Enrolled Nurse Salary by State: NSW vs Victoria

What NSW pays an Enrolled Nurse, by year

The Public Health System Nurses' and Midwives' (State) Award 2025 sets a specific wage track for Enrolled Nurses, and the increase behind it was larger than the Registered Nurse increase: the NSW Industrial Relations Commission's 2025 wage decision gave Enrolled Nurses 12% (against 10% for Registered Nurses and Midwives), effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2025. The NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association's own pay calculator, published May 2026, sets out the Enrolled Nurse (with medication qualification) track: 1st year $1,395.70 a week ($36.73/hour); 2nd year $1,425.40; 3rd year $1,455.80; 4th year $1,486.60; 5th year and thereafter $1,516.60; Special Grade $1,563.00 a week.

There is also a separate, lower track for Enrolled Nurses without a medication endorsement: 1st year $1,365.70 a week, rising to $1,532.80 a week at Special Grade. The medication-qualification gap is real and worth knowing before comparing any single "enrolled nurse salary" figure — which track applies depends on whether the nurse holds the additional medication administration endorsement, not on years of service alone.

Casual Enrolled Nurses are paid a 10% loading. The award's penalty-rate structure (evening, night, weekend and public-holiday loadings of 10% to 150% depending on the shift) applies on top of these base rates, the same as for Registered Nurses.

What Victoria pays an Enrolled Nurse, by year

Victoria's Nurses and Midwives (Victorian Public Sector) (Single Interest Employers) Enterprise Agreement 2024-2028 sets Enrolled Nurse pay across three sub-classifications rather than a single track. As published by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation's Victorian Branch, from 1 July 2024: EN Level 1, Year 1 is $31.66 an hour, rising through six years to EN Level 1 Year 6 at $35.97 an hour. A Certificate IV or Diploma-qualified Enrolled Nurse moves to EN Level 2, starting at $34.00 an hour (Year 1) and rising to $37.43 an hour by Year 6. A further EN Level 3 classification, for Enrolled Nurses covering an expanded scope with additional endorsed routes, tops out at $41.78 an hour.

On a standard 38-hour week, EN Level 1 Year 1 works out to roughly $1,203 a week — noticeably below NSW's $1,395.70 first-year figure, though the two rates were set a year apart (July 2024 for Victoria, July 2025 for NSW) by separate industrial processes, and Victoria's agreement schedules further increases through to 2028 that this page has not been able to verify to a specific later dollar figure.

The gap is real, and larger than for Registered Nurses

For Registered Nurses, Migratio's companion page found NSW and Victoria's first-year rates within a few dollars of each other despite the one-year gap between when each was set. For Enrolled Nurses, the gap is more pronounced: NSW's $1,395.70 (1 July 2025) against Victoria's roughly $1,203 (1 July 2024) is a difference of around $190 a week on the entry-level rate, even before accounting for the fact that Victoria's figure is the older of the two. Part of that reflects the NSW IRC's above-average 12% Enrolled Nurse adjustment in 2025 specifically — a deliberate industrial decision to lift Enrolled Nurse pay relative to other classifications, not something that shows up in the Registered Nurse comparison. As with any cross-state comparison built from documents issued a year apart, the honest position is that the gap is real at each state's own most recently published rate, not a same-day snapshot.

Enrolled Nurse is a different occupation from Registered Nurse for visa purposes

Enrolled Nurse (ANZSCO 411411) and Registered Nurse are assessed and listed differently by Australia's skilled migration system. Enrolled Nurse sits on the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) and the Skills in Demand 482 visa's Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL), reaching visas 186, 190, 407, 482, 491 and 494 — it does not reach the 189 points-tested visa or the 485 Temporary Graduate visa, both of which several Registered Nurse specialisations do reach. That's not a pay question, it's a different set of visa options entirely, and it's worth checking before assuming an Enrolled Nurse qualification opens the same pathways as a Registered Nurse one.

Every Enrolled Nurse working in Australia needs registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia through AHPRA, assessed via the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) for overseas-trained applicants — the same national registration scheme that applies to Registered Nurses, not a separate state-by-state licence. Migratio's dedicated guide at /blog/enrolled-nurse-pathway covers the ANMAC assessment and registration steps for this specific occupation.

What this page can't tell you

It can't tell you what a specific employer or health service will actually offer, whether the medication-endorsement track applies to your qualification, or which state's overall package (including allowances, superannuation and conditions beyond base pay) works out better for your circumstances. It also can't assess whether your specific overseas nursing qualification will be recognised at Enrolled Nurse level by ANMAC rather than requiring a bridging or further-study pathway to Registered Nurse. Those are questions for ANMAC's assessment process and, on the visa side, a MARA-registered migration agent with healthcare-sector experience.

Do Enrolled Nurses get paid more in NSW or Victoria?

On each state's most recently published rate, NSW pays more: $1,395.70 a week for a 1st-year Enrolled Nurse (1 July 2025) against roughly $1,203 a week in Victoria (EN Level 1 Year 1, $31.66/hour, 1 July 2024). The two figures are a year apart, so this isn't a same-day comparison, but the gap on these dated figures is around $190 a week.

Is there a difference in pay for Enrolled Nurses with a medication endorsement?

Yes, in NSW specifically. The NSW award sets a lower track for Enrolled Nurses without a medication qualification (1st year $1,365.70/week) than for those with it (1st year $1,395.70/week), with the gap widening at Special Grade ($1,532.80 vs $1,563.00).

Can an Enrolled Nurse apply for the 189 skilled visa?

No. Enrolled Nurse (ANZSCO 411411) sits on the Short-term Skilled Occupation List and the 482 visa's Core Skills Occupation List, reaching visas 186, 190, 407, 482, 491 and 494 — not 189 or 485, which several Registered Nurse specialisations do reach.

Why did NSW Enrolled Nurse pay increase more than Registered Nurse pay in 2025?

The NSW Industrial Relations Commission's 2025 wage decision set separate percentages by classification: 12% for Enrolled Nurses against 10% for Registered Nurses and Midwives (and 22% for Assistants in Nursing). This was a deliberate industrial decision, not an error in either figure.

Does an Enrolled Nurse need a different registration in each state?

No. Enrolled Nurse registration runs through the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and AHPRA nationally, the same scheme that covers Registered Nurses. It is not reissued separately by each state.

What is the highest Enrolled Nurse pay grade in NSW?

Special Grade, at $1,563.00 a week with a medication endorsement (or $1,532.80 without), under the Public Health System Nurses' and Midwives' (State) Award 2025 as at 1 July 2025.

Does Victoria have a higher Enrolled Nurse classification than Level 1?

Yes — EN Level 2 (Certificate IV or Diploma qualified) starts at $34.00/hour and EN Level 3 (expanded scope, additional endorsed routes) reaches $41.78/hour, both as at 1 July 2024 under the current enterprise agreement.