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Victoria Assistant in Nursing Pay 2025–26

In Victoria, undergraduate nursing and midwifery students are employed and paid as RUSONs and RUSOMs (Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing/Midwifery) — earning 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 — the RUSON/RUSOM route is the paid entry rung into the profession.

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.

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 11 May 2026 — before penalties, allowances and overtime. Entry/each step shown (11 May 2026).

Step	Weekly	Hourly	Annualised
RUSON/RUSOM Year 1 (Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing/Midwifery)	$1,319.40	$34.72	$68,844

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

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 — 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$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 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 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.

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.