By Michael Stefanescu, 20 year optometrist and multi practice owner · Designed for Freedom
| Quick Answer (Featured Snippet target)When should I hire a second optometrist in Australia? Most independent Australian practices can justify a second optometrist when annual revenue exceeds $650,000 and chair utilisation is consistently above 75%. The right hire adds $300,000 to $500,000 in annual revenue within 18 months at roughly $128,000 total employer cost. The wrong hire costs $150,000 in lost time, replacement, and reputation damage. The two red lights that confirm readiness: 75%+ chair utilisation for three months, and a new patient wait time exceeding three weeks. |
| Key Takeaways• Hire when revenue exceeds $650,000 and chair utilisation is consistently above 75%.• True cost of a $100,000 base optometrist is ≈$117,000 once super (12%), workers comp, leave loading, AHPRA, and insurance are included.• Locum ‘contractor’ arrangements working set days at one practice are likely deemed employees under the 26 August 2024 Fair Work changes.• Most hires reach breakeven within 4 to 5 months. Full net positive contribution by month 6 to 8 with proper onboarding.• Act fast on underperformance. The 3 signals: dispensing conversion under 50% at 90 days, persistent recall gap, repeated complaints. |
2. When does revenue actually justify a second optometrist, the math
The question most practice owners have is ‘Am I ready?’ The answer is almost never a feeling. It’s a number.
Here’s the worked example I use with every coaching client.
Practice profile. $700,000 annual revenue. Owner in chair 35 hours per week. Books closing out five weeks in advance. One optometrist, full time.
Second optometrist employment cost
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Base salary (2 to 4 years experience, metro) | $100,000 |
| Superannuation at 12% (from 1 July 2025) | $12,000 |
| Workers compensation insurance (≈2% of wages) | $2,000 |
| AHPRA registration | $343 |
| Professional indemnity insurance | $600 |
| Recruitment fee (one off) | $5,000 to $8,000 |
| Total year one cost | ≈ $128,000 |
Breakeven revenue calculation
Your second optometrist needs to generate enough revenue to cover their own cost. At a typical AU independent practice net margin of 35% (after cost of goods, staff, rent and overheads), to recover $128,000 in cost you need.
| $128,000 ÷ 0.35 = $365,714 in gross revenue from the new hire |
At $700 average revenue per patient visit, that’s approximately 523 appointments across the year, or roughly 10 to 11 appointments per working week.
A competent optometrist with three to four years experience should be generating 14 to 18 billable appointments per week within their first 90 days. That means breakeven is achievable within four to five months, assuming you have the patient demand to fill those chairs.
The profitable gap
Once your new hire is generating 18 appointments per week at $700 average revenue, that’s $630,000 in annualised revenue from one additional person. Subtract their total employment cost of $128,000 per year and you’re looking at $502,000 in gross contribution, which at a 35% net margin represents approximately $175,700 in incremental net profit.
That’s the number that justifies the hire. Not the feeling that you’re busy. Not the stress of a full appointment book. The actual arithmetic.
| The two red lights that confirm you are ready• Chair utilisation above 75% consistently for three months or more• New patient wait time exceeding three weeks (you’re losing patients to competitors)If both are true and your revenue is above $650,000, the question is not whether to hire. It’s who, how, and at what cost. |
3. Employee vs locum vs contractor, the 26 August 2024 Fair Work rule change
This is the section most practice owners skip, and it’s the one that creates the biggest legal and financial risk. Get this wrong and the Australian Taxation Office and Fair Work Ombudsman will find you.
What changed on 26 August 2024
On 26 August 2024, new provisions under the Fair Work Act commenced that fundamentally changed how employed versus contractor status is determined for constitutionally covered businesses, which includes most Pty Ltd optometry practices.
Under the old rules, if you had a contract that said ‘contractor’, that labelling carried significant weight. Under the new rules, the whole of relationship test applies. The actual practical reality of the working relationship is what determines status, not what the contract says.
The Fair Work Ombudsman is clear. If the substance of the relationship looks like employment, it is employment regardless of what the document calls it.
What the whole of relationship test looks at
Key factors that push a ‘locum’ or ‘contractor’ arrangement toward deemed employment.
- Control. Do you control when and how they work? Do they use your equipment, your software, your protocols?
- Hours. Are they working set days each week at your practice?
- Exclusivity or near exclusivity. Are they working primarily or only at your practice?
