How to become a nursing assistant in Australia + Salary & pay
Learn how to become a nursing assistant or aide in Australia with the right qualifications. Understand salary & pay figures and ways to advance your career so you can grow while making a difference in people’s lives.
Your Assistant in Nursing career could start as early as next year.
Hospitals and aged care facilities across Australia are crying out for reliable people who really care about patients. If you’ve ever wondered how to become a Nursing Assistant in Australia, the answer might be a lot simpler than you think. Unlike doctors and Registered Nurses who have to spend years in school, you could become a working Nursing Assistant in just 12 months.
And the Nursing Assistant salary isn’t bad at all, either. Australian Nursing Assistant or Patient Care Aide salaries are a median of $66,508 per year, with tons of ways to boost that through shift work and specialisation. Most importantly, you’ll never struggle to find work since Australia’s aging population means healthcare facilities always have Assistant in Nursing jobs available.
This isn’t glamorous work and you’ll definitely get your hands dirty helping patients with personal care. But it’s honest and extremely rewarding work that gives you the potential to make a difference in the lives of thousands of people throughout your career. The Institute of Allied Health can get you qualified through flexible online study that fits around your current life so you can start building a healthcare career with real job security and personal satisfaction.
What is a Nursing Assistant?
A Nursing Assistant provides hands-on care to patients in hospitals, aged care facilities and healthcare settings across Australia. You’ll work directly with patients to help them with daily activities like eating, bathing and moving around, whilst supporting the nursing team with other tasks. This role puts you on the front lines of healthcare, so you’ll make a real difference in people’s lives during some of their most valuable moments.
Nursing Assistants are there for patients when registered nurses have to focus on more complex medical procedures. You don’t need a university degree to become a Nursing Assistant in Australia, so this is an accessible entry point into healthcare for people who want to help others whilst building a stable career.
Nursing Assistant duties and responsibilities
Your job as a Nursing Assistant is to provide daily patient care and support the broader healthcare team, including registered nurses and doctors. Each shift will be different, as you’ll be in charge of helping different patients with their needs and keeping them safe and comfortable.
These are some of the duties a Nursing Assistant may be required to do on any given day:
Help patients with personal hygiene tasks like bathing, dressing, using the bathroom and grooming.
Assist with meals by helping patients eat and monitoring their food intake and hydration levels.
Take vital signs like temperature, blood pressure, oxygenation levels and pulse readings.
Help patients move around safely by assisting with walking and transferring between beds and wheelchairs.
Keep patient areas clean and organised whilst restocking supplies.
Difference between a Nurse and a Nursing Assistant
Nursing Assistants and registered nurses work as a team, but they have completely different levels of training, responsibility and what they’re allowed to do with patients. This partnership lets healthcare facilities provide comprehensive patient care efficiently whilst making sure everyone works within their qualifications and expertise.
The biggest difference lies in their education and training requirements. Registered nurses spend three to four years studying anatomy, pharmacology and advanced medical procedures before they can work independently with patients. Nursing Assistants usually complete certificate courses in about 12 months, where they learn the foundational patient care skills like infection control and basic health monitoring.
These different educational differences are reflected in their responsibility levels. Registered nurses can give medications, create treatment plans, draw blood and make clinical decisions about patient care because their extensive training prepares them for this. Nursing Assistants don’t have this training, so they focus on hands-on patient support that keeps patients comfortable and safe whilst registered nurses manage medical treatments and coordinate care plans.
These are the biggest differences between a registered nurse and a Nursing Assistant in Australia:
Why Nursing Assistants are in high demand in Australia
Nursing Assistants have become absolutely essential to Australia’s healthcare system and the demand for skilled workers in this field keeps growing every year. The job market for Nursing Assistants is projected to grow by 6.8% per year, making it one of the fastest-growing healthcare careers in the country.
All this is driven by fundamental changes in Australian demographics and healthcare needs, so you can expect this growth rate to continue as the country’s population continues to age. The proportion of Australians aged 65 and above already stands at 16.7% and is projected to rise from 4.31 million to 6.66 million by 2041. More older Australians means more people needing hands-on care and assistance with daily activities.
The healthcare system is already facing serious staffing shortages that create even more opportunities for Nursing Assistants. There’s currently a shortage of registered nurses in every Australian state and territory except NSW and projections show an undersupply of 70,707 full-time equivalent nurses by 2035. What that means is that healthcare facilities must increasingly rely on Nursing Assistants to provide the incredibly important patient care that they do whilst supporting the limited number of registered nurses already.
