Regional Queensland
Regional recruitment specialist for Queensland employers, from Cairns to Toowoomba and Mount Isa. See how hard each region is to hire in, and how we help.
Health service manager recruitment for regional employers
Hire Australia is a regional recruitment specialist. We help regional hospitals, community health services, primary health organisations and private health providers hire health service managers, from section and unit managers to directors of nursing and site leaders. We build each search around the mix of clinical background, budget responsibility and people leadership your role needs.
Health service manager hiring at a glance
Health service management is a large, growing and mostly full-time workforce, and regional services carry close to the all-jobs share of its ads.
- people employed as health and welfare services managers
- 51,200
- February 2026, trend, up 4,500 in a year.1
- of job ads for health and welfare services managers were regional
- 30%
- 114 of 379 ads with a location, three months to September 2026, against 29% of all job ads.4
- median full-time weekly earnings
- $2,720
- Health and welfare services managers, national, May 2025.1
- work full-time hours
- 83%
- Health and welfare services managers, 2025.1
What does a health service manager do?
Health and welfare services managers plan, organise, direct, control and coordinate the professional and administrative aspects of health and welfare programs and services.1 The group includes medical administrators, nursing clinical directors, primary health organisation managers, and other managers such as directors of allied health and pharmacy services.1
The role can combine operations, budgets, staffing, quality and safety with a clinical background. Practice is wider than patient care: for nurses and midwives it includes management and administration roles that use professional knowledge, so a director of nursing needs practising registration even without floor shifts. A general management role that doesn't use a registered profession's knowledge has no separate health management registration.6,7,8
Licences, tickets and certifications for health service managers
There is no licence or registration for health service management itself. A manager who uses a registered profession's knowledge, including in management or administration, may still be practising that profession.
What a health service manager holds, and who sets it, opened 1 November 2026.
| Item | What it means for the hire |
|---|---|
| Registration for the management role | No registration: health service management is not one of the 15 national health practitioner boards8 |
| Managers who practise a registered profession | For nurses and midwives, practice includes management and administration roles that use professional knowledge, not only direct clinical care, and it needs practising registration6,7 |
| Award manager levels | Health professionals appointed as section managers (Level 3) or managers (Level 4) have their own award classifications5 |
| Medical administrators | The award does not cover medical practitioners, so doctors in management roles fall outside it5 |
What does a health service manager earn?
No single award covers health service management. The Health Professionals and Support Services Award covers health professionals appointed as managers in the employers it covers: a Level 3 Section Manager earns at least $1,983.20 a week, and a Level 4 Manager $2,499.10 a week, from 1 October 2026.5 Level 4 describes a manager who allocates resources, sets priorities and ensures budgets are met within a large and complex organisation. Staff under a state public sector award, and medical practitioners, fall outside it; managers classified before 1 October 2026 have transitional arrangements under the award.5
The national median for health and welfare services managers, a group that also counts welfare centre managers, was $2,720 a week, or $73 an hour, in May 2025, for full-time non-managerial employees.1 We talk with you about the package and the relocation and housing support a regional post needs.
Health Professional employee Levels 3 and 4, full-time minimum weekly and hourly rates, from the first full pay period on or after 1 October 2026.5
| Award classification | Minimum a week | Minimum an hour |
|---|---|---|
| Level 2.1, Senior Clinician, Specialist, Supervisor or Educator | $1,945.405 | $51.19 |
| Level 3, Advanced Clinician, Senior Specialist or Section Manager | $1,983.20 | $52.19 |
| Level 4, Manager | $2,499.10 | $65.77 |
Where are health service managers in demand?
Job ads for health and welfare services managers averaged 388 a month in the three months to September 2026, up from 375 a year earlier. New South Wales carried the most, followed by Victoria and Queensland, and South Australia's count rose from 16 to 30.3
114 of the 379 ads with a location were in regional areas, close to the share for all jobs.4 None of the health manager occupations in the group, Medical Administrator, Nursing Clinical Director, Primary Health Organisation Manager and Other Health and Welfare Services Managers, is rated in shortage for 2026.2
Online job ads for health and welfare services managers by state and territory, three-month average to September 2026 and a year earlier.3
| State or territory | Job ads a month, September 2026 | September 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 1143 | 101 |
| Victoria | 96 | 98 |
| Queensland | 86 | 85 |
| Western Australia | 39 | 46 |
| South Australia | 30 | 16 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 10 | 9 |
| Tasmania | 8 | 9 |
| Northern Territory | 6 | 11 |
Which health service manager roles do we recruit?
Open a role for its registration, pay and what to put in your brief.
Directors of nursing and site managers
Nurse leaders who run a regional hospital, multi-purpose service or health site.
- Registration
- The Nursing and Midwifery Board counts management roles that use nursing knowledge as practice, so a director of nursing needs practising registration.6,7
- Workforce
- 2,400 people worked as nursing clinical directors in 2021, 89% of them full-time.1
- Rating
- Nursing Clinical Director is rated not in shortage for 2026.2
- What to tell us
- The beds and services on site, the staff the role leads, whether it carries on-call or clinical shifts, and who it reports to in the wider network.
Allied health, community health and service managers
Managers of allied health departments, community health programs and outpatient services.
- Award level
- A health professional appointed as a manager starts at Level 4, $2,499.10 a week, where the award covers the role.5
- Workforce
- 22,800 people worked as other health and welfare services managers in 2021, a group that includes directors of allied health and pharmacy services.1
- Market median
- $2,720 a week for health and welfare services managers (May 2025).1
- What to tell us
- The professions the role manages, the funding streams, the reporting and accreditation you work to, and whether the manager keeps a caseload.
