Assistant in nursing jobs in Melbourne

Sanctuary Recruitment is actively hiring assistant in nursing/personal care worker positions in aged care across Melbourne and further into regional Victoria. We are Australia's leading aged care recruitment consultancy, and due to our close relationships with aged care providers across the country we can provide placements for workers looking on a temporary, contract and permanent basis.

We are currently recruiting in Melbourne, into Victoria and interstate for assistant in nursing/personal care worker roles. If you are looking for a new opportunity or would like a chat around the aged care industry, please get in contact with us, or view our jobs board.

Register with Sanctuary

register with sanctuary

Express your interest

Send in your resume or register your interest and our industry expert consultants will be in contact.

register with sanctuary

Prepare for work

Complete the onboarding process and become fully compliant. Our compliance team can help you through this step by step.

register with sanctuary

Being working with Sanctuary

Choose from 100's of roles that suit your needs, values and requirements.

Assistant in nursing jobs in Melbourne FAQs

Assistant in nursing, otherwise known as personal care workers or simply care workers, are healthcare assistants that work across a variety of medical sectors. They help patients and residents with their daily care. Examples could be during meal rounds, showering and hygiene, toileting and grooming.

This is an entry level role in the aged care industry, which can open the door to many other positions such as an enrolled nurse, registered nurse, aged care management and beyond.

Since inception, we have nurtured strong relationships with aged care homes across the country. Through Sanctuary, there is the option to work in areas that are metro, regional, rural and remote.

In Melbourne, we cover each area as well as regional Victoria:

  • Ballarat
  • Bendigo
  • Geelong
  • Mildura
  • Ringwood
  • Wodonga

to name a few!

The Aged Care Award will stipulate the pay brackets. This will vary depending on your experience, job title and location of work. The average personal care worker casual pay rates are in-between $29 - $71 per hour.

You can earn bonuses, as well as receive incentives and allowances for eligible certain contract placements. Aged care reforms have led to pay rises for aged care workers in recent years, with more developments to come.

As a rule of thumb, you need a minimum of six months Australian aged care experience to work through our agency. Once you have this experience, which equates to 910 hours, get in contact with our team who can go through the onboarding process.

To be an assistant in nursing, you would need a relevant qualification. In Australia, this is a Certificate III/IV in Ageing Support/Individual Support/Health Services Assistance. This course is around 5 months long (full time) and can be studied through various educational institutions.

Once qualified as an assistant in nursing, you can choose to work on a temporary/casual and/or contract basis. Casual work, or shift filling, is usually done ad-hoc or last minute. Contract roles range in length and last 4 weeks - 3 months in rural, regional and remote areas of the country.

We ensure all of our nurses are up to date with their knowledge and skills so they can provide high quality care to residents. We offer continuous online training via our Learning Management System (LMS) at no cost to you. This is regularly updated to reflect new legislation and practices.

A casual employee can enjoy perks such as:

  • Structuring your work day/week to your schedule
  • Exploring areas of the country whilst getting paid for it, with free travel and accommodation included for certain placements
  • Setting your own level for work/life balance
  • Receiving a higher hourly rate than if you were a permanent employee

Rewards and benefits

market leading pay rates

Market leading pay rates

bonuses and incentives

Bonuses and incentives

industry expert consultants

Industry expert consultants

discount programs

Discount programs

Free online education modules

Free online education modules

Referral scheme

Referral scheme

Aged care blog
The Australia Federal Budget 2024 – 25: what it means for aged care

First published: July 2024 Last month, the Federal Budget for 2024 – 25 was released. It is broken down into five main initiatives: Easing cost-of-living pressures Building more homes for Australians Investing in a Future Made in Australia Strengthening Medicare and the care economy Broadening opportunity and advancing equality All of these initiatives are underpinned…

A guide to the Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) and AN-ACC

First published: Demember 2024 For those receiving aged care services in residential aged care homes, the Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) was used by the Australian Government to allocate subsidy amounts of residential aged care providers. Payments were based on the ongoing needs of residents and included a variety of factors such as activities of…

Fast tracked AHPRA conversion for overseas nurses

Published February 2025 From April 2025, internationally qualified nurses from six countries will be able to receive their AHPRA registration using a more effective, less timely process. Nurses from the United Kingdom, Ireland. the United States, Singapore, Spain and parts of Canada (British Columbia and Ontario) will be able to register as a healthcare practitioner…

Celebrating International Nurses Day

First published: May 2024 International Nurses Day, celebrated around the world on the 12th May each year, recognises the importance of healthcare professionals, in particular recognising the role that nurses play in our society. This day, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth, calls to our attention the unwavering commitment that nurses show everyday across every…

Migration stories: From the Philippines to Australia

First published: February 2024 What moving overseas to Australia as a registered nurse looks like Australia is a very multicultural country and its nurses are from a range of different backgrounds. It is estimated that 40% of Australia’s registered nurses and aged carers were born overseas, with this number forecasted to grow in the coming…

Shining a spotlight on female leadership in aged care

First published: March 2024 A background to women in leadership The aged care industry is dominated by female workers, with 86% of the RAC workforce (direct care workers) identifying as female. Despite this overwhelming percentage, female leadership positions are still low in comparison to men, with women CEOs making up 19% across all industries. Females…

A guide to the 8 Aged Care Quality Standards

First published: July 2024 The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission have formed eight Quality Standards that are set within the aged care industry for the purpose of ensuring services provided to the elderly population of Australia are: Safe High quality Meet the needs and preferences of the people under their care All government funded…

12 aged care interview questions and answers

Revised: May 2025 Are you preparing for an aged care interview?  Knowing the most common aged care interview questions and how to answer them can help you feel confident and ready to showcase your skills. Within our detailed guide, we’ll help you to prepare for the 12 most frequently asked aged care interview questions. We’ve…

PALM Scheme Cohort of 2024 graduation!

On 10th May 2025, our Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme cohort of 38 participants graduated with a Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing) from Alphacrucis University College. After an 18-week course with a four-week placement in Harts Nursing Home and Father Law Home in Suva, Fiji, our participants transitioned to Australia to work for…

Delivering impact: how our partnership with Alphacrucis University College is changing the lives of Pacific Islander aged care workers

First published: October 2024 Sanctuary Recruitment and Pulse Staffing Australia, under the global healthcare partner Acacium Group, have secured a bid for this year’s Pacific Australian Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme. Aiming to fill labour gaps and alleviate work shortages across the country in a multitude of sectors, the PALM scheme allows for workers from the…