Allied Health Clinical Placements in New South Wales & Queensland
Complete Allied Health Care (CAHC) offers clinical placements for allied health students across one of the largest multi-disciplinary placement environments available in NSW and QLD — 24 clinics spanning Greater Sydney & Queensland, delivering 9 clinical disciplines under a single network.
Students are supervised by experienced, registered practitioners across disciplines including Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Exercise Physiology, Psychology, Speech Pathology, Dietetics, Podiatry, Chiropractic, and Massage Therapy. The breadth of our patient population — NDIS participants, aged care clients, WorkCover and CTP claimants, post-surgical patients, and community referrals — and the diversity of funding streams we operate under means placement students at CAHC encounter the real complexity of Australian allied health practice before they graduate.
CAHC is a confirmed placement partner with the University of Sydney, and we welcome enquiries from allied health faculties across NSW and QLD to discuss formal placement agreements for their students.
For many practitioners now working across the CAHC network, a student clinical placement was the beginning of their career here. We invest in the student experience because the best placements produce the best future colleagues.
Why Place at CAHC?
Multi-Disciplinary Exposure
Most allied health placement environments operate within a single discipline — students see their own profession’s caseload and little else. CAHC is structurally different. Our 9-discipline network means placement students observe and participate in inter-professional referrals, multi-disciplinary case discussions, and coordinated care in a way that is simply not possible at a single-discipline practice.
A Physiotherapy student at CAHC may observe their supervising Physiotherapist refer a patient to the CAHC Exercise Physiologist for a chronic conditioning program, or to our Occupational Therapy team for a functional capacity assessment, and follow that referral through the clinical team. This mirrors the multi-disciplinary model graduates will encounter working in hospitals, community health centres, and large group practices — and accelerates clinical reasoning development in a way single-discipline placements cannot replicate.
Funding Stream Complexity
CAHC operates across NDIS, Medicare CDM, WorkCover, CTP, DVA, Support at Home, and private health — within a single network. Students on placement at CAHC learn to navigate the funding landscape that defines Australian allied health practice before they graduate. Most placement environments expose students to one or two funding streams; CAHC's intake reflects the full spectrum of how allied health is actually funded across Australia. Understanding how a CDM referral differs from an NDIS service agreement, or how WorkCover documentation differs from private-health billing, is practical knowledge that graduates consistently identify as a gap. CAHC placements close that gap.
Patient Population Diversity
The CAHC patient population spans NDIS participants of all ages and diagnoses, aged care clients receiving services under the Support at Home program, post-surgical rehabilitation patients, injured workers and motor vehicle accident claimants, DVA cardholders, and self-referred community patients. Students on placement encounter the full range of presentations and clinical contexts that define Australian allied health practice — not a filtered or homogeneous caseload. This breadth challenges students to adapt their clinical reasoning and communication style across very different patient presentations within the same placement.
Cultural and Linguistic Richness
CAHC's multilingual practitioner team — with Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Norwegian, and Laotian speakers across the network — models culturally responsive clinical practice as a standard, not an exception. For students intending to work in Sydney's diverse communities, observing how experienced CALD-responsive clinicians adapt their communication, build rapport, and engage interpreters (including the TIS National interpreter service) is a formative placement experience that many university programs cannot replicate in a classroom.
Placement Disciplines and Settings
CAHC offers clinical placements across the following allied health disciplines. Placement availability varies by discipline, location, and semester. Contact us to discuss current availability.
Disciplines
Physiotherapy – Musculoskeletal, post-surgical, NDIS, aged care, WorkCover, CTP, and supervised home visit caseloads. Supervisor: AHPRA-registered Physiotherapist.
Occupational Therapy – NDIS functional capacity assessments, home modification, assistive technology prescription, paediatric and adult OT, and WorkCover hand therapy. Supervisor: AHPRA-registered Occupational Therapist.
Exercise Physiology – Chronic disease management (CDM), NDIS conditioning programs, WorkCover return-to-work programs, and group exercise programs. Supervisor: ESSA-accredited Exercise Physiologist.
