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.
DerivedIndicative estimate, not yet verified against official Jobs and Skills Australia / ABS data · Estimate
- 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.
The median salary rose by $46,700 between 2018 and 2024; the dashed line shows a projection to 2028 based on the real ABS Wage Price Index growth rate, not a role-specific forecast.
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.
Related salaries
- Resident Medical Officer salary
- Diabetes Educator salary
- Geriatrician salary
- Cardiologist salary
- Medical Oncologist salary
- General Physician salary
Pay advice
- How to ask for a pay rise, and back it up with real numbersWhat national wage growth looks like right now, how to work out a figure for your own role, wording you can adapt for the conversation, and what to do if the answer is no.
- The average salary in Australia (2026)Full-time adults in Australia averaged $2,083.70 a week in May 2026. Several measures get called the average salary, and this explains which one fits your situation.
- Overtime pay, time in lieu and what your award saysOvertime rates come from your award or agreement, not one national rule. How rates work, what happens on a salary, and how time off in lieu works.