Qualified nursing staff are in great demand in Australia and nurses from the UK, Ireland & USA are moving Down Under in great numbers. Surgical nurses are highly sought after, closely followed by mental health nurses, emergency nurses, midwives and care for the elderly specialists.

Even in good times in the UK, Ireland & USA, Australia was the destination of choice for enterprising young people looking to travel and experience something different. Most foreign nurses in Australia work in public or private acute hospitals. Just over 10 per cent work in care for the elderly, 9.5 per cent in a community setting, 4 per cent in mental healthcare, while the others work in outpatient clinics, education centres, military or industrial settings. There is an acute shortage of nurses in the care for the elderly sector. 

While hospitals in Australia focus their efforts on hiring home-trained nurses, the aging population has reduced the labour supply and so recruitment campaigns do include hiring nurses from overseas as well.

Australian hospitals like to attract nurses who have experience of working in western-style hospitals such those in the UK, Ireland and the USA. Registered nurses from those places are seen as having a similar pro-active style of nursing to Australian-trained nurses.