Graduate Occupational Therapist – Community (NDIS & Support at Home)

Short summary: A graduate role built for the jump from uni to practice: weekly supervision, joint visits, and a caseload that grows as you do.

Key selling points:

Weekly 1:1 supervision with our OT Department Lead

Shadowing and joint visits before you go solo

$80,000 + super, laptop, phone, $1,500 PD and 3 study days

Uni taught you the theory. Your first year is where you become an OT.

For every new grad, the hardest part isn't the workload, it's the gap. At uni, the case study has an answer. When sitting across from a client, the answer depends on the person, the house, the family, and the funding, and no two consults look alike. What you learned at uni turns out to be the starting point of the job, not the whole of it.

That gap is normal. How well you're supported through it decides what kind of clinician you become, so we've built our graduate program around it.

About us

Optimum Healthcare Australia is a multi-discipline allied health practice based in Essendon. Our occupational therapists, physiotherapists, osteopaths, speech pathologists and massage therapists see NDIS participants and Support at Home clients in their homes and communities across Melbourne's northern and north-western suburbs.

We've taken many new graduates through our program. Some are still with us and thriving. Others have gone on to work as independent OTs. We're proud of both.

How we get you from graduate to confident clinician

Weekly 1:1 supervision with our OT Department Lead. This is where you bring your clinical reasoning, your tricky cases, and your questions.

Shadowing and joint sessions first.



You watch, then you co-treat before going solo with confidence.

A graduate caseload that builds up. You start small. KPIs are introduced gradually as your confidence and skills grow.

Fortnightly learning workshops across NDIS and aged care, covering practical, on-the-job knowledge.

$1,500 a year and 3 days of study leave for professional development, so you can go deeper into the areas of community OT that interest you most.

A team around you. Other OTs and other disciplines are a message or a phone call away, so you never have to guess alone.

The work

You’ll see a mix of NDIS participants and Support at Home clients, so your caseload will be varied from the start:

Assessments: functional capacity, home safety, housing and support needs, assistive technology, seating and mobility, pressure care, sensory processing, and manual handling.

Therapy and capacity building: helping clients build independence in daily activities, routines, cognition and self-management, emotional regulation, and safe participation at home and in the community.

Assistive technology: running trials, prescribing minor and complex AT, writing clinical justifications and funding applications, and working with suppliers.

Home modifications:



assessing and recommending minor and major modifications, working alongside builders and suppliers.

Education and coaching: showing families and support workers how to carry therapy through into everyday life.

Who we’re looking for

We care less about your marks and more about how you think and how you work with people. You’ll do well here if you:

Think for yourself. When there's no textbook answer, you form a view, explain your reasoning, and bring it to supervision to be tested.

Communicate clearly. You can communicate recommendations effectively to a client, their family, and their care manager or support coordinator, and build the collaboration that leads to great outcomes.

Take feedback and use it. You want to be mentored and coached, and you act on feedback.

Solve problems. You see a barrier in someone's home as an exciting challenge and puzzle to be worked out.

Are drawn to community OT. You want to work with clients in their own homes and communities, where a good recommendation changes how someone lives day to day.

You’ll need

A degree in Occupational Therapy and AHPRA registration (or eligibility). Final-year students are welcome to apply.

A driver's licence and your own vehicle

NDIS Worker Screening Check

Police Check

What you’ll get

Permanent position, full-time or 4 days a week

Kilometre reimbursement for travel

Laptop and mobile phone

$1,500 career development allowance and 3 days of study leave each year

Work from home when you’re not seeing clients

Flexible start date: now, or when you graduate

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📌 Graduate Occupational Therapist – Community (NDIS & Support at Home) (Melbourne)
🏢 Optimum Healthcare Australia
📍 Melbourne