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HomeAbout UsWhere is New South Wales? Where is New South Wales? New South Wales is a State of Australia. New South Wales (NSW) was the first British colony to be established in Australasia. It was so named by British explorer, Captain James Cook, who thought it reminded him of a favourite location in Wales. At one time the colony of New South Wales encompassed all of modern day Australia except Western Australia, and it was at one time the seat of administration for other British colonies in the South Pacific, including New Zealand and Fiji.  As new states were developed, the area of New South Wales gradually reduced. In Australia, there are six States and two major Territories of which New South Wales is the most populous State. Sydney was the initial settlement in the colony. Today, Sydney is the largest city in Australia and the capital city of the State of New South Wales. The largest number of migrants and the largest number of nurses with qualifications obtained in other countries enter Australia through Sydney. The majority of the population of New South Wales lives close to the coast, with Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong being the major population centres. Government New South Wales is one of six states which formed the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901; two mainland Territories have limited self-government and participation in the Commonwealth government. The Commonwealth (federal) government makes laws in regard to a number of areas including defence, migration, international affairs etc., while State governments make laws relating to areas such as police, basic law and order, delivery of health care, school education etc. Some matters are subject to laws of both state and federal governments. Registration or licensing of occupations is currently administered under the laws of state and territory governments. Persons wishing to work in more than one state or territory are required to register in each of the states or territories. Under the mutual recognition laws, a person who is registered or licensed to practise an occupation in one state or territory, is eligible to apply for registration/licensure to practise the same occupation in any other state or territory.  However the Council of Australian Governments has announced a system of national registration for all health professionals will commence by July 2008. >> Governments implement national registration for nurses and midwives.   link to New South Wales Government Nursing The first trained nurses to come to Australia, were members of the religious order Sisters of Charity from St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin in Ireland. The nuns arrived in 1838 and worked initially in the settlement of Parramatta before establishing St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney and, later, St Joseph’s Hospital Auburn (a suburb of Sydney). Strong traditions of education for nurses derive from six proteges of Florence Nightingale, including Lucy Osburn, who were invited to come to the Sydney Infirmary (now Sydney Hospital) in 1868. One of the nurses later became matron of the Sydney Benevolent Asylum and another was for many years the matron at Gladesville (psychiatric) Hospital. Nurses who trained in the Nightingale tradition at Sydney Hospital later contributed to the development of nursing education and practice throughout the country. In 1985, New South Wales was one of the first places in the world to achieve the goal of all education for registered nurses being undertaken exclusively through higher education institutions. Since 1992, all programs for the education of registered nurses have been at the level of Bachelor degrees or graduate level study. Midwifery Since the 19th century, midwifery in New South Wales was regarded as a branch of nursing and midwives were registered as midwifery nurses or, later, registered nurses authorised to practise midwifery.  In August 2004, changes to legislation established provision for midwives