The timeline of nursing history in Australia and New Zealand stretches from the 19th century to the present.

19th century

1810s

• 1811 – The opening of Sydney Hospital. Convict men and women undertook the nursing.^[1][2]

1820s

Sydney hospital attended the site^{[clarification needed]} of the first public hospital in Australia, the Rum Hospital, which was first opened and completed in July 1820s.^{[citation needed]}

1830s

• 1838 – The first trained nurses arrive in Sydney, five Irish Sisters of Charity.^[1]

1840s

• 1840 – Settlement of New Zealand as a colony and the establishment of state hospitals.^[1]
• 1841 – People considered to be mentally ill were considered criminals. The first case of insanity in New Zealand's society was recorded in 1841 (Papps, E, 2002).
• 1847 – Wellington Hospital was established, The first New Zealand Hospital. Giselle's Journal, http://mylittleculturediary.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/first-new-zealand-hospital-labyrinth.html (Barber, L., & Towers, R. (1976). Wellington Hospital 1847–1976. Wellington: Wellington Hospital Board.)
• 1848 – The Yarra Bend Asylum was opened so that those mentally ill could be moved out of gaol. This Asylum was later known as Melbourne.^[3]

1850s

• 1854 – The first lunatic asylum was built, in Wellington, New Zealand.^[1]
• 1860–1883 – Approximately 16,378 single women emigrated to New Zealand; 582 identified their occupation as a nurse, monthly nurse, sick nurse, trained nurse, nurse girl, midwife, hospital nurse or professional nurse. Orchard, S. (1997). More ‘ woman of good character': Nurses who came to New Zealand as immigrant settlers.^[4]
• 1868 – Lucy Osburn and her four Nightingale nurses arrived at Sydney Infirmary (to become Sydney Hospital). They soon start the first nursing school.^[1]

1870s

• 1870 – New Zealand had 37 hospitals as a result of the population increase of the gold rush.^[5]

1880s

• 1885 – following the Hospital and Charitable Aids Act conditions improved.^[6]

1890s

• 1899 – Australasian Trained Nurses' Association was founded in New South Wales.^[1]
• 1899–1902 – The years of the South African War. During the 1899–1902 South African (Boer) War, nurses from each state in Australia joined volunteer troops, serving as private citizens or with the British nursing forces. Daly, J. Jackson, D. Speedy, S. (2010). Contexts of nursing (3rd ed.). Chatswood, NSW 2067. Australia. Cecotti,L. Prejudice times meant that although hundreds of female nurses applied there was conflict with those already in the military. Few however did serve in South Africa.^[1]

20th century

1900s

• c.1900 – The Private Hospital, Wakefield Street in Adelaide becomes the first training hospital for nurses in the colony of South Australia, under Alice Tibbits (1854–1932).^[7]
• 1901 – New Zealand is the first country to regulate nurses nationally, with adoption of the Nurses Registration Act
• 1901 – Royal Victorian Trained Nurses' Association is formed.^[8]
• 1902 – Ellen Dougherty of New Zealand becomes the first registered nurse in the world on 10 February.
• 1902 – The Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service replaces, by royal warrant, the Army Nursing Service.^[9]
• 1904 - Queen's Memorial Infectious Diseases Hospital opened in Fairfield, initially as a 'fever' hospital.https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/VA1231#:~:text=Fairfield%20Infectious%20Diseases%20Hospital%20commenced,of%20polio%20and%20scarlet%20fever.
• 1908 – Ākenehi Hei, of the Whakatohea and Whanau-a-Apanui tribes, was the first Maori registered nurse in New Zealand.^[10]
• 1908 – Kai Tiaki, the first New Zealand nursing journal, is published.^[11]
• 1909 – A new role called 'backblocks' nursing was introduced to New Zealand providing services to rural parts of the country^[12]

1910s

• 1910 – Ākenehi Hei, the first qualified Maori nurse in New Zealand, dies on 28 November 1910 after contracting typhoid from family members^[13] she was nursing.
• 1914 - Alice Gordon Elliott and Sister Janet Radcliffe are the first nurses to sail abroad to assist in World War One.^[14]
• 1915 – The New Zealand Army Nursing Service set up in 1915, largely at the urging of Hester Maclean (1863–1932).

1920s

• 1925 – New Zealand attempts to have a degree nursing programme available at the University of Otago.^[15]

1930s

• 1938 – The New Zealand Social Security Act of 1938 marks the introduction of a comprehensive health system that mandated the provision of free care for all.^[1]
• 1939 – Registering of nursing aides commenced in New Zealand^[16]
• 1939–1945 – Australian and New Zealand nurses serve outside their countries in World War II.^[1]

1940s

• 1942 – Banka Island massacre: Twenty-one Australian nurses, survivors of a bombed and sunken ship, are executed by bayonet or machine gun by Imperial Japanese Army soldiers on 16 February.
• 1949 – Formation of the NSW College of Nursing.^[1]
• 1949 – Formation of College of Nursing, Australia^[17]

1960s

• 1967 – New Zealand nursing undergo changes from being hospital-based apprenticeships to tertiary education institutions.^[18]

1970s

• 1971 – The Carpenter Report was released; a review released by New Zealand centred around the nursing education system, the report advocated training nurses in an educational environment. The government however decided that polytechs, not universities, were more appropriate for this; however the consequences of this were that nurses were only diploma level not degree level.^[1]
• 1973 – Christchurch and Wellington Polytechnics offer diploma-level nursing education; Massey and Victoria Universities (Wellington) start their post-registration bachelor's degrees.^[1]
• 1975 – First nursing diploma programme in Australia in a College of Advanced Education (CAE) in Melbourne, followed quickly by programs in New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia.^[19]

1980s

• 1980 – The Roper, Logan and Tierney model of nursing, based upon the activities of daily living, is published.
• 1983 – The importance of human rights in nursing is made explicit in a statement adopted by the International Council of Nurses.
• 1983 – UKCC becomes the profession's new regulatory body in the UK.
• 1988 – Anne Casey develops her child-centred nursing model while working as a paediatric oncology nurse in London.
• 1989 – Nurses' Health Study 2 begins.^[20]

1990s

• 1990 – Last student graduated from New Zealand hospital program.^[21]
• 1992 – "Cultural safety" was made a requirement for nursing and midwifery education programs by the Nursing Council of New Zealand. Cultural safety allows effective nursing of patients and/or family members of those of another culture by a nurse who has reflected on one's own cultural identity and understands the impact of differing cultures in nursing practice and patient care.^[22]
• 1992 – The Australian and New Zealand national governments signed a Mutual Recognition Agreement. (Daly, Speedy & Jackson, 2010)^[23]
• 1996 – The Flight Nurse Association was created by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) to recognise the need of training and education of the same standards throughout New Zealand.^[24]

21st century

2000s

• 2000 – Review of undergraduate nursing education by New Zealand Nursing Council^[1]
• 2002 – Deborah Harris, New Zealand's first Nurse Practitioner.^[25]
• 2004 – The Health Practitioners Competence Assurance (2003) Act comes into full power on 18 September, in New Zealand, these cover the requirements for nurses to have current competences relating to their scope of practice.^[26]
• 2005 – The Nursing Council of New Zealand published a comprehensive guideline on cultural safety in nursing education and practice.^[1]
• 2010 – A national registration for all nurses and midwives comes into force in Australia in July 2010. (Daly, Speedy & Jackson, 2010)^[23]
• 2010 – Nurses' Health Study 3 begins enrolling: Female RNs, LPNs, and nursing students 20–46 are encouraged to join this long-term women's health study. Study remains open until 100,000 nurses are enrolled.^[20]