Parent guide

Finding a paediatric occupational therapist in Brisbane

Last updated 18 June 2026 · General information, not medical advice

Finding a paediatric occupational therapist can feel surprisingly hard — usually because the list of clinics is the easy part, and the real questions are who has room for a new family, who works with your child’s age, and how soon they can reply.

This guide is a calm, practical companion for Brisbane families. It won’t replace a conversation with your GP, paediatrician, or a qualified occupational therapist — but it can help you narrow the search and make a first enquiry that’s easy for everyone.

Start with what your child needs

Paediatric occupational therapy covers a lot of ground. It often helps to name the day-to-day challenge rather than reach for a diagnosis. Families commonly look for support with:

Fine motor skills — pencil grip, scissors, drawing, doing up fasteners, using cutlery
Sensory processing and emotional regulation
Play, school participation, and daily routines
Self-care — dressing, feeding, toileting
Movement, coordination, and developmental assessment

Before you contact anyone, it helps to jot down three things: your child’s age, what’s hard right now, and what you’d like to be easier in three to six months. A line like “six-year-old, Prep, handwriting and the morning routine are hard” gives a clinic enough to know whether they’re a fit.

Check location, funding, and how they work

Brisbane families juggle travel time, school hours, and funding. Some clinics see children in-rooms only; others offer home visits, school visits, or telehealth for parent coaching. A clinic that’s slightly further away with after-school appointments can be easier than a close one with narrow hours.

Funding shapes the search too. Some providers are NDIS registered; others work with self-managed or plan-managed families. Registration tells you which funding arrangements a clinic can accept — not whether they’re the right fit for your child. If your plan is agency-managed, it’s worth confirming the clinic can accept it before you share more detail.

How to read the availability status

Each listing shows whether a clinic is taking new clients, has a waitlist, or is not currently confirmed, along with when we last checked. It’s a starting point, not a promise — clinics open and close their books quickly. If a clinic looks like a fit, send a short enquiry and ask about the current wait time and the next step. A status we haven’t confirmed recently is always worth a direct call.

Write a first enquiry clinics can act on

A clear, short enquiry saves everyone time. You don’t need to send reports or sensitive documents up front — a clinic will ask for those through their own secure process. Include:

Your name and the best way to reach you
Your child's age and school or kindy year
Your suburb
Funding type, if relevant (NDIS plan-managed, self-managed, agency-managed, private, Medicare)
The main thing you are hoping for help with

An enquiry that works

“Hi, I’m looking for paediatric OT for my eight-year-old. We’re in Cleveland, plan-managed, and hoping for help with sensory regulation, handwriting, and school. Are you taking new clients at the moment, and what’s the usual next step?”

Questions worth asking

We don’t rank clinics or publish reviews — health advertising rules are strict, and every child’s situation is different. A fairer way to compare is to ask each clinic the same few questions:

Do you work with children my child’s age?
What is the current wait time, and how do appointments usually run?
Do you offer clinic, home, school, or telehealth sessions?
How are parents involved in goals and home strategies?
Are reports and reviews included, or billed separately?

Browse paediatric OT by Brisbane suburb

A shortlist of three to five clinics is plenty for a first pass. Start close to home, then add a few that offer home visits or telehealth if travel is tricky. These suburb pages are a good place to begin:

If you need help sooner

This is a directory, not an urgent care service. If you’re worried about your child’s immediate safety or a medical emergency, use emergency and crisis services rather than a directory form. For non-urgent planning, your GP, paediatrician, school support team, or an NDIS support coordinator can help you work out the right next step.