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Home › Nursing pay › Victoria › Assistant in Nursing

Victoria Assistant in Nursing Pay 2026

In Victoria, undergraduate nursing and midwifery students are employed and paid as RUSONs and RUSOMs (Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing/Midwifery), so they earn a wage while they study. Under clause 106.1 you qualify once you are enrolled in an undergraduate nursing or midwifery degree, registered with AHPRA as a student, and have completed at least 12 months of your course; pay is set at 81.5% of the RN Grade 2 Year 1 rate. Victoria does not run a Certificate-III assistant-in-nursing rung in this agreement. That makes the RUSON/RUSOM route the paid entry rung into the profession.

$68,844Starting salary at RUSON/RUSOM Year 1 (Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing/Midwifery) ($34.72 an hour), before penalties and allowances.
Enrolled NurseRegistered NurseClinical Nurse (senior clinical grades)Nurse Management (NUM / Director of Nursing)

Pay scale

Base rates, in force from 11 May 2026, before penalties, allowances and overtime. Entry/each step shown (11 May 2026).

StepWeeklyHourlyAnnualised
RUSON/RUSOM Year 1 (Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing/Midwifery)$1,319.40$34.72$68,844
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★ 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 →

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, and 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

  • In Victoria there is no Cert-III AIN award rung. The paid undergraduate route is RUSON/RUSOM, fixed at 81.5% of the RN Grade 2 Year 1 rate ($1,319.40/wk).
  • Work afternoon and night shifts: each rostered afternoon shift adds a flat $36.60, and a Monday-Thursday night shift adds $114.00 on top of your hourly rate.
  • All ordinary hours between midnight Friday and midnight Sunday are paid at time-and-a-half (150%).
  • The real lever is finishing your degree or diploma and registering: qualifying as an enrolled nurse moves you onto the EN scale (from $1,291.60/wk), and as a registered nurse onto the RN Grade 2 ladder (from $1,619.00/wk).
  • As a public-hospital employee, salary-package about $11,660/yr tax-free from your first shift.

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, and there is a real trade-off between them:

Enrolled Nurse via the Diploma of Nursing (~18–24 months, TAFE)
  • No university degree, so training is shorter and cheaper
  • Start earning as a nurse sooner
  • Can later bridge to registered nurse
  • Lower pay ceiling, because the EN scale tops out well below the RN scale
  • Narrower scope of practice (you work under an RN)
  • Less progression, with no clinical-nurse, nurse-practitioner or management track
Registered Nurse via the Bachelor of Nursing (3 years, university)
  • Far higher ceiling, with progression into clinical nurse, consultant, nurse practitioner and management/Director of Nursing roles
  • Broader, more autonomous scope
  • Postgraduate study keeps paying off (qualification allowances and higher grades)
  • Three-year university degree, which costs more and takes longer
  • 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$2.25 daily / $11.11 weekly (whichever is the lesser amount in total).
Employer must provide any required uniform at no cost (no payment in lieu). If a uniform is NOT provided, you are paid a uniform allowance at the daily or weekly rate, whichever is the lesser amount in total.
Laundry Allowance$0.60 daily / $3.02 weekly (whichever is the lesser amount in total).
If laundering of the uniform is not provided by/at the expense of the employer, you are paid a laundry allowance at the daily or weekly rate (whichever is the lesser amount in total).
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 none of it reduces 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 Victoria?
In Victoria public health, an assistant in nursing earns from $1,319.40 per week ($68,844 a year) to $1,319.40 ($68,844) across the scale, before shift penalties, allowances and overtime.
What is the starting assistant in nursing salary in Victoria?
A first-step assistant in nursing in Victoria starts at $1,319.40 per week, about $68,844 a year ($34.72 an hour), before penalties and allowances.
Do Victoria nurses get paid more for nights and weekends?
Yes. On top of base pay, Victoria 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 Victoria nurse pay & conditions guide.

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Pay figures are drawn from the Nurses and Midwives (Victorian Public Sector) Single Interest Employer Agreement 2024-2028. Confirm your exact classification, step and allowances against the current instrument and your payslip.

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