Professional standards

Professional Codes & Guidelines

Nurses and midwives must be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), and meet the NMBA's professional standards in order to practise in Australia.

Professional standards define the practice and behaviour of nurses and midwives and include:

codes of conduct,
standards for practice, and
codes of ethics.

Codes of conduct

Please note that from 1 March 2018, professional boundaries expectations are included in the codes of conduct and are no longer separate documents.

Document	PDF	Accessible format	Date of effect
Code of conduct for midwives		Word (185KB)	1 March 2018
Code of conduct for nurses		Word (196KB)	1 March 2018
Fact sheet: Code of conduct for nurses and Code of conduct for midwives	PDF (168KB)	Webpage	1 March 2018
Case studies: applying the codes of conduct in practice	PDF (119KB)	Word (92.7KB)	1 March 2018

Standards for practice

Document	PDF	Accessible format	Date of effect
Midwife standards for practice	PDF (123KB)	Web page	1 October 2018
Fact sheet: Midwife standards for practice	PDF (52.1KB)	Web page	1 October 2018
Registered nurse standards for practice	PDF (177KB)	Web page	1 June 2016
Fact sheet: Registered nurse standards for practice	PDF (199KB)	Web page	June 2019
Enrolled nurse standards for practice	PDF (116KB)	Web page	1 January 2016
Fact sheet: Enrolled nurse standards for practice	PDF (59.4KB)	Web page	1 January 2016
Nurse practitioner standards for practice	PDF (393KB)	Web page	1 March 2021
Fact sheet: Nurse practitioner standards for practice	PDF (241KB)	Web page	1 March 2021

Codes of ethics

From 1 March 2018, the International Council of Nurses Code of ethics for nurses is in effect for all nurses in Australia and the International Confederation of Midwives Code of ethics for midwives is in effect for all midwives in Australia. These documents replace the NMBA Code of ethics for nurses - August 2008 and the NMBA Code of ethics for midwives - August 2008. For more information please see the news item.

Retired versions

Document	PDF	Date of effect
Retired version: Nurse practitioner standards for practice	PDF (193KB)	1 January 2014 to 28 February 2021
Retired version: Midwifery competency standards - January 2006 - rebranded*	PDF (886KB)	From 1 July 2010 to 30 September 2018
Retired version: Professional boundaries for midwives - March 2010 - rebranded*	PDF (1.00MB)	From 13 June 2013 to 28 February 2018
Retired version: Professional boundaries for nurses - February 2010 - rebranded*	PDF (1.30MB)	From 13 June 2013 to 28 February 2018
Retired version: Code of professional conduct for midwives - August 2008 - rebranded*	PDF (575KB)	From 13 June 2013 to 28 February 2018
Retired version: Code of professional conduct for nurses - August 2008 - rebranded*	PDF (510KB)	From 7 May 2013 28 February 2018
Retired version: Code of ethics for midwives - August 2008 - rebranded*	PDF (661KB)	From 13 June 2013 28 February 2018
Retired version: Code of ethics for nurses - March 2018	PDF (215KB)	From 1 March 2018 to 9 November 2021
Retired version: Code of ethics for nurses - August 2008 - rebranded*	PDF (453KB)	From 8 May 2013 28 February 2018
Retired version: Registered nurse competency standards - January 2006 - rebranded*	PDF (506KB)	From 1 July 2010 to 31 May 2016
Retired version: Enrolled nurse competency standards - October 2002	PDF (472KB)	From 1 July 2010 to 31 December 2015

*Rebranded: This document has undergone rebranding to reflect ownership by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. Except to update the design and names of relevant organisation, the content or intent of the original document has not changed, unless indicated otherwise.