Home › Nursing pay › Australian Capital Territory › Assistant in Nursing

Australian Capital Territory Assistant in Nursing Pay 2025–26

Assistant in nursing is the entry classification in ACT public health — often a foot in the door while studying.

In Australian Capital Territory public health, an assistant in nursing earns from $1,251.07 per week ($65,279 a year) to $1,289.40 ($67,279) across the scale — before shift penalties, allowances and overtime.

Enrolled Nurse Registered Nurse Clinical Nurse (senior clinical grades)Nurse Management (NUM / Director of Nursing)

Estimate your take-home →

★ Get paid while you study nursing

You don't always need a separate qualification — once you've completed about a year of a Bachelor of Nursing (or core clinical subjects and a placement) you can usually work as an assistant in nursing, earning and building clinical hours while you finish your degree. Diploma (enrolled-nursing) students can too.

Becoming an assistant in nursing

An Assistant in Nursing (AIN — also called a nursing assistant or patient care assistant) gives hands-on care like hygiene, mobility, feeding, observations and ward support. AINs aren't nurses and have no scope of practice of their own: they work only on tasks delegated by, and under the supervision of, a Registered or Enrolled Nurse.

Full pathway: how to become an assistant in nursing in Australia →

Pay scale

Base rates, in force from 4 December 2025 — before penalties, allowances and overtime. Entry/each step shown (4 December 2025).

Step	Weekly	Hourly	Annualised
Assistant in Nursing Pay Point 1	$1,251.07	$32.92	$65,279
Assistant in Nursing Pay Point 2	$1,289.40	$33.93	$67,279

How to become an assistant in nursing

Certificate III in Health Services Assistance (Acute Care)

The HLT33115 Certificate III (acute-care pathway) is the standard qualification to work as an assistant in nursing — it can even be started in high school.

Nursing degree student (about a year in)

Undergraduate nursing students who have completed one or more years of a Bachelor of Nursing can usually work as an AIN; some start earlier if prior study or experience is recognised.

Enrolled-nursing (Diploma) student

Students partway through a Diploma of Nursing can also be employed as an AIN — earning while they qualify.

Ways to earn more

The assistant-in-nursing scale only runs $1,251.07–$1,289.40/wk, so the real money is in qualifying out of it — finishing a Diploma (enrolled nurse) or degree (registered nurse) lifts you onto a far higher scale.
Work the unsocial shifts: ACT pays a 25% night-shift penalty Mon–Fri, 50% all Saturday and 75% all Sunday on top of your base rate.
Claim the laundry allowance ($15.65/fortnight) — in the ACT it is payable for clinical duties with direct client contact even when you are not required to wear a uniform.
Salary-package about $11,660/yr of everyday and meal-entertainment expenses tax-free as a public-hospital employee, without reducing any penalty or allowance.

Where it leads: enrolled nurse vs registered nurse

From here, the two routes into nursing practice are the enrolled-nurse (Diploma) and registered-nurse (degree) pathways — a real trade-off:

Enrolled Nurse — Diploma of Nursing (~18–24 months, TAFE)

No university degree — shorter and cheaper training
Start earning as a nurse sooner
Can later bridge to registered nurse
Lower pay ceiling — the EN scale tops out well below the RN scale
Narrower scope of practice (you work under an RN)
Less progression — no clinical-nurse, nurse-practitioner or management track

Registered Nurse — Bachelor of Nursing (3 years, university)

Far higher ceiling and much more progression — clinical nurse, consultant, nurse practitioner, management/Director of Nursing
Broader, more autonomous scope
Postgraduate study keeps paying off (qualification allowances and higher grades)
Three-year university degree — longer and more expensive
More study before you start earning as a nurse

Allowances you can claim

On top of base pay — the allowances most relevant to this role.

Uniform allowance$517.27/yr (from 04/12/25)

Paid where the head of service requires you to wear a uniform. NOT paid if the ACTPS provides the uniform. Most recent in-force rate is $517.27 per annum (column dated 04/12/25).

Laundry allowance$15.65/fortnight (from 04/12/25)

Paid where you are required to wear AND launder a uniform. Importantly, it is ALSO payable if you are NOT required to wear a uniform but perform clinical duties involving direct client contact.

Salary packaging~$11,660/yr tax-free

As a public-hospital employee you can package about $9,010 of everyday expenses plus ~$2,650 of meal entertainment FBT-free, plus a novated car lease — and it doesn't reduce any penalty or allowance.

Where it leads next

Step up from here: Enrolled Nurse · Registered Nurse — see exactly what each step takes →

Frequently asked questions

How much does an assistant in nursing earn in Australian Capital Territory?

What is the starting assistant in nursing salary in Australian Capital Territory?

A first-step assistant in nursing in Australian Capital Territory starts at $1,251.07 per week — about $65,279 a year ($32.92 an hour) before penalties and allowances.

Do Australian Capital Territory nurses get paid more for nights and weekends?

Yes — on top of base pay, Australian Capital Territory public-health nurses receive shift loadings for afternoon, night and weekend work, plus overtime and a range of allowances.

Annual, parental, long-service and study leave, plus overtime, on-call and the full allowance list, are set out in the Australian Capital Territory nurse pay & conditions guide.

Pay figures are drawn from the ACT Public Sector Nursing and Midwifery Enterprise Agreement 2023-2026. Confirm your exact classification, step and allowances against the current instrument and your payslip.