Care Sector Migration: Australia vs New Zealand Pathways for Aged Care and Support Workers

You have a care-sector job offer.

Great news.

Then the visa pathway appears.

Australia and New Zealand treat aged care and disability support work differently. Your current visa, job classification, location and employer all matter.

This guide compares the main options.

It is especially relevant if you are in Australia on a temporary visa, such as a student dependent visa, and have received an offer from a New Zealand aged care employer.

The short answer

• New Zealand: Care workers may use a work-to-residence pathway after completing qualifying work in New Zealand.
• Australia: Aged care and healthcare roles may benefit from skilled and employer-sponsored pathways.
• Australian work does not count towards New Zealand’s 24-month care workforce requirement.
• Leaving Australia may affect your current visa strategy and processing position.
• Do not resign, travel or accept an offer before checking the full pathway.

New Zealand care workforce pathway

The Care Workforce Work to Residence Visa is the main residence pathway for eligible care workers.

You generally need:

• A qualifying care workforce role.
• At least 24 months of full-time work in New Zealand.
• That work must fall within the 30 months before applying.
• Pay at or above the applicable care workforce wage rate.
• A current job or job offer from an accredited employer.
• A full-time position.
• A permanent contract or a fixed-term contract of at least 12 months.
• Health, character, English and other residence requirements.

The 24-month rule is the key point.

Australian care experience does not count

This is the most common misunderstanding.

Work completed in Australia does not count towards the New Zealand care workforce residence clock.

Neither does care work completed in another country.

The qualifying period must be completed in New Zealand. You may be able to complete it in separate periods. The work must still satisfy the applicable rules.

Eligible roles include:

• Aged or Disabled Carer.
• Nursing Support Worker.
• Personal Care Assistant.
• Disabilities Services Officer.
• Residential Care Officer.
• Diversional Therapist.
• Therapy Aide.
• Child or Youth Residential Care Assistant.
• Māori Health Assistant, Kaiawhina (Hauora).

Check the occupation description carefully. A job title alone is not enough.

A role must match the relevant duties and requirements.

Read the current New Zealand Care Workforce Work to Residence Visa requirements before relying on the pathway.

Is care work on New Zealand’s Green List?

Usually, no.

The care workforce roles above are not Green List roles.

Registered Nurse and Enrolled Nurse occupations are separate. They may fall under the Green List, subject to registration and other requirements.

Do not treat a Personal Care Assistant role as a Green List role simply because it is in healthcare.

That shortcut can derail the plan.

How the AEWV fits into New Zealand care migration

Most workers first need an Accredited Employer Work Visa, or AEWV, to work in New Zealand.

The employer process is sequential:

1. Employer accreditation.
2. Job advertising and labour-market steps.
3. Job Check.
4. Worker’s AEWV application.

Accreditation must be approved before the employer can lodge the Job Check.

For care roles classified at ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5, the employer generally must:

• Advertise the role in New Zealand for at least 21 days.
• Engage with Work and Income in good faith.
• Explain why suitable New Zealand applicants were not hired.
• Lodge the Job Check within the required period.

The named contact for Work and Income must be someone in the business who makes hiring decisions. A licensed immigration adviser cannot be that named contact.

The role must also be:

• Full-time, with at least 30 hours per week.
• Permanent or fixed-term for at least 12 months.
• Paid at least the market rate.
• Paid at least the New Zealand minimum wage.
• Consistent with the applicable care-sector requirements.

The employer must not pass recruitment, accreditation or Job Check costs to the worker.

The employer also has settlement obligations. This includes giving information about living and working in New Zealand and supporting settlement after arrival.

See Skillage Nimbus’ New Zealand visa pathway guide for broader work and residence planning.

Why the Skilled Migrant Category may not be the best fit

The New Zealand Skilled Migrant Category requires six points.

Points may come from one skill category, such as:

• Qualification.
• Occupational registration.
• Income.

You cannot mix qualification points with income points.

