Home Palliative Medicine Physician Salary
Palliative Medicine Physician salary in Australia
The median full-time salary for a palliative medicine physician is $223,600 per annum, before tax, up $46,700 since 2018.
What you earn depends heavily on the sector and the arrangement. Specialists in public hospitals are paid under state and territory medical officer awards or enterprise agreements, while those in private practice, hospices or aged care negotiate salaries or bill through Medicare. On-call and after-hours work attracts loadings in most public roles, and fractional appointments are common because the specialty is small.
How to negotiate a higher palliative medicine physician salary
- Know the market rate before you ask. The median full-time palliative medicine physician salary is $223,600; use that, not a guess, as your anchor, and adjust for your experience and employer.
- Use demand as leverage. Palliative Medicine Physicians are on the national skills shortage list, so employers are more likely to move on price to keep or attract someone in a role they're struggling to fill.
- Lead with what's scarce, not just tenure. Skills like Patient care and support and Clinical assessment and treatment tend to command a premium over general palliative medicine physician experience, name them specifically when you ask.
- Time it deliberately. Reviews, the end of a project you delivered, or taking on responsibility beyond your job description are stronger moments to ask than an arbitrary date on the calendar.
- Ask for a number, not a raise. "Based on the market rate and [specific contribution], I'd like to move to X" gets a clearer answer than "I think I deserve more."
Palliative Medicine Physician salary questions
How much do palliative medicine physicians earn in Australia?
The median full-time salary for a palliative medicine physician is $223,600 a year before tax. Seniority, specialisation, sector and the award or agreement you're employed under all move it.
Is palliative medicine physician pay rising or falling?
The median palliative medicine physician salary is up $46,700 since 2018. Figures from 2025 onward on this page are a projection, not a measured result.