Speech Pathology – Paediatric and adult caseloads: communication, language, literacy, feeding, dysphagia, and NDIS. School and early childhood screening also available. Supervisor: SPA-certified Speech Pathologist.
Psychology – Medicare Better Access, NDIS, WorkCover Psychology, CBT/ACT caseloads. Supervisor: AHPRA-registered Psychologist.
Dietetics – Chronic disease, NDIS, aged care nutrition, and IBS/gut health caseloads. Supervisor: Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD, Dietitians Australia).
Podiatry – Diabetic foot care, biomechanical assessment, orthotic prescription, and aged care foot health. Supervisor: AHPRA-registered Podiatrist.
Chiropractic – Scope and availability to be confirmed. Contact our placement team to discuss.
Massage Therapy – Scope and availability to be confirmed. Contact our placement team to discuss.
The Placement Experience — Structure and Supervision
A CAHC clinical placement is a structured learning experience, not observational shadowing. From the first week, students participate in the clinical caseload under direct supervision, contribute to clinical reasoning discussions, and work toward the discipline-specific competency requirements set by their university.
What Students Do on Placement
A typical placement day includes attending supervised clinical appointments, observing and participating in initial assessments and treatment sessions, completing documentation under clinical educator guidance, and attending any multi-disciplinary team meetings or case conferences scheduled for that clinic. Students may also be involved in patient education, exercise program instruction, home visit preparation, and inter-disciplinary referral discussions — all under the supervision of their designated clinical educator.
Supervision Model
CAHC’s clinical educators work with the student’s university to align the placement experience with the university’s competency framework and assessment requirements. Our placement coordinator liaises with the university’s fieldwork coordinator throughout the placement to ensure objectives are being met and to address any concerns early.
All student supervisors hold current registration or accreditation with their discipline’s relevant professional body — AHPRA (Physiotherapy, OT, Podiatry, Psychology, Chiropractic), ESSA (Exercise Physiology), SPA (Speech Pathology), Dietitians Australia (Dietetics), and AAMT (Massage Therapy).
Duration and Timing
Placement duration and timing vary by discipline and are set in conjunction with your university's placement agreement and competency requirements. Contact our placement team to discuss what is available for your program and intended placement dates.
For University Fieldwork Coordinators
CAHC welcomes placement agreements with allied health faculties across NSW and QLD. Our confirmed university partner is the University of Sydney. We welcome enquiries from other allied health faculties to discuss formal placement agreements.
A placement agreement with CAHC provides your faculty with access to a multi-disciplinary, multi-site clinical environment across 24 locations. Your students will encounter a caseload that reflects the full funding stream and patient population diversity of Australian allied health practice — NDIS, Medicare, WorkCover, CTP, DVA, Support at Home, and private health, across a patient group spanning every age range and diagnostic category.
Practitioner supervisors across CAHC hold current registration with AHPRA (Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Podiatry, Psychology, Chiropractic), ESSA accreditation (Exercise Physiology), SPA certification (Speech Pathology), APD status with Dietitians Australia (Dietetics), and AAMT membership (Massage Therapy). This ensures students are supervised by appropriately credentialled practitioners for each discipline.
CAHC can accommodate placements across multiple allied health disciplines simultaneously — reducing the logistical burden for universities managing students from different faculties across multiple placement sites.
The Pathway from Placement to Career
Many CAHC practitioners began their careers through a student clinical placement at one of our clinics. The placement experience allows both the student and CAHC’s clinical team to establish a working relationship, assess clinical culture fit, and evaluate capability before graduation — a process that benefits both the graduate and the clinic.
CAHC regularly recruits from its placement cohort. Graduates who have already experienced CAHC’s clinical culture, multi-disciplinary environment, and patient population are consistently among the strongest candidates for practitioner positions as they open — and they hit the ground running.
We welcome expressions of interest from placement students for graduate positions, subject to availability and clinical need. Contact us at referral@completeahc.com.au to express interest.
How to Apply for a Placement
For Students
Express your interest in a CAHC clinical placement by contacting our placement team directly. Include your university, your discipline, your expected placement dates, and your preferred clinic location or locations. Placement availability is subject to supervisor capacity and may vary by discipline and location — please do not wait until the semester before. Contact CAHC at least one semester in advance to discuss availability and next steps.