- Duration. Has the arrangement run continuously for months or years?
- Financial risk. Do they bear any real business risk, or do they simply collect an agreed payment?
- Integration. Are they listed on your website, introduced as part of your team, wearing your uniform?
The sham contracting risk is real
Here’s the scenario that gets practice owners into trouble. An optometrist who works four days a week at your practice, has done so for 12 months, uses your equipment, follows your patient care protocols, and has set consulting hours. You have them on an ABN invoice arrangement and call them a ‘locum contractor.’
Under the whole of relationship test, that person is almost certainly a deemed employee. The consequences include back pay of super, annual leave entitlements, potential Fair Work penalties and an ATO audit.
The safest framework, post 26 August 2024.
- True locum. Short duration fills, genuine multiple clients, genuinely provides their own professional liability, invoices across multiple practices. This can legitimately be contractor.
- Regular arrangement. Four days a week, one practice, your equipment, your schedule. This should be structured as employment from day one.
When in doubt, talk to a workplace relations lawyer who works in professional services. The cost of that conversation is about $500. The cost of getting it wrong starts at $30,000 and goes up from there.
Award coverage
Employed optometrists in Australia fall under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award (HPSS Award MA000027), as confirmed by the Fair Work Ombudsman and Optometry Australia. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s position is to apply the HPSS Award until a formal exclusion ruling is made. Make sure your employment contracts reference this award and that your base rates meet the minimum classification levels within it.
4. The 2026 AU optometrist salary benchmarks
All figures below are AU independent practice benchmarks for 2026. All salaries quoted as base plus superannuation. Superannuation is 12% from 1 July 2025, which is the current rate for FY26.
| Experience level | Base salary range | Total employer cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graduate, Year 1 Metro | $75,000 to $85,000 + 12% super | $84,000 to $95,200 | Practices with a clear clinical mentor structure |
| 2 to 4 years experience | $90,000 to $110,000 + 12% super | $100,800 to $123,200 | Most independent first additional hires |
| Senior, 5+ years | $110,000 to $135,000 + 12% super | $123,200 to $151,200 | Practices with volume and shared clinical authority |
| Specialist / Clinical Lead | $135,000 to $160,000 + 12% super | $151,200 to $179,200 | Therapeutic, low vision or paediatric subspecialty |
On graduate hires. Graduates are cost effective on paper but require significant mentoring time from the principal optometrist. Budget at least two to three hours per week of your time for clinical support and review in the first six months. That time has a real cost. If you’re billing at $350 per hour of chair time, three hours per week is $54,600 per year in opportunity cost, which changes the true cost calculation materially.
On senior hires. A senior optometrist should be billable from week two, not month two. Their ramp time is shorter but their expectations around autonomy, clinical protocols and scope of practice are higher. If your practice culture is ‘my way or the highway,’ you will lose them within 18 months.
Locum hourly rates by state, 2025 to 2026
Locum rates vary meaningfully by state due to supply and demand dynamics.
| State | Hourly rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Queensland | ≈$100/hr (highest in AU) | Strong demand, high supply pressure |
| ACT, TAS, WA | $95 to $99/hr | Tight supply in non metro |
| NSW, SA | $90 to $94/hr | Balanced market |
| Victoria | $85 to $89/hr (lowest) | High supply, more competition |
Daily rate equivalent for metro work runs $680 to $800 per day. For rural or remote, expect $850 to $1,200 per day, plus travel and accommodation on top. For planned leave cover, a locum is almost always cheaper than a premature permanent hire. For ongoing coverage of growing demand, the math flips quickly.
Corporate vs independent
Specsavers AU pays an average of $107,572 base according to Indeed AU data, with a range from $50,000 (part time graduate) to $186,000 (senior optometrist with bonus). Independent practices that compete on culture, ownership feel, and clinical breadth typically need to pay five to fifteen percent above comparable corporate base rates to attract and retain equivalent experience. That premium is real and worth budgeting for.
5. The true cost of employment, not just the salary
Every practice owner I work with underestimates the on costs. Here’s the full picture on a $100,000 base salary.
