Nursing Registration

Registering as a nurse in Australia or New Zealand starts in the same place. Your qualification has to be assessed, your English has to be evidenced, and you need the right visa. What differs between the two countries is the cost, the timeframe, and whether you sit an exam.

This page is the short version. The full guide for each country is linked below.

Australia – AHPRA and the NMBA

• Start with the self-check. It is the mandatory first stage for every internationally qualified nurse and midwife.
• English. For tests sat on or after 23 April 2026, IELTS Academic requires 7.0 overall with 7.0 in listening, reading and speaking and 6.5 in writing. OET, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT and Cambridge C1 and C2 are also accepted. Tests sat on or before 22 April 2026 are judged against the previous table.
• Exemptions. Six years of primary and secondary education taught and assessed in English in a recognised country. Work experience never qualifies, and neither does nationality – a UK-registered nurse who trained elsewhere still needs a test.
• Assessment. The IQNM outcome-based assessment costs $410, with an MCQ exam and an OSCE ($4,000) where these are required.
• Fees. $332 application, then $193 for general registration.
• Recency of practice. The equivalent of 450 hours in the past five years. There is no annual alternative, whatever you may have read elsewhere.

Full guide: requirements to work as a nurse in Australia

New Zealand – the Nursing Council

• English. IELTS Academic at 7.0 in reading, listening and speaking with 6.5 in writing, or OET at 350 in reading, listening and speaking with 300 in writing. The Nursing Council accepts no other test, and you cannot mix results from the two.
• Exemptions. Nursing education completed in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Singapore or the USA, or current registration in the UK, Ireland, Canada or the USA.
• Assessment. Where required, a computer-based theory exam (NZ$140) and a clinical OSCE (NZ$3,000) sat in person in Christchurch. The old Competence Assessment Programme was replaced in December 2023.
• Fees. NZ$485 to apply, NZ$75 to register, then NZ$130 a year for your annual practising certificate.
• Residence. Registered Nurse sits on the Green List at Tier 1, so you can apply for residence from the outset with a job of 12 months or more at NZ$35.00 an hour with an accredited employer.

Full guide: requirements to work as a nurse in New Zealand

Already registered on one side of the Tasman?

A nurse already registered in Australia can register in New Zealand under Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition: NZ$340, no competence assessment, no English test, and the Nursing Council aims to assess the application within ten working days. It is by some distance the fastest move available.

Mutual recognition operates in both directions, so New Zealand-registered nurses have a comparable route into Australia. Ask us and we will confirm what applies to your registration.

Which one is right for you?

Australia has the larger job market and the bigger private hospital sector. New Zealand has the faster route to residence, because Registered Nurse sits at the top tier of the Green List rather than in a points-based queue.

On cost, the exams are the swing factor – A$4,000 for the Australian OSCE against NZ$3,000 for the New Zealand one – but a large share of applicants to either country are exempt from sitting anything at all. Working out whether you are exempt is usually the first thing worth doing.

Want the process explained step by step?

The Nurse Pathway

Our self-paced courses for internationally qualified nurses take you through the AHPRA and NCNZ processes end to end — the documentation, the English requirements, the exams and the order to do them in. No agency fees, ever. Part of IHR Group.

Visit thenursepathway.com →