Can I sponsor an assistant in nursing or personal care worker in Australia?

Why not on the standard visas

The Core Skills list starts, with few exceptions, at skill level 3; direct-care occupations sit at level 4 with a Certificate III as the usual qualification. The Department’s answer to the care shortage was not to list them but to create the aged care template agreement in 2023, with concessions on English and salary, union consultation, and a permanent pathway. Nominating a carer under a listed occupation such as Enrolled Nurse or Community Worker is refused as a non-genuine position and is the most common care-sector sponsor bar.

Aged care providers: the labour agreement

An approved aged care provider signs a memorandum of understanding with the relevant union, requests the Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement from the Department (no fee for the agreement itself), then nominates workers on the 482 labour-agreement stream: Personal Care Assistant, Nursing Support Worker or Aged or Disabled Carer, with a Certificate III in Individual Support or a commitment to obtain it, English at a concession level, a salary at the agreement’s floor, and the 186 after two years of full-time work. Nomination and visa charges are the standard ones (A$330 plus the Skilling Australians Fund levy; A$4,015 for the visa). The sequence in detail: aged care sponsorship explained; the hiring process around it: how to hire aged care workers. Registered nurses in aged care are sponsored on the ordinary 482 as a listed occupation.

Hospitals, NDIS providers and private households

• Hospitals and health services cannot sponsor assistants in nursing on any template agreement; they sponsor enrolled and registered nurses instead, and fill AIN rosters with nursing students, who are the largest supply there is. Hiring nurses.
• NDIS and disability providers are outside the aged care agreement. A few large providers have negotiated company-specific labour agreements for personal care assistants after documenting a sustained shortage, union consultation and training commitments, a process that takes many months. Several regional DAMAs list carer roles with concessions. The full position for NDIS providers: WIDEN’s disability support sponsorship guide; the agreement types compared: PALM, labour agreement or DAMA.
• Private households cannot sponsor a carer on any employer visa; the carer visa for family members is a different program with its own tests.

Who can work your roster now

The roster does not have to wait for a visa. Three groups can work for you today without sponsorship, and the care sector already runs on them:

• International students in nursing, individual support, disability, dental assisting and health administration courses: 48 hours a fortnight in term, unlimited in breaks, and placement students become hires. Employing international students.
• 485 graduates of those courses, with unrestricted work rights for two years or more and an Australian qualification the regulator recognises.
• Partner and bridging visa holders and working holiday makers (whose six-month limit per employer does not apply to aged care and disability work anywhere in Australia): full work rights after a VEVO check and the sector’s screening. Who can work for you now.

SponsorTalent lists care candidates by qualification, visa and city, so you can see who can start after screening before you make contact; search is free and a contact unlocks for A$30.

Every care hire, sponsored or not, needs the sector’s screening first: a national police certificate under three years old or an NDIS Worker Screening Clearance for aged care, the NDIS clearance for disability work, working with children checks where relevant, and a VEVO check for any visa holder. The hiring sequence for carers is on how to hire aged care workers.

From carer to listed occupation

A carer who completes a Diploma of Nursing becomes an Enrolled Nurse, listed on the Core Skills list and sponsorable on the ordinary 482; a carer who completes a Diploma of Community Services and moves into coordination may fit Community Worker or Residential Care Officer, both listed. International students already on your roster are the pipeline: hire them as carers now, support the diploma, and nominate the listed role when they qualify. Do not nominate the role under an occupation it is not. A personal care worker nominated as an Enrolled Nurse, a receptionist as an Office Manager or a support worker as a Community Worker is tested against the duties, the qualification, the award classification and the pay, and a mismatch is refused, can bar the provider from sponsoring for years, and exposes the worker to cancellation. If the person genuinely does the listed job and holds its qualification, nominate that job at its rate; if not, use the routes above.

Frequently asked questions

Is assistant in nursing on the skilled occupation list? No. Assistant in nursing, nursing support worker, personal care assistant and aged or disabled carer are on no Australian skilled list, so the standard 482, 186 and 494 are not available.

Can an aged care home sponsor personal care workers? Yes, under the Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement on the 482 labour-agreement stream, after a memorandum of understanding with the relevant union, with a Certificate III standard, English and salary concessions, and a 186 pathway after two years.

Can a hospital sponsor an assistant in nursing? No. No template agreement covers hospitals for AIN roles. Hospitals sponsor enrolled and registered nurses and fill AIN rosters with nursing students and graduates.

Can an NDIS provider sponsor support workers? Not on the standard 482, and the aged care agreement does not extend to NDIS providers. A company-specific labour agreement or a regional DAMA that lists carer roles are the only sponsored routes.

Who fills care rosters without sponsorship? International students in nursing and individual support courses (48 hours a fortnight in term), 485 graduates, partner and bridging visa holders, and working holiday makers, whose six-month limit does not apply to aged care and disability work.