Personal care workers, including Nursing Assistants, already make up 78% of the direct aged care workforce, with registered nurses making up just 12%. This goes to show just how important Nursing Assistants are to keeping Australia’s healthcare system running. With almost 80,000 additional nurses needed to fill the projected gap by 2035, Nursing Assistants will play an even bigger role in patient care going forward.
Qualifications to become a Nursing Assistant in Australia
The Certificate III in Health Services Assistance from the Institute of Allied Health gives you the fastest and most practical way into a Nursing Assistant career, teaching you exactly what employers expect from day one. This nationally recognised qualification takes around 12 months to complete and covers all the essential skills you need to work confidently in hospitals, aged care facilities and all community healthcare settings.
You can study the Certificate III completely online through the Institute of Allied Health, giving you the flexibility to learn around your current commitments whilst building the practical skills that matter in real healthcare environments. The course includes workplace placements that let you practice your skills with real patients under supervision so you can build up your confidence before starting your first job.
Your Certificate III in Health Services Assistance covers four main areas:
Assisting nursing and ward staff: You’ll support registered nurses with tasks like taking vital signs and supporting patients during procedures. Working alongside experienced healthcare professionals will teach you the proper protocols while building up your confidence.
Patient support and personal care: You’ll master how to properly bathe, dress and feed patients with the right techniques.
Workplace health and safety: You’ll learn how to control infections and handle patients safely to protect both of you from injury.
Communication skills: You’ll develop professional ways to talk to patients, their families and healthcare teams. You’ll also learn how to document care clearly and report important information so everyone stays informed.
Go to Health Services Assistance course
Can you be a Nursing Assistant without certification?
You can be a Nursing Assistant without formal qualifications in some healthcare facilities, especially in aged care settings where they provide on-the-job training. However, working without a certification limits your employment options and career progression considerably. Most hospitals and many aged care facilities won’t consider candidates without a Certificate III and you’ll likely earn less than credentialed Nursing Assistants.
How to become a Nursing Assistant in Australia
Breaking into healthcare as a Nursing Assistant takes just four easy paths that get you from complete beginner to confident healthcare worker in just 12–24 months. Each step builds your knowledge base whilst preparing you for a genuinely rewarding career helping people when they need it most.
1. Research the role
Talk to practising Nursing Assistants to learn about what their days look like. Shadow someone if possible or visit different healthcare facilities to see which environment is right for you. Each environment comes with vastly different experiences:
Aged care facilities: You’ll build long-term relationships with residents whilst helping with personal care, meals and social activities in a more relaxed pace environment.
Hospitals: These are fast-paced clinical work environments where you’ll support busy nurses and acutely ill patients, taking vital signs and assisting with medical procedures.
Community care: You’ll travel to patients’ homes to provide personal assistance and companionship whilst helping them stay relatively independent in familiar surroundings.
Disability support: Your main priority will be to help patients with disabilities participate in community activities and develop life skills.
2. Select the right training pathway
Match your qualification to where you want to work for the best job prospects. The Certificate III in Individual Support works perfectly for aged care or disability services, focusing on personal care and relationship-building skills. On the other hand, the Certificate III in Health Services Assistance suits an aspiring hospital worker better as it covers medical terminology and clinical procedures.
The study mode also matters a lot for your lifestyle. Full-time will get you qualified faster but part-time lets you keep working. Online options are much more flexible, whilst blended learning combines theory with hands-on practice.
Choose training that matches your learning style and life circumstances rather than just picking the cheapest or fastest option. Quality training with good support makes a huge difference to your confidence and job prospects when you graduate. Look for providers like the Institute of Allied Health that offer placement support and job outcome assistance.
3. Apply for jobs
Start applying for positions during your last few months of study since many employers hire students close to completing their qualifications. Most Nursing Assistants begin with casual positions that let them try different settings before committing to permanent roles.
Your job prospects will vary drastically depending on which healthcare setting you target. Aged care facilities are always hiring due to constantly growing demand, which makes them some of the easiest places to get your first break. Hospitals have fewer openings but come with better career progression opportunities that can lead to specialised roles down the track.
Prepare for interviews by researching each facility’s values and by showing genuine compassion for vulnerable people. Employers want workers who understand the physical and emotional demands of the job whilst showing they’re genuinely invested in helping others.
