Diversional Therapist
Diversional therapists plan and run leisure and recreation programs that help people in aged care, disability services and hospitals stay engaged, active and connected.
- Median salary
- $74,600
4.0%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 5,300
1.9%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +18.5%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Low
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 40/wk
matches all-jobs average
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
Diversional therapists work in aged care homes, disability services, hospitals and community programs, designing activities around what each person enjoys and can manage. They sit inside a care team alongside nurses and allied health staff, but the focus is leisure and social wellbeing rather than physical rehabilitation, which is the work of an occupational therapist. The occupation is small, so a single facility may employ one or two diversional therapists, sometimes called lifestyle or activity coordinators.
How much do diversional therapists earn?
The median full-time salary for a diversional therapist is $74,600 per annum, before tax, up $15,500 since 2018.
Pay depends more on the employer and setting than on the title: aged care providers, hospitals and community organisations each set their own rates, and enterprise agreements in larger providers cover most of the workforce. Experience and qualifications move it too, and coordinating a facility's activity program usually pays more than delivering sessions. Casual and part-time arrangements are common, so weekly earnings can be well below the annual figure.
What does a diversional therapist do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Assessing clients' interests, abilities and social needs
- Designing individual and group programs around those assessments
- Running sessions such as music, art, cooking, games and outings
- Documenting participation and progress in care notes and reviews
- Working with families, nurses and allied health staff to fit activities into the care plan
What skills do diversional therapists need?
Employers look for patient care and support, care planning and coordination, community engagement, backed by Leecare fluency and strong written communication.
Specialist skills
- Patient care and support
- Care planning and coordination
- Community engagement
- Event coordination
Software and tools
- Leecare
- AutumnCare
- Microsoft Office
- Canva
- Zoom
General skills
- Written communication
- Empathy and interpersonal care
- People leadership
Is the job growing?
About 5,300 people work as diversional therapists in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 18.5% over the decade to 2035. That's healthy, above-average growth, and the role should stay in solid demand.
How do you become a diversional therapist?
Here's the path most diversional therapists take, step by step.
- 1Start in a support role if you can
A Certificate III in Individual Support (CHC33021) (Ageing or Disability) takes about six months and gets you into aged care or disability work, where you can see how activity programs run before committing to further study.
- 2Complete a Certificate IV in Leisure and Health
This is the qualification most employers ask for, and it takes around a year, often part time while you keep working. It covers therapeutic activity design, group facilitation and documentation.
- 3Or take a diploma or degree route
A Diploma of Leisure and Health (CHC53415), or a bachelor degree in health, recreation or a related field, opens the same roles and can lead into coordination and management positions. TAFE and university providers both offer relevant programs.
- 4Organise your checks
Employers ask for a police check, a first aid certificate and often an NDIS Worker Screening Check before you work with clients, and these can take a few weeks to come through.
- 5Join the professional association
Diversional and Recreation Therapy Australia is the professional body, and membership is not required to practise, but it gives access to training, supervision and a network of others in the same work.
Ready to apply as a diversional therapist?
Whether you're working toward becoming a diversional therapist or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a diversional therapist move to?
Moving into Recreation Officer typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $800 a year more on average.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recreation Officer Diversional therapists bring activity planning and group facilitation skills to recreation officer roles, though further study in recreation is needed.Known move | +$800 | 30% | reskill |
| Community Development Officer Diversional therapists bring client-centred program design and community engagement to community development roles, with retraining in community development required.Known move | +$400 | 15% | reskill |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a diversional therapist?
The typical diversional therapist is 48 years old; 74% are women, 52% work full-time, and full-timers average 40 hours a week.
- 48
- Median age
- 74%
- Female share
- 52%
- Full-time
- +0h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a diversional therapist?
The week moves between group sessions, one-to-one visits and the paperwork that holds a program together. Days are social and physical, and the rhythm is set by the people you support rather than by a queue of tasks, which suits someone patient enough to coax a quiet room into conversation. The pressure comes from doing that with limited time and a modest activity budget.
What people like
- You see the effect straight away. A resident who has refused everything for weeks joins a music session and stays for the whole hour, and you know by the end of it that something shifted.
