Hospital medical officer recruitment for regional employers

Hospital medical officers examine and diagnose patients, order and interpret tests, prescribe treatment, monitor progress and arrange admissions and referrals to specialists.⁶ In a regional hospital, a small medical team often means the same doctor covers wards, the emergency department and nights.

After an intern year on provisional registration, an Australian or New Zealand graduate moves to general registration.⁷ Internationally qualified doctors may hold provisional registration, or limited registration that allows them to practise under supervision.⁸ The register shows each doctor's registration type and any conditions.⁹

Where the Medical Practitioners Award 2020 covers the role, an intern earns at least $1,277.54 a week, a resident medical practitioner from $1,356.33, a registrar from $1,543.23 and a career medical practitioner from $2,037.52, from 1 July 2026.³ The award covers employers of doctors in hospitals, day procedure centres and similar workplaces, and does not cover employees under a state public sector award.⁴

Public hospital doctors are paid under the state instruments in the table above. Queensland's MOCA7 rates, for example, rose by a further 0.5% in mid-2026 under the agreement's CPI adjustment.¹³

For market pay, general practitioners and resident medical officers, counted as one group, had median full-time earnings of $2,446 a week in May 2025, nationally.⁶ Registrars training in a specialty are counted in that specialty's group instead, so we talk with you about the pay that will compete for your hospital.

Tell us the level and the department first: a resident for general medicine and surgery terms, a career medical officer for the emergency department, or a registrar in an accredited post. Then the roster, including nights and weekends, and who supervises after hours.

Let us know whether the role can support a doctor on limited registration, with the supervision that registration needs.

Doctors weighing a regional hospital look closely at the roster, the teaching on offer and whether the post counts towards their training. We start with doctors who want regional experience or already live nearby, then widen the search.

Tell us about accommodation for new starters, relocation costs and leave for study or exams. We raise them in the first conversation.

If the right person needs a visa or sponsorship, our sister business Australian Immigration Agency can advise.

Register with Hire Australia and tell us your post-graduate year, your registration and the terms or specialties you want. Resident, career and registrar-level doctors are welcome, and we will talk with you about hospitals that fit.