Are you passionate about serving people and making a difference in people’s lives? Luckily for you, Nursing is one of those professions which allows you to do that while also making a lucrative career out of it.

And if you are thinking of studying Nursing in Australia, it might be the right choice for you. Pondering why? Tag along as we pour light on this critical matter which thousands of international students are curious about. 

Australian Universities offer a variety of nursing programs ranging from Diploma in Nursing, Bachelor of Nursing and Master of Nursing. All of these nursing programs in Australia have global recognition which also means that you will acquire approved skills and can work anywhere in the world after you complete your studies. 

Nursing in Australia is also regarded as one of the high paid jobs. Post-graduation, if you work full-time in Australia, you will earn roughly 1,480 AUD per week which is pretty high compared to other jobs. Higher the experience and specialization, the range varies and increases. 

Top Nursing Institutions in Australia 

Australia undoubtedly is a great place for higher education. A lot of universities and colleges in Australia offer nursing courses. 

Australia has some of the world’s top-ranked universities offering world-class education in different fields such as IT, Engineering, Nursing, Management and so on.

Aligned with the need and demands of healthcare workers in Australia, the Australian universities have been offering the best nursing programs to national and international students. 

Australia has 10 of 50 top institutions offering the best nursing programs in the world as ranked by the QS World University Rankings 2021.

Bachelor of Nursing Vs Master of Nursing in Australia

A nursing degree can lead you to many compassionate and lucrative careers in Australia. Depending on the level of nursing degree, you can earn from AUD 48,000 to AUD 100,000 per year and more. 

Australia is particularly famous for its Bachelor of Nursing and Master of Nursing. Most of the universities in Australia offering Bachelor of Nursing courses are accredited by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council and are approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.

So, upon completion of the Bachelor of Nursing from these universities, graduates will be eligible to apply for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. One of the reasons behind this is during a Bachelor degree, you will earn clinical training to pursue a nursing career. 

Ultimately, they can work in these areas like tertiary hospitals, aged care, rural and community health care etc. 

Because of this, the Bachelor of Nursing in Australia is really popular amongst international students. 

If you are going for a Master degree in Australia, you will be eligible for high paying nursing professions like nurse educator, nurse supervisor and so on. Students need to know that unlike with a Bachelor degree in Nursing, students are not eligible to apply for nursing registration after completing a master degree in nursing from Australia. 

This is because most of the universities offer leadership and management programme in nursing. As a result, to register as a nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, you will need to meet certain requirements and conditions.

Nursing as a Career in Australia

While you are considering studying Nursing in Australia, you might also ask yourself- is Nursing a good career in Australia? or is Nursing in demand in Australia? The answer to both of these questions is a YES! 

Healthcare in Australia has emerged as one of the fastest-growing employment sectors with the highest funding in the country. Australia faces a shortage of health workers due to which Nursing in Australia remains the most sought after and rewarding profession. 

The Australian Government’s 2014 Australia’s Future Health Workforce report noted that Australia will need at least an extra 123,000 nurses around the country by 2030. It simply denotes that Australia needs nurses, many of them!

Predictions also outline that Australia’s proportion of people aged over 65 years will grow substantially over the next few decades. In order to enhance the quality of life and provide higher standards of care to the ageing population in Australia, the demand for healthcare services and the need for skilled nurses will continue to increase.  

In this context, with a nursing degree in Australia, you would be able to pursue your career in various nursing fields at hospitals, community health, elderly care centres, neonatal care centres, education centres and so on.  

Scholarships to Study Nursing in Australia

Going through the fee structures and calculating the cost of studying nursing in Australia might be quite disheartening for you. The brighter side is that a lot of scholarships for nursing programs are available for international students each year. 

These scholarships are funded by the university/college along with different private organizations and professional associations. 

Based on the eligibility criteria, you may get a full scholarship, tuition fees exemptions, term bursaries and scholarships, health insurance, relocation allowance and many more.  In general, maximum universities in Australia offer 10 to 30% of scholarships to international students. 

Most of the nursing scholarships are provided for those wanting to study bachelor of Nursing and a Masters of Nursing in Australia. Some of the popular nursing scholarships for international students in Australia are:

Nursing Jobs in Australia

To be able to work as a nurse in Australia, you may choose to complete any of the degree levels- Bachelors, Masters or postgraduate after which you will be able to start your registration to become a registered nurse in Australia.

 The registration is applied at the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), including the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) where you have to adhere to the certification requirements.

As mentioned above, to work as a nurse in Australia, you must register with the NMBA, meet the registration standards and complete a skills assessment test. 

Once you are a registered nurse in Australia, you can find employment opportunities in

• Public and private healthcare systems
• Acute care hospitals
• Children's hospitals
• Trauma and emergency care
• Aged care
• Community nursing
• Palliative care
• Home care nursing
• Drug and alcohol centres
• Operating rooms and other surgical settings
• Rural and remote nursing
• Pharmaceutical industry
• Clinical research trials 
• Other health and education-related fields

Another benefit as a nurse is that you have flexible working arrangements-days, nights, evenings, weekends, full-time or part-time. You can even adapt your hours from 4 to 12 hours per shift.

Considering the state policies, a registered nurse in Australia earns around 60,000 AUD annually. With experience and promotions, salary and benefits always increase.

You can have an idea of the average salary of nurses working at different positions in the table below. 

Several Options for Specialisations

Apart from offering an undaunted career scope and opportunities, Nursing in Australia also lets you identify your interest and options to specialise yourself. 

Some of the most common options available for specializations in Nursing in Australia are- 

• Advanced Nursing Practice
• Infection Prevention and Control
• Primary Maternity Care
• Mental Health
• Clinical Education
• Leadership and Management in Health
• Intensive Care Nursing
• Emergency Nursing
• Cancer and Haematology Nursing
• Midwifery
• Paediatric Nursing

You can go for paediatric or maternity and even choose to become a travel nurse, school nurse, camp, military or public health nurse. All you have to do is know what you want. 

Pathway to PR

If you successfully become a registered nurse in Australia you will be eligible to obtain a skilled visa with a pathway to Australian PR. 

Various Nursing professions have made it to Australia’s Skilled Occupation List.