4. Continue developing skills for career growth
Your Nursing Assistant career is just the beginning of what you can achieve in healthcare. Building expertise here will open the doors to specialised roles and higher qualifications like becoming Enrolled Nurse with significantly better earning potential.
These are the areas that can boost your career growth:
Specialised care skills: Wound care, medication assistance or dementia care experience makes you more valuable and opens higher-paying positions.
Leadership abilities: Team leader or supervisor roles within your workplace come with pay increases and greater responsibilities.
Advanced qualification: Certificate IV or a Diploma of Nursing let you become an Enrolled Nurse with prescribing rights and clinical decision-making authority.
Technology skills: Knowing how to use electronic health records and patient monitoring equipment make you an attractive option for high-tech facilities.
Nursing Assistant salary: How much do nurses make in Australia?
Nursing Assistants in Australia earn solid wages that reflect the important work they do caring for patients. The median weekly earnings sit at $1,279, which equals $66,508 per year. That puts you well above the minimum wage while building a career in a growing field. Most Nursing Assistants start earning $25 to $35 per hour, with plenty of ways to increase their income through smart choices about where and when they work.
Your real pay also depends on a few factors that can bump up your earnings:
Workplace settings: Hospitals tend to pay more than aged care facilities, but aged care usually comes with more predictable hours and less stressful environments.
Shifts worked: Evenings, weekends and public holiday shifts come with penalty rates that can add up to 50% of our normal hourly rate.
Experience and specialisation: Dementia care or complex medical support roles pay premium rates once you build expertise in areas where few people have training.
Is becoming a Nursing Assistant a good career in Australia?
Nursing Assistants have one of the most secure and rewarding careers you can find in Australia right now. Employment in residential care services jumped by 39% over the past decade, growing from around 216,000 people to 301,000 people and this growth isn’t slowing down any time soon.
Here’s why this career makes sense:
Job security: People always need healthcare, making your skills recession-proof with steady employment prospects.
Career growth: Clear paths exist to become an Enrolled Nurse or Registered Nurse with much higher salaries.
Daily impact: You help people when they’re vulnerable whilst making a real difference in their lives every shift.
Assistant in Nursing FAQs
What is a Nursing Assistant called in Australia?
Different terms describe the same role across Australia. Nursing Assistant (NA) and Assistant in Nursing (AIN) are the most common, whilst some facilities use Nurse Aide or Patient Care Aide. They all refer to healthcare workers providing direct patient care under the supervision of a Registered Nurse.
What’s the difference between a Nursing Assistant and a Patient Care Aide?
There’s no practical difference between these roles. Patient Care Aide is simply another term for Nursing Assistant used by some employers. Both provide the same patient care support, work under nurse supervision and need identical qualifications.
What qualifications do I need to become a healthcare assistant in Australia?
You need a Certificate III in Health Services Assistance or Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing and Disability). These qualifications take 12–18 months to complete and include practical placement experience in healthcare settings.
Where can I study Nursing Assistant courses?
You can study through TAFE institutes, registered training organisations (RTOs) or online providers. The Institute of Allied Health offers a Certificate III in Health Services Assistance through flexible online study with practical placement support. Learn more about their program here.
How long does it take to become a Nursing Assistant?
It usually takes 12 months to complete your Certificate III qualification with full-time study. Part-time or online study may take 18–24 months, depending on your schedule and course structure.
What is the highest salary for a Nursing Assistant?
Experienced Nursing Assistants with specialised skills can earn up to $40–45 per hour, especially in hospitals or specialised care units. Shift penalties and overtime can push your yearly earnings above $80,000.
Are Nursing Assistants and CNAs the same?
CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) is an American terminology. Australian Nursing Assistants perform similar duties but work under different healthcare regulations and training standards.
Your healthcare career starts with one decision
Healthcare needs people who genuinely care about others and becoming a Nursing Assistant puts you right where you can make the biggest difference. Australia’s growing demand for skilled healthcare workers means your job prospects will only get better with time, whilst the satisfaction of helping people during their most vulnerable moments will reward you in ways that go beyond your wallet.
The path forward is clear. Choose your qualification, complete your training and start building a career that comes with both job security and personal fulfilment in one of Australia’s most important industries.
Time to make your move. Explore the Institute of Allied Health’s online courses or speak with a career advisor to find the right entry into healthcare for you.