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Super (12%) | $12,000 | Non negotiable, from 1 July 2025 |
| Workers comp (≈2%) | $2,000 | Varies by state and claim history |
| Annual leave loading | $1,346 | 17.5% on 4 weeks leave |
| AHPRA registration | $343 | 2026 rate |
| Professional indemnity | $600 | $400 to $800 typical |
| Optometry Australia membership | $700 | If paid by practice |
| Total on costs | $16,989 | ≈17% on top of base |
| Total true cost | $116,989 | What actually lands on the P&L |
That’s a $17,000 gap between what appears on the employment contract and what lands on your P&L. In my experience, most independent practice owners are working from the contract number, not the true number. That gap is why ‘we can afford $100K’ turns into an unexpected cash flow problem in month three.
Other items to budget for. Long service leave accrues at different rates by state (NSW: two months after 10 years of continuous service). Payroll tax applies only once your total wages bill exceeds the state threshold (NSW $1.2M, Victoria $900K). Single site practices typically sit under these thresholds. Multi practice owners should aggregate wages and get advice.
6. The 4 compensation models that work in AU independent practice
There is no single right answer. The right model depends on your growth stage, the candidate’s risk appetite, and what behaviour you actually want to incentivise.
Model 1: Base only
Structure. $90,000 to $135,000 base + 12% super. No variable component.
Best for. First hires, junior practitioners, candidates who explicitly want income stability, situations where you want to keep it simple.
When to avoid. When your business model is heavily dependent on dispensing conversion and you need the optometrist to be commercially minded. Base only attracts comfort seeking candidates more often than growth seeking ones.
Economics at $400,000 generated revenue. $117,000 total cost. Practice keeps 70.7% of generated revenue.
Model 2: Base plus commission on dispensing
Structure. Base $85,000 to $100,000 + 5% to 10% of frames and lens revenue personally generated.
Best for. Sales focused dispensing environments. Practices where the optometrist is involved in frame selection and has genuine commercial influence on the dispensing outcome.
When to avoid. If your dispense flow separates the optometrist from the sale, this model creates misaligned incentives. You also need clean revenue attribution tracking by practitioner.
Economics at $400,000 generated revenue. At 7% commission on $240,000 dispensing revenue, $16,800 variable + $95,000 base + on costs ≈ $129,800.
Model 3: Pure split
Structure. Practice keeps 65% to 70% of revenue the optometrist generates. Optometrist receives 30% to 35%.
Best for. Established practitioners bringing an existing patient base, partner track arrangements, experienced optometrists who want upside tied directly to their contribution.
When to avoid. Graduates or anyone still ramping. A split model can feel punitive during low volume months and drive early exit.
Economics at $400,000 generated revenue. At 70/30 split, optometrist receives $120,000. Practice keeps $280,000. No fixed salary risk.
Model 4: Productivity model
Structure. Base $90,000 + $50 per chair hour above 30 chair hours per week.
Best for. Incentivising utilisation in a practice that has patient demand but struggles with practitioner efficiency. Rewards presence and pace without creating a pure commission dynamic.
When to avoid. If you cannot reliably track chair hours by practitioner, you will argue constantly about the bonus calculation. Fix the reporting before you implement this model.
Economics at $400,000 generated revenue. At 35 average chair hours for 48 weeks, $12,000 variable + $90,000 base + on costs ≈ $121,000 to $122,000.
7. Where to find them in 2026
The pool is smaller than it looks. There are approximately 5,800 to 6,000 registered optometrists in Australia and a significant proportion are either in corporate employment, part time, or geographically fixed. You’re fishing in a specific pool.
Specialist recruiters who know the industry
- Eyecare Recruitment (eyecare specific, operates nationally)
- Optical Direct (optical industry focused)
- Locumly (strong for locum and contract placements, increasingly used for permanent roles)
Direct channels
- Optometry Australia job board, the most viewed industry specific job listing platform in the country
- LinkedIn, particularly effective for candidates with 3 or more years experience who are passively looking
- AHPRA register cross check. You can verify that any candidate you speak with holds a current unconditional registration before you invest time in the process. Do this before the interview, not after an offer.
- Word of mouth via Optometry Australia member events. The optometry community in Australia is genuinely small. If you’re active in your state branch or CE events, the right candidate often surfaces through your network before you ever post a role.
On corporate trained candidates. They are often the best fit for independent practice and the most underrated source of talent. A candidate who has worked in a high volume corporate environment knows how to move through patients, manages their time efficiently, and has been exposed to structured clinical protocols. What they often lack is the patient relationship depth and clinical breadth that independents value. That’s something you can teach. Chair speed and admin hygiene are harder to instil. Actively recruit corporate trained candidates. Be explicit about what the independent model offers. Clinical variety, ownership culture, genuine patient relationships.