- Room to decide what the program looks like. Within each care plan you choose the activities, the group sizes and how the space is set up, so the job has more creative scope than most care roles.
- Relationships that build over months and years. You get to know the people you support and their families well, which is unusual in a care team that changes with every shift.
- The work changes shape through the day. A morning of one-to-one visits can be followed by an afternoon running a group, then an hour planning the next week's calendar.
What people find hard
- Activity budgets are often the first trimmed. Craft supplies, outings and visiting entertainers all cost money, and the program budget in a facility can be tight.
- Paperwork competes with time with clients. Assessments, care plan reviews and progress notes have to be written up, usually at the end of a session when you would rather keep going.
- Not everyone wants to join in. Some clients decline every invitation, and a session can fall flat because of pain, fatigue or a difficult day.
- Some shifts fall on weekends and public holidays. Programs run when families visit and when residents are most likely to take part, so the roster is not always Monday to Friday.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ diversional therapists?
Health Care and Social Assistance employs the largest share of diversional therapists.
Top employing industries
- 1Health Care and Social Assistance
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Certificate III/IV | 41% | |
|---|---|---|
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 20.3% | |
| Bachelor degree | 16.1% | |
| Year 12 or below | 11.6% | |
| Postgraduate | 5.8% |
Will AI replace diversional therapists?
AI reaches this job lightly. The core of the work is running sessions with people in the room, and reading whether a group is bored, tired or ready to try something new is not something software does. What has changed is the administration: care documentation systems such as Leecare and AutumnCare can draft notes from a few prompts, and rostering and scheduling tools assemble much of the activity calendar, which frees time that used to go on paperwork.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Running group and one-to-one activity sessionsLeading a music session or a small cooking group depends on reading the room and adjusting as you go, which no tool can do for you.40%low
- Talking with clients, families and nursing staff about what will engage someoneWorking out that a resident has stopped coming because of knee pain, rather than because they have lost interest, comes from a conversation and a judgement call.20%low
- Writing up care notes and progress recordsDocumentation systems can generate a draft progress note from a few prompts, so the writing takes less time, though you still check that it matches what actually happened.20%high
- Planning the activity calendar and preparing materialsScheduling tools and Canva speed up calendars, supply lists and flyers for families, while the choice of what to program and why stays with you.20%moderate
Common questions about becoming a diversional therapist
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do diversional therapists earn?
Diversional therapists earn a median of $74,600 per annum, before tax. The rate you are offered depends on the employer's enterprise agreement, the setting and your qualifications, so treat the figure as a guide rather than a starting salary.
How do you become a diversional therapist?
Most people start with a Certificate IV in Leisure and Health (CHC43415), which takes about a year and can be studied while working in a support role. A diploma or degree in leisure and health, recreation or a related health field also leads into the job, and you will need a police check and often an NDIS Worker Screening Check.
Are diversional therapists in demand?
Diversional therapists are currently not in shortage. Employment is projected to grow 18.5% over the decade to 2035 over the decade to 2035, and because the work sits inside aged care and disability services, openings tend to follow the growth in those services.
Will AI replace diversional therapists?
Very little of the work is exposed, because the job depends on being in the room with people. Care documentation systems can draft progress notes and scheduling tools can build the activity calendar, which saves administrative time. Deciding what a group will respond to, adjusting mid-session and persuading someone reluctant to join are not things those tools do.
What can diversional therapists move into?
Recreation officer and community development officer are common moves, since activity planning, group facilitation and client assessment carry across, though both usually want further study in recreation or community development. Recreation officer pay is $800 more than diversional therapy, and community development officer is $400 more. Experienced staff also step up into lifestyle coordinator or team leader roles within aged care.
Is diversional therapy the same as occupational therapy?
They are different roles. Occupational therapists are registered health professionals who assess and treat how people manage daily tasks after illness or injury, while diversional therapists concentrate on leisure and social wellbeing. The two often work side by side in the same facility, and the qualifications and registration requirements are not the same.
Related roles
- Recreation Officer
- Community Development Officer
- Aged Care Worker
- Disability Support Worker
- Assistant in Nursing
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker
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