About our program

The Graduate Nurse Program (GNP) at Austin Health is well established and takes around 180 graduate nurses each year across all our streams.

Our graduate nurses participate in a well-structured and highly supportive program that offers many learning and development opportunities across our four sites.

We believe that graduate support and education is everyone’s business, and this is the culture that we foster at Austin Health.

The nursing education and ward teams strive to achieve best practice clinical learning environments for our graduate nurses, ensuring we deliver the best patient experiences and develop our early career nurses for a robust career in nursing.

Program streams

• General stream

  Participate in a well-structured and highly supportive program that offers many learning and development opportunities.

• Mental health stream

  Work in a supportive environment in a range of mental health settings with a focus on consumer-centred high quality care.

• Combined stream

  A specialised program for nurses who are passionate about both general and mental health nursing.

What we offer

• Dedicated Early Career Coordinators
• Dedicated Early Career Educator
• Two rotations (6 months each)
• Large variety of acute and specialty rotations
• Opportunities to work in high dependency units
• Comprehensive orientation program
• Supernumerary time each rotation
• Dedicated study days for each stream
• Online learning
• Structured reflective practice

Benefits of working at Austin Health

We offer a range of benefits, including salary packaging, wellbeing programs and staff discounts.

A safe and inclusive workplace

We are committed to supporting our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce, by providing an inclusive environment where all cultures are valued and respected. We have a number of initiatives in place to support this commitment.

As a member of the Victorian Aboriginal Graduate and Cadetship Network there is a dedicated support and guidance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates. 

For more information please contact: graduatenurseprogram@austin.org.au

Information sessions

Please join us at our information sessions about our 2026 programs:

You’re welcome to attend as many of our sessions are you like! Please register for our information sessions through Eventbrite. 

Register now

Key information for applicants

Applications for 2025 Graduate Nurse Program at Austin Health will open on Monday 2 June 2025 and close Wednesday 2 July 2025.

• How to apply

  Follow these steps to complete your PMCV ‘Match’ application.

• FAQs

  Find answers to frequently asked questions about our Graduate Nurse Program.

Jellyfish

Dangerous jellyfish found in Australian waters include the box jellyfish (chironex fleckeri) and an array of jellyfish thought to cause the Irukandji syndrome, including carukia barnesi.  These are not found in Victorian waters.

Jellyfish in Victorian waters rarely cause serious illness but can cause severe pain.

First aid

• Remove adherent tentacles by flooding area with sea water, picking off with gloved fingers or forceps or scraping them off with a firm implement (e.g. a credit card). Do not pick off with bare fingers.
• Apply cold packs and take a simple analgesic if required to relieve pain. For stings from Physalia species (Bluebottle or Portuguese man-o-war), immersion of the affected area in hot (not scalding) water is recommended. Immerse the affected area or shower in water that is hot enough to be effective, but not hot enough to scald. Do this for approximately 20 minutes. It is best for someone other than the victim to test the water temperature. If no one else is present, the victim should test the temperature with a non-injured limb.
• Antihistamine medication or cortisone cream may be required, ask your pharmacist or doctor.

Seek medical attention if the symptoms are severe.

Beyond the graduate year

Austin Health provides a wide range of opportunities beyond the Graduate Nurse Program, with more than 92 per cent of graduates staying on with Austin Health after completion.

• Transition to specialty practice programs

  Learn about our programs for registered nurses in specialty clinical areas.

• Nursing postgraduate programs

  Find out about our range of postgraduate programs for registered nurses.

Contact us

Graduate Nurse Program

Email: graduatenurseprogram@austin.org.au

Instagram: @austinhealthgnp