Where the Live Perioperative Vacancies Are Across Australia and New Zealand Right Now
- Kate Wheeler
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
Perioperative vacancies across Australia and New Zealand are currently spread across every major theatre specialty, from anaesthetics and cardiac electrophysiology through to scrub, scout and surgical ward nursing. This bulletin sets out where the genuinely live roles sit today, drawn directly from Carejobz's own recruitment activity, so that theatre professionals considering a move have an accurate picture of what is actually open rather than a general impression of the market.
We have limited this list to roles that are both published and confirmed live at the time of writing. Vacancies that had been advertised but were subsequently withdrawn or filled by the client have been excluded, because a bulletin is only useful if it reflects reality. In line with our standard practice, individual hospitals and facilities are not named here; this bulletin gives a state-by-state view of specialty and seniority, not a client directory.
New South Wales
New South Wales currently accounts for the largest single share of live perioperative vacancies we are working on, spanning anaesthetic nursing, perioperative floor coordination, scrub and scout nursing, cardiac electrophysiology and surgical ward nursing across several private hospitals in the state. Multiple concurrent vacancies at some of these facilities point to teams that are actively growing their permanent theatre complement rather than simply replacing single departures.
Queensland
Queensland has the broadest spread of specialties among the states we are recruiting for, with current vacancies spanning perioperative nurse educator and scrub and scout roles, perioperative nursing and nurse unit management positions, anaesthetic nursing, and perioperative services management, across several private hospitals and day surgery centres in the state.
Australian Capital Territory
In the Australian Capital Territory, we have an ongoing vacancy for Registered Nurses in a private hospital Cath Lab, a specialty that continues to be one of the harder areas to recruit into given the relatively small pool of nurses with catheterisation laboratory experience.
Victoria and South Australia
In Victoria, we are recruiting a Scrub Scout Nurse with an ophthalmology focus at a private hospital. In South Australia, there is a part-time RN Scrub and Scout vacancy covering both ophthalmology and oral and dental lists at a private day surgery, a role that suits a nurse who enjoys variety across shorter day-surgery case types.
New Zealand
In the Auckland region, we are recruiting a Charge Nurse Manager for operating theatres, a leadership vacancy for an experienced perioperative nurse ready to take on unit management responsibility in the New Zealand private sector.
What this tells us about the current market
Looking at these seventeen live roles together, a few patterns stand out. Day hospitals and day surgery centres, rather than large tertiary private hospitals, account for a significant proportion of current vacancies, which reflects the continued growth of same-day surgical models across both countries. Leadership and coordination roles, including Nurse Unit Manager or equivalent positions and a Floor Coordinator role, sit alongside frontline scrub, scout and ward vacancies, suggesting hospitals are building out management capacity at the same time as clinical headcount. Ophthalmology and day-surgery specific scrub and scout roles also feature more than once, in both Victoria and South Australia.
For anaesthetic nursing specifically, current vacancies are open to nurses moving from a general perioperative background, which is worth noting for theatre nurses considering a shift into anaesthetics without a formal graduate certificate already in hand.
A snapshot, not a guarantee
This bulletin reflects live vacancies at the time of writing. Roles are filled, and new ones open, on an ongoing basis, so the most reliable way to see what is currently available is to view the full list of live theatre and perioperative vacancies. If you are weighing up whether now is the right time to move, it may also help to read our thoughts on what makes a great theatre team and on why theatre nurses remain one of the hardest groups of healthcare professionals to recruit, both of which give some context for why roles like these can sit open for longer than hospitals would like.
For a broader read on where the perioperative job market sits in 2026, our earlier piece on the perioperative job market across Australia and New Zealand is worth revisiting, and if salary is part of your decision, what perioperative nurses are actually earning in Australia sets out the figures.
You can view current live roles at theatre nursing jobs in Australia.
Planning your next perioperative career step
The Theatre Nurse Career Playbook 2026 can help you assess your experience, career direction and next move: https://www.carejobz.com.au/theatre-nurse-salary-guide
For a confidential career conversation, contact Carejobz at info@carejobz.com.