8. The 7 questions to ask every candidate
Clinical competency gets you to the shortlist. These seven questions determine whether you make an offer.
- ‘Walk me through how you handle a red eye presentation where you are uncertain whether to manage therapeutically or refer.’ You’re testing clinical reasoning, not just clinical knowledge. You want to hear their thought process, not a textbook answer.
- ‘When a patient says the frames are too expensive, what do you say?’ This is a dispensing conversion question disguised as a communication question. A candidate who says ‘I just give them the prescription’ will cost you $50,000 per year in lost dispensing revenue. You’re not asking them to be a salesperson. You’re asking whether they understand the link between their recommendation and the patient’s outcome.
- ‘How comfortable are you making recall calls yourself when the front desk is backed up?’ Some optometrists treat recall as a clerical task. The best independent practice optometrists understand that recall is a clinical responsibility and a relationship builder.
- ‘Tell me about a time a patient pushed back on your clinical recommendation. What happened?’ You want resilience, patient focus, and enough confidence to stand behind a clinical opinion without being dismissive.
- ‘What does an excellent patient experience look like to you, from the patient’s perspective?’ If the answer is entirely clinical, that’s a yellow flag for an independent practice where the consultation experience is part of the premium value proposition.
- ‘Why are you leaving your current role?’ Listen carefully. The reasons matter. Wanting more autonomy, better culture, clinical variety. Those are green flags for a candidate who will thrive in your environment. Conflict with management, wanting fewer patients, discomfort with accountability. Investigate further before proceeding.
- ‘What do you need from me and this practice to feel genuinely successful in this role?’ This question reveals self awareness, communication style, and whether their needs are compatible with what you can actually provide. A candidate who cannot answer this question clearly will be harder to manage and harder to retain.
9. The first 90 days, how to make the hire profitable not painful
Most second optometrist hires underperform in the first 90 days not because of competency but because of ramp structure. Here’s what works.
Weeks 1 to 2. Orientation only. Patient load at 40% to 50% of full capacity. The goal is clinical orientation, system familiarisation, and getting to know the team, not billing. Budget for this as a cost, not a failure.
Weeks 3 to 6. Build to 70% to 80% of capacity. Begin targeting 12 to 14 appointments per day depending on appointment length. Review clinical notes weekly for the first month, not to micromanage but to ensure your clinical standards are being applied consistently.
The ‘low chair utilisation’ trap. Many new hires are given a partially full schedule and left to figure out demand generation themselves. They cannot book their own patients in month one. You need to actively drive patients to them, either by redirecting new patient enquiries or by splitting your own recall load. If you don’t do this intentionally, their books will sit at 60% for three months and you’ll start questioning the hire before they’ve had a fair run.
Week 8. Have a frank financial conversation. Show them the breakeven number. Most optometrists have never been shown the P&L of their chair. When they understand the math, most will work with you to fill the schedule rather than waiting for it to happen passively.
The 90 day review. This is not optional and it’s not an HR formality. Sit down with clear data. Appointment volume, dispensing conversion rate, recall completion rate, patient rebooking rate. If any of these are below the agreed benchmark, this is the moment to address it directly. Not at month six. Not in a passive comment in a team meeting. Directly, at 90 days, with a 30 day improvement plan attached if needed.
10. When to fire fast, the 3 signals
This is the conversation nobody wants to have. It’s also the one that saves you $80,000 if you have it in month four instead of month ten.
Signal 1: Dispensing conversion rate under 50% after three months. Industry average for a competent optometrist in an independent practice runs 60% to 70%. If your second optometrist is consistently below 50% after three months of operation, you have a commercial problem that’s unlikely to self resolve. Address it directly or exit the relationship.
Signal 2: Recall completion gap. If patients booked by your new hire are rebooking at a significantly lower rate than patients booked by you, the relationship quality is not there. Patients vote with their recall compliance. A persistent recall gap of more than 15 percentage points below the practice average is a retention red flag that costs you ALV (average Lifetime value) on every patient they touch.
Signal 3: Patient complaints or low repeat bookings. One complaint is data. Three complaints in three months is a pattern. If patients are actively requesting to see you and not the new hire, or front desk is managing repeated patient complaints about consultation quality or communication, this is not a management problem you can coach your way out of in most cases.
