Am I eligible to work in Australia?

Plexus Medical Recruitment provides specialist recruitment and migration services to registered nurses who wish to work abroad in Australia or New Zealand.

Australian nursing education sets high standards and the State Regulatory Bodies ensures that every nurse working in Australia has undergone equivalent training to their contemporaries. As a general rule if you trained, or have worked for more than 12 months as a registered nurse, in one of the following countries, and have successfully met the English language requirements you will be eligible for registration in either Australia or New Zealand:

• United Kingdom
• Republic of Ireland
• Western Europe i.e. Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland, France
• Canada
• United States of America
• Hong Kong
• Singapore

The more experience you have in your specialty the better your chances are of securing a post and achieving registration with the state or territory registration boards. If you have a specialist post-graduate qualification in a particular area of nursing, discuss this with your nursing recruitment consultant as this may allow you to be recognised and work as a specialist in that field in Australia or New Zealand.

You can apply for registration with any of the State Registration Boards, as there is a reciprocal agreement between states, which generally allows nurses to work across the country. If you have started the registration process in one of the states please discuss this with your recruitment consultant as this will allow us to structure your job search most effectively. If you have not yet tackled registration - don't worry - we will supply you with all relevant information and application forms and help you work through the process. National Registration for Nurses and Midwives will begin in Australia in July 2010.

Sponsorship

As there is an acute shortage of nurses within the Australian health care system it is possible to receive sponsorship by an employer, which streamlines the visa application process. To be eligible you must hold nursing qualifications recognised by the nursing registration authorities and have a high standard of English. Sponsorship can be for anywhere from 6 months to 4 years.

English Language Proficiency

There is now a requirement from all nursing boards that any nurse trained overseas must have passed an English Language Proficiency test, preferably the IELTS test. You must achieve a minimum overall score of 7 and no less than a score of 7.0 in any of the 4 components. This test must have been taken within the past 2 years. Alternatively you will need to have achieved a "B"pass in each section of the Occupational English Test.

Plexus provides professional coaching for nurses placed by Plexus to help them with IELTS exam preparation. This is done by our fully qualified ESL teacher and is another service provided free of charge to nurses placed by Plexus.

We understand that each circumstance is unique so please contact us to discuss your individual situation. We will be able to outline the best pathway for you and will guide you every step of the way.

Plexus Medical Recruitment is an ethical company and strongly supports the "Commonwealth of Nations Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health Workers."