You may then add eligible skilled work experience in New Zealand.

For ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5 care roles, income points require pay at a higher multiple of the SMC median wage. Ordinary care-sector pay generally does not reach that level.

That makes the SMC difficult for many care workers.

Settings changed in stages during 2026. Further changes took effect on 24 August 2026.

Check the current Skilled Migrant Category guidance before calculating points.

Australia: staying may preserve useful options

Australia does not have one single “aged care visa”.

The correct route depends on:

• Your exact ANZSCO occupation.
• Your duties.
• Your qualifications and experience.
• Your employer.
• The available sponsorship or nomination pathway.
• Your current visa conditions.
• Your English, health and character evidence.
• Whether you are in a regional area.
• Current government settings.

Possible strategies may include:

• Employer-sponsored temporary or permanent visas.
• Regional employer-sponsored options.
• Employer sponsorship under a Labour Agreement through a Designated Area Migration Agreement, or DAMA.

For most care workers, there is no automatic points-tested route through the subclass 190 visa, subclass 491 visa or other general skilled pathways.

Aged care and disability support occupations such as Aged or Disabled Carer (ANZSCO 423111), Personal Care Assistant and Nursing Support Worker are generally not on the federal skilled occupation lists used for points-tested visas. That usually means subclass 189, subclass 190 and subclass 491 options are not open in the normal way.

The more realistic Australian pathway is often employer sponsorship through a Labour Agreement under a Designated Area Migration Agreement, such as the South Australia DAMA or the Northern Territory DAMA.

These DAMA labour agreements can include care-worker occupations and allow an endorsed employer to sponsor overseas care workers.

Visas used under a DAMA labour agreement may include:

• The subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa in the Labour Agreement stream.
• The subclass 494 Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (SESR) visa.
• The subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa, which can provide permanent residence.

DAMA labour agreements can also include concessions that standard skilled programs do not. These commonly include:

• A reduced income-threshold requirement, usually expressed as a lower percentage of the standard threshold, subject to current rules.
• A lower English-language requirement in some occupations.
• An age concession that may allow applicants up to 55 in some skill levels and circumstances.

This is an employer-driven process, not a points-tested one.

The employer usually must:

• Be endorsed by the relevant Designated Area Representative.
• Enter into a labour agreement.
• Conduct labour market testing.
• Provide a settlement information package.

A longer-term pathway may also exist through the subclass 191 visa for workers who later qualify after holding a relevant regional employer-sponsored visa and meeting the current requirements. That application is made by the worker independently.

Occupation lists, labour agreements and regional settings can change.

Do not rely on an old list, forum post or recruiter message. Check current Department of Home Affairs and official DAMA information before making plans.

Skillage Nimbus provides Australian skilled migration and employer-sponsored visa assistance.

Processing priority and your location

Aged care and healthcare have been treated as priority sectors in Australian visa processing.

In July 2026, Ministerial Direction 119 gave important processing advantages to some onshore applicants. This mattered for a person already in Australia.

However, Direction 119 was later replaced by newer processing directions from 19 September 2026.

The practical lesson is simple:

Being in Australia can matter.

Moving to New Zealand may change:

• Your current Australian visa position.
• Your ability to lodge an Australian application onshore.
• Your access to onshore processing priorities.
• Your work rights.
• Your travel conditions.
• Your financial and employment evidence.
• Your family’s visa strategy.

Processing priority does not remove eligibility requirements. It also does not guarantee a decision by a particular date.

Before leaving Australia, obtain advice from a registered migration agent Adelaide applicants can access locally, or a qualified migration agent Australia-wide.

