Registered nurse recruitment for regional employers

Registered nurses assess, plan, deliver and evaluate nursing care, give medications and treatments, coordinate care with other health professionals, and supervise enrolled nurses and care workers.⁴ Tell us whether your role leads a shift and who else is senior on site.

To practise, a registered nurse needs general registration in the registered nurse division of the national register for nurses. General registration usually follows a Board-approved nursing degree. Ahpra keeps the register for the Nursing and Midwifery Board, and a nurse's listing shows any condition, endorsement or notation on their registration.⁵ Endorsements identify nurse practitioners and designated registered nurse prescribers.⁶

Where the Nurses Award 2020 covers the role, a registered nurse at level 1, pay point 1 earns at least $1,219.50 a week, or $32.09 an hour, from 1 July 2026. A graduate with a four-year degree starts at $1,273.40 a week, and level 1 reaches $1,465.50 at pay point 8. Aged care employees have higher rates from 1 August 2026: $1,571.60 a week for a registered nurse in their first year at level 1.¹⁵

Public hospital nurses are paid under their state's own instrument instead. New South Wales applies the Public Health System Nurses' and Midwives' (State) Award 2025, with a 3% rise from 1 July 2026.¹⁶ Queensland Health uses its EB12 certified agreement,¹⁷ Victoria a public sector agreement running to 2028,¹⁸ and Western Australia its 2024 industrial agreement.¹⁹

Market pay sits above the award floor. Registered nurses had median full-time earnings of $2,192 a week, or $57 an hour, in May 2025, nationally.⁴ No regional pay series exists for the occupation, so we talk with you about the rate, allowances and housing that will compete for your location.

Tell us the setting first: an acute ward, theatre, emergency, aged care, mental health, community or a medical practice. Then the level, from a graduate who needs support and supervision to a clinical nurse or unit manager who leads a team.

The practical details shape who will apply: the roster and night duty, on-call, how many registered nurses work each shift, any endorsement the role needs, and the travel between sites or towns.

We start with nurses who already live in or have ties to your region, then widen the search to people planning a move.

Tell us early about housing, relocation costs, a district or remote area allowance, and how part-time and full-time hours work in your roster, since only 56% of registered nurses work full-time hours.⁴ We raise them in the first conversation.

If the right person needs a visa or sponsorship, our sister business Australian Immigration Agency can advise.

Register with Hire Australia and tell us your registration, the settings and specialties you have worked in and where you would like to work. Graduate and experienced nurses are welcome, and we will talk with you about roles that fit.