The cost of waiting. Every month you defer addressing underperformance costs you approximately $10,000 to $15,000 in revenue gap, plus team morale erosion, plus the lost time you’re spending managing around the problem. The decision to exit a hire that’s not working is not a failure of leadership. Delaying that decision is.
11. Frequently asked questions
What is the average salary for an optometrist in Australia in 2026?
For an employed optometrist in an independent practice, the range is $75,000 to $160,000 base depending on experience level, all quoted before the 12% superannuation. A mid level practitioner with two to four years experience typically earns $90,000 to $110,000 base plus 12% super. Specsavers AU reports an average of $107,572 base (Indeed AU data). Independent practices typically need to pay five to fifteen percent above comparable corporate rates to attract equivalent talent.
Should I hire an employee or use a contractor or locum?
It depends on the nature and duration of the arrangement. Following the 26 August 2024 Fair Work changes, a ‘whole of relationship test’ now applies to most Pty Ltd practices. A locum working regular set days at one practice for an extended period is likely a deemed employee regardless of what the contract says. True short term locum fill for leave cover is legitimately contractor. For ongoing demand growth, a permanent employee is the legally cleaner and often more cost effective structure. Seek workplace relations advice before labelling any ongoing arrangement as contractor.
How long until my second optometrist is profitable?
Based on the breakeven calculation above, a mid level optometrist at $100,000 base needs to generate approximately $365,000 in annual revenue to cover their total cost at a 35% net margin. At 14 to 16 appointments per week, most competent hires reach breakeven within four to five months. Full profitability, meaning net positive contribution to your P&L above their cost, typically arrives at month six to eight in a well managed onboarding.
Should my second optometrist eventually become a partner or part owner?
Partnership is a legitimate long term retention strategy but it’s a complex legal and financial decision that deserves its own conversation. Before offering any ownership, you need a clear practice valuation, a shareholders agreement, an exit clause, and ideally legal advice. Don’t use the promise of ownership as a recruitment tool without the legal infrastructure to back it up.
What commission structure works best for a second hire in an independent practice?
For a first additional hire, base only or base plus small dispensing commission (5% to 7%) is typically the most straightforward and the least likely to create conflict. Pure split models work better for experienced practitioners who have earned trust and are bringing or building a patient base. Whatever model you choose, put it in writing and tie the variable component to clear, measurable metrics.
Which award covers my employed optometrist?
The Health Professionals and Support Services Award, HPSS Award MA000027, is the applicable modern award for employed optometrists in Australia. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s current position is to apply the HPSS Award until a formal exclusion ruling is made. All employment contracts should reference this award and comply with its minimum classification rates.
What is the Right to Disconnect and does it affect optometry practices?
The Right to Disconnect provisions became active for small businesses (under 15 employees) from 26 August 2025. This means employed optometrists can refuse to respond to out of hours contact from their employer unless the refusal is unreasonable in the circumstances. For most practice owners, this primarily affects after hours clinic queries, recall call requests outside business hours, and administrative communications sent outside the working day.
What do I do if my second hire is not working out?
Act at 90 days, not at 12 months. Use the three signals outlined in this article. Dispensing conversion below 50%, a persistent recall gap, or repeated patient complaints. Document performance concerns as they arise. Follow the HPSS Award MA000027 processes for performance management and termination. Get HR or legal advice before issuing a formal performance notice. The cost of proper process is a few hundred dollars. The cost of an unfair dismissal claim starts at $10,000 and consumes months of your time and energy.
12. Ready to make the hire?
Hiring your second optometrist is the single biggest leverage decision in independent practice. It’s also the one most owners delay by 12 to 18 months past the point where the math clearly supports it, usually out of fear of getting it wrong again.
If you want to work through the numbers specific to your practice, including your actual breakeven, the right compensation model for your growth stage, and how to structure the first 90 days so the hire pays for itself, that’s exactly what I do inside the DFF coaching programme.
You can learn more at michaelstefanescu.com, or explore how other practice owners are scaling without burning out before they bring on their second chair.
About the author
About the author
Michael Stefanescu is an Australian optometry business coach and former multi practice owner. He spent 20 years as a practising optometrist and built, scaled and sold his own practices in Sydney. He now coaches independent Australian optometry owners through the systems, marketing, financial and operational frameworks that build profitable, sellable practices. Read more about Michael or apply for the $1M Optometry Business Accelerator.