Australia versus New Zealand: quick comparison

Issue	New Zealand	Australia
Main care residence concept	Care Workforce Work to Residence pathway	Employer-sponsored DAMA pathways may be relevant
Care work location	24 qualifying months must be in New Zealand	Australian experience may support an Australian employer-sponsored pathway, subject to the visa
Green List	Most listed care roles are not Green List roles	Occupation and visa pathways must be checked carefully
Employer process	Accreditation, labour steps, Job Check, then AEWV	Employer endorsement, labour agreement, sponsorship and visa steps depend on the pathway
Onshore position	Must hold a valid New Zealand visa	Current Australian location may affect strategy and priority
Long-term outcome	Residence after qualifying care work and other requirements	Employer-sponsored temporary, regional and permanent pathways may be possible, including DAMA-linked options
Main risk	Assuming Australian care work counts in New Zealand	Assuming a care job automatically qualifies for points-tested or state-nominated migration

A practical plan for the student-dependent scenario

If you are in Australia on a student dependent visa and have a New Zealand care-sector offer:

1. Check your Australian visa conditions.
2. Confirm the New Zealand job duties and occupation code.
3. Verify that the employer is accredited or can become accredited.
4. Check the contract, hours, pay and duration.
5. Confirm whether the role can support the AEWV.
6. Map the 24-month New Zealand residence pathway.
7. Assess Australian employer-sponsored and DAMA pathway options.
8. Compare family, travel and financial consequences.
9. Do not rely on an agent’s promise of guaranteed sponsorship.
10. Keep copies of every contract, payslip, roster and employer letter.

Your best pathway may be Australia.

It may be New Zealand.

It may also be a staged plan. For example, remaining in Australia while the New Zealand employer completes the required process.

Important information disclaimer

This article is general information only. It is based on Immigration New Zealand guidance, New Zealand employer-accreditation information, Australian Department of Home Affairs materials and publicly available DAMA framework information available at the time of writing. The specific classification of care roles, the operation of current Australian processing directions, New Zealand wage settings, employer requirements, labour agreement settings, DAMA concessions, state nomination criteria and visa eligibility should be treated as subject to official confirmation. Verify each point directly on the current Immigration New Zealand, Department of Home Affairs and relevant official state, territory or DAMA program websites before resigning, travelling or lodging an application.

Learn More

Need to compare your Australia and New Zealand options?

Call Skillage Nimbus 24/7 on +61 8 9131 6011.

Or book a migration consultation with a Registered Migration Agent Australia and Licensed Immigration Adviser New Zealand.

Skillage Nimbus can help you assess your care-sector role, employer, current visa and long-term plan.

Frequently asked questions

Does Australian aged care work count towards New Zealand’s care workforce residence pathway?

No. The required 24 months must be qualifying work completed in New Zealand. Australian and overseas care experience does not count towards that period.

Are aged care and disability support roles on New Zealand’s Green List?

The listed care workforce roles are generally not Green List roles. Registered Nurse and Enrolled Nurse pathways are separate and may have different requirements.

Can I move from Australia to New Zealand on an aged care job offer?

Possibly. The New Zealand employer must meet the applicable accreditation and Job Check requirements. You must also meet the AEWV requirements and maintain lawful status during the process.

Could staying in Australia be better?

It could be. Your current Australian visa, Australian work experience and onshore position may support an Australian strategy. This must be compared with the New Zealand offer and the time needed to complete the New Zealand care workforce pathway.

Is there an aged care visa Australia applicants can use automatically?

No. Australia does not provide one automatic aged care visa for every care worker.

For many care workers, the realistic Australian route is employer sponsorship under a DAMA labour agreement, not a general points-tested or state-nominated pathway.

That can involve an endorsed employer using a labour agreement to sponsor the worker under options such as the subclass 482 Labour Agreement stream, the subclass 494 SESR visa, or in some cases the subclass 186 ENS visa.

The relevant option depends on the occupation, duties, employer, location, skills, experience and current visa settings.

Should I speak to an immigration lawyer Adelaide applicants can access?

Complex cases may require advice from an appropriately qualified professional. Skillage Nimbus can assess the matter and explain whether a registered migration agent, licensed adviser or other legal professional is suitable for your circumstances.