Find out about the new nursing and midwifery graduate sign-on bonus
$5,000 is available to eligible nursing and midwifery graduates.
To be eligible, you must graduate between 2022 to 2024 and start your career in a Victorian public health service, working for at least 2 years.
For more information, see nursing and midwifery graduate sign-on bonus.
Graduate nursing and midwifery programs
Graduate nursing and midwifery programs support graduates during their first year of practice, providing an environment where they can consolidate and further develop their knowledge, skills and competence. Graduate programs can provide the platform for developing safe, confident and accountable professionals.
A formal graduate program is not a mandatory requirement to gain employment as a nurse or midwife in Victoria.
Each year the Victorian Government supports more than 1,590 graduate places in public health services.
To assist graduates making the transition from student to registered health professional the department has prepared the ‘Nursing & midwifery new graduate guide’ available in the downloads section of this webpage. The guide provides information on the employment process to applying for a graduate year position.
Your education provider will remind you to register for the Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria (PMCV) graduate nursing and midwifery program computer match (GNMP Match) from the Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria - Allocations and placements service .
Every year PMCV publish a 'Key Dates' document that will impact your planning – please make sure you are familiar with these dates.
The Nursing and Midwifery Graduate Transition to Practice Programs Guidelines 2018
The Review of Nursing and Midwifery Graduate Transition to Practice Programs in Victoria (the review) recommended that the department promote the inclusion of best practice elements from the Early Graduate Nurse Program Guidelines 2009 into all transition to practice programs. The review’s Advisory Committee, containing representatives across Victorian health services, universities and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Vic Branch), determined that the 2009 guidelines required updating to meet the current needs of organisations operating transition to practice programs and participating graduates.
In collaboration with Advisory Committee members, the department developed the Nursing and Midwifery Graduate Transition to Practice Programs Guidelines 2018 (the guidelines), to assist Victorian health services in the operation of transition to practice programs. This document replaces the existing 2009 guidelines.
The guidelines incorporate best practice elements identified through current academic research and stakeholder input to assist organisations with consistency in the delivery and operation of transition to practice programs.
The department encourages organisations to incorporate the guidelines into their transition to practice program structure from 2019.
In addition, the review recommended that rotational agreements for transition to practice graduates be implemented in clinical areas across organisations. The use of rotational agreements for graduates throughout their transition to practice programs has been included as a key area of focus in the updated guidelines.To ensure graduates have a clear understanding of what to expect during their rotation the department, in collaboration with stakeholders, has also prepared the Rotational Agreement Template for Nursing and Midwifery Graduates. The template is also able to be structured to the requirements of varying clinical environments.
The updated guidelines and rotational agreement template are available in the downloads section below.
Computer matching for new graduates
In Victoria a computer matching process simplifies the health services graduate nurse and midwifery appointment process. The electronic system matches the preferences of both the candidates (new graduates) and the health services.
The Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria (PMCV) administers the process of matching. In their final year of studies, nursing and/or midwifery students are instructed on how to participate in the computer matching.
Only Victorian public health services are required to participate in the match; not all providers of graduate programs participate in computer matching.
Reviewed 29 March 2023