How many nurses are there in Australia?

The latest data from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia shows there are currently 365,990 nurses practising in Australia. 

Nurses play a pivotal role in the provision of healthcare, and the growth and maintenance of this workforce is vital to the both the health of the population and the country’s socio-economic wellbeing.  

While the health industry has been growing at a faster rate than the population, Health Workforce Australia has warned of a nursing shortage of over 100,000 by 2025.

According to data from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, there are currently 365,990 nurses practising in Australia.  This number is an increase of almost 25,000 (approx 7%) since 2012. The largest increase has been the number of Registered Nurses, with over 29,000 new RNs being registered in the last 3 years.

In contrast, the number of dual registered nurse/midwives decreased by over 8,000. This decrease may be due to the introduction of ‘recency of practice’ standards which mean that midwives must be actively working in midwifery to maintain their registration.

The following graphs display the number of nurses in Australia from 2012-2015. Data has been compiled from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.






Out of the 340,000+ nurses currently working in Australia, NSW has the largest number with 99,867 closely followed by Victoria which has 96,562. The following graph displays the number of currently registered nurses by location.