home and work environment
Professional Associations & Groups
*The information provided on this page is from the Department of Employment’s Job Outlook website. All salary ranges are from Payscale. Where jobs are not exact matches, job areas have been used. This information is to be used as a guide only.
Helping Australians realise their potential
for over 125 years.
Open Colleges Pty Ltd ABN 61 000 011 692 Provider Number 90796 | Integrated Care & Management Training Pty Ltd ABN 82 003 899 527 Provider Number 90197 | YourLife Health & Learning Inc t/a Open Colleges School of Health ABN 39 742 730 429 RTO 40049 CRICOS Provider 03733E
© Open Colleges 2020-2026. Except as permitted by the applicable copyright law, you may not reproduce or communicate any content from this website, including any files downloadable from this website, without the permission of Open Colleges.