For University Fieldwork Coordinators
Contact CAHC’s placement team to discuss a placement agreement, discipline-specific capacity across our 24-clinic network, and administrative requirements for your faculty. We are open to new placement agreements with allied health faculties across NSW and QLD.
Submit a referral
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
CAHC operates across nine allied health disciplines — Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Exercise Physiology, Psychology, Speech Pathology, Dietetics, Podiatry, Chiropractic, and Massage Therapy. Placement availability varies by discipline, location, and semester. Not all disciplines may have placement capacity in every semester. Contact our placement team to discuss which disciplines are currently accepting students and at which clinic locations.
CAHC is a confirmed clinical placement partner with the University of Sydney. We welcome enquiries from allied health faculties at other NSW and QLD universities to discuss placement agreements — university fieldwork coordinators are encouraged to contact our placement team directly to explore options.
Placement duration and timing are set in conjunction with your university’s placement agreement and competency requirements. Contact our placement team to discuss what works for your program.
Placement terms — including any payment or stipend arrangements — are set in conjunction with the university’s placement agreement. Students should confirm terms directly with CAHC’s placement team and their university fieldwork coordinator before commencing.
CAHC placements are active learning experiences, not observational-only. Students attend supervised clinical appointments, participate in initial assessments and treatment sessions, complete documentation under clinical educator guidance, and attend any multi-disciplinary team meetings or case conferences at their clinic. Depending on the discipline and caseload at the time of placement, students may also be involved in home visit preparation, patient education, exercise program instruction, NDIS service agreement discussions, and inter-disciplinary referral conversations. Formal mid-placement and end-of-placement reviews are conducted in alignment with the university’s competency framework.
Students can express a preferred clinic location when making a placement enquiry. Placement at a specific clinic depends on supervisor availability and capacity at that location at the time of your placement dates. CAHC will endeavour to accommodate location preferences where possible.
All student supervisors at CAHC hold current registration or accreditation with their discipline’s relevant body — AHPRA, ESSA, SPA, Dietitians Australia, or AAMT. The supervision model is designed to meet the competency and placement assessment requirements of the student’s university program. Contact our placement team to discuss the specific supervision structure for your discipline.
Yes. CAHC’s mobile and home visit services provide placement students with supervised community-based clinical experiences beyond the clinic setting. Home visit placements expose students to NDIS participants receiving care in their own homes, aged care clients under the Support at Home program, and post-surgical patients in community recovery. This is a significant additional learning environment not available at single-clinic placement sites.
CAHC regularly recruits from its placement cohort. Students who complete a successful placement and are interested in a graduate position at CAHC are encouraged to express their interest to the placement coordinator — the placement experience gives both the student and CAHC’s team the opportunity to establish a working relationship before graduation. Positions are subject to availability and clinical need. We welcome expressions of interest from placement students for graduate positions.
Students should contact CAHC’s placement team as early as possible — ideally at least one semester before your intended placement dates. Include your university, your discipline, your expected placement dates, and your preferred clinic location or locations. University fieldwork coordinators can contact the placement team directly to discuss a formal placement agreement, capacity by discipline and location, and administrative requirements.
Our Placement Network
CAHC clinical placements are available across our 20 NSW clinics and 4 QLD clinic locations — contact us to confirm placement availability at your preferred location.
Related Services
Explore more about the CAHC network and clinical environment:
- About CAHC → Learn about our clinical team, our values, and our network — the practice environment your students will be joining
- Our Services → Explore the clinical disciplines available across CAHC’s 24-clinic network
- Home Visits → Community and home-based clinical settings — an additional placement learning environment beyond the clinic
- Careers → Graduate positions at CAHC — many of our practitioners started here as placement students
Interested in a Clinical Placement?
CAHC’s mobile Physiotherapy team is ready to come to you — whether you’re a patient recovering at home, an NDIS participant, or a business managing workplace injury risk. Contact your nearest CAHC clinic to book a home or workplace visit.
Placements & graduate opportunities
For student placements, fieldwork agreements, or graduate roles, get in touch with our placement team.
