Orthopaedic surgeon recruitment for regional employers

Orthopaedic surgeons perform surgery to treat muscular and skeletal diseases and injuries.³ Employers look for Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in orthopaedic surgery. The Australian Orthopaedic Association runs the orthopaedic training program for the College,⁴ which takes approximately five years full-time and is competency based rather than time based.²

To practise as a specialist, a surgeon needs specialist registration with the Medical Board of Australia in surgery, field of orthopaedic surgery, which carries the title "specialist orthopaedic surgeon".⁵ Fellows of an accredited college, and doctors the college assesses as eligible for fellowship, can apply. Under the registration standard in force since 21 October 2024, an orthopaedic surgeon newly granted specialist registration needs supervised practice, an orientation to the Australian health system and cultural safety education, though some exemptions apply.⁶ If the surgeon was awarded an approved qualification in the specialty, they may be exempt from the six months of supervised practice, and supervised practice completed in accredited training can count towards it; a surgeon who isn't exempt may be registered with a condition to complete it.⁷ You can check the surgeon's current registration on Ahpra's online register.⁶

The Medical Practitioners Award 2020 sets a floor for a specialist of $2,337.21 a week, or $121,535 a year, from 1 July 2026, where the award covers the role.¹⁶ Including the 10% on-call allowance the award pays specialists, who must be available for reasonable on-call and recall duties, the pay guide rate is $2,570.93 a week.¹⁷ Clause 4.2 limits coverage to doctors employed in settings such as hospitals, day procedure centres and community health centres, and employees under a state public sector award are excluded.¹⁶

Public hospital orthopaedic surgeons are paid under state instruments, for example the Staff Specialists (State) Award in New South Wales,¹⁸ Queensland Health's Medical Officers' Certified Agreement (No.7) 2025¹⁹ and Western Australia's 2024 AMA agreement.²⁰ With 73% of Queensland's orthopaedic surgeons in private practice,² many roles combine a public appointment with private operating.

The wider Surgeons group, which includes registrars training as surgeons, had median full-time earnings of $3,905 a week in May 2025, nationally.³ No median exists for orthopaedic surgeons alone or for regional areas, so we talk through the base salary, private practice rights and on-call payments with you before the search starts.

An orthopaedic surgeon billing Medicare needs specialist recognition and a Medicare provider number.²⁶ Allow at least 6 weeks for a provider number between November and March, the government's peak processing period.²⁷

Overseas trained specialists and foreign graduates covered by section 19AB generally need to work in a District of Workforce Shortage for 10 years from registration to access Medicare.²⁷ Orthopaedic surgery isn't one of the eight specialties with their own ratio test, so for these surgeons the classification covers outer regional, remote and very remote areas.²⁸ A salaried public hospital role that doesn't attract Medicare benefits has no such restriction.²⁷

Tell us the mix of trauma and elective work, the subspecialty you need, such as joint surgery, spine, hand or paediatric orthopaedics, and whether the role is a staff specialist, visiting medical officer or private appointment.

Then the detail surgeons ask about first: the trauma on-call frequency, theatre lists and fracture clinics each week, registrar cover, access to imaging and fluoroscopy in theatre, private rooms and operating rights, and whether the role bills Medicare.

Orthopaedic surgery is a long-hours specialty: full-time orthopaedic surgeons averaged 54 hours a week in 2021.³ A fair trauma roster shared with enough colleagues often weighs as much as the salary when a surgeon considers a regional move.

We start with surgeons who already live in or have ties to your region, then widen the search to those planning a move. Tell us early about housing, relocation costs, help establishing private rooms and support for a family, and 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 fellowship, subspecialty, registration and where you would like to work. We talk with you about permanent public and private roles that fit your practice.