Medical administrators and primary health managers
Doctors in management roles, and managers of primary health organisations.
- Award position
- Medical practitioners fall outside the Health Professionals and Support Services Award.5
- Workforce
- 3,600 people worked as medical administrators, and 270 as primary health organisation managers, in 2021.1
- Rating
- Medical Administrator and Primary Health Organisation Manager are rated not in shortage for 2026.2
- What to tell us
- The service or region covered, the board or executive the role reports to, the programs and commissioning it runs, and any clinical duties.
What to put in your brief for a health service manager
Start with the service: what it delivers, how it is funded, the budget and staff numbers, and the standards and accreditation it works to. Then say whether the role uses a registered profession's knowledge, including in management, and if so which profession and registration it needs.
Tell us the reporting line to a board, owner or network, the authority the manager holds over hiring and spending, the on-call expectations, and the relocation, housing and family support on offer for the move.
How we help you hire a health service manager
You make the hiring decision and employ the person directly. We handle the search and the organising in between.
Relocation and regional leadership roles
We search first among managers and senior clinicians in your region and neighbouring services, including people ready to step up from a deputy or unit manager role, then widen to experienced managers open to a move, and raise housing and family support early.
A clinical manager moving between states keeps their national registration, so no second registration is needed.8 If the right person needs a visa or sponsorship, our sister business Australian Immigration Agency can advise.
Looking for a health service manager role in the regions?
Register with Hire Australia and tell us the services you have managed, your clinical background, the budgets and teams you have held and where you would like to work. Experienced managers and senior clinicians ready to step up are welcome, and we will talk with you about roles that fit.
Talk to us about your next health service manager hire
Tell us the role, the service, the location and your start date.
Employers pay nothing until the successful candidate has started and stayed two months. Candidates never pay for recruitment.
A FEW PRACTICAL QUESTIONS
Good to know.
Does a health service manager need to be registered?
Not for the management role itself: health service management is not one of the 15 national health practitioner boards.8 A manager who uses their profession's knowledge, such as a director of nursing, is practising it even in management, and needs practising registration.6,7 Hire Australia builds the registration into the brief and asks candidates about it, and you check the public register.
What is the award rate for a health service manager in 2026?
Where the Health Professionals and Support Services Award covers the role, a health professional appointed as a Level 4 Manager earns at least $2,499.10 a week from 1 October 2026.5 The median for health and welfare services managers was $2,720 a week in May 2025.1 Hire Australia talks through your package and the support a regional move needs.
Are health service managers in shortage?
Not nationally. Medical Administrator, Nursing Clinical Director, Primary Health Organisation Manager and Other Health and Welfare Services Managers are all rated not in shortage for 2026.2 Regional services still compete for experienced leaders: 114 of 379 ads with a location were regional.4 Hire Australia plans each search around your service and location.
Should a regional health service manager have a clinical background?
It depends on the role. If the manager will use nursing or another registered profession's knowledge, including in management, they need practising registration.6,7 If not, management experience may matter more. Hire Australia asks you which parts of the role are clinical and builds that into the brief, so candidates know from the first conversation.
What does it cost to use Hire Australia?
Employers pay nothing until the successful candidate has started and stayed two months. Candidates never pay for recruitment. You employ the person directly, and we agree the terms with you in writing before the search begins. The same terms apply whether Hire Australia recruits a unit manager or a service director.
Does Hire Australia supply labour hire or temporary staff?
No. Hire Australia recruits people you employ directly, in permanent roles. We don’t supply labour hire or temps, and candidates never work on our payroll. We search for and screen people for your vacancy, introduce the ones who fit, and you make the offer and employ them. That keeps the working relationship between you and your new employee from day one.
Sources (8)
- Jobs and Skills Australia, ANZSCO occupation data, February 2026 (occupation descriptions, earnings and employment). Medians: ABS Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, national, 4-digit groups. Employment: 4-digit February 2026, trend; 6-digit occupations, 2021 Census. Accessed 1 November 2026. Back to text ↑
- Jobs and Skills Australia, 2026 Occupation Shortage List (ANZSCO 2022 sheet). National ratings, files dated October 2026, ANZSCO 2022 coding. "In shortage" means rated S (shortage) or R (regional shortage). Accessed 1 November 2026. Back to text ↑
- Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index, 4-digit occupations by state and territory, September 2026. Online job ads, three-month moving average to September 2026 (released 21 October 2026), rounded. Counts ads, not jobs. Accessed 1 November 2026. Back to text ↑
- Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index, 4-digit occupations by remoteness (major cities and regional), September 2026. Online job ads, three-month moving average to September 2026; SA4 regions grouped as major city or regional; unclassified ads excluded. Counts ads, not jobs. Accessed 1 November 2026. Back to text ↑
- Fair Work Commission, Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020 [MA000027], clauses 4, 16, 17 and Schedules A and B. Consolidated award incorporating amendments to 1 October 2026 (PR814029). Coverage: clause 4; state public sector awards excluded (clause 4.6). Accessed 1 November 2026. Back to text ↑
- Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, Fact sheet: Registration as a nurse or a midwife. Accessed 1 November 2026. Back to text ↑
- Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, Non-practising registration for nurses and midwives (practice includes management and administration roles, not only direct clinical care). Accessed 1 November 2026. Back to text ↑
- Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), National Boards (the 15 National Boards). Accessed 1 November 2026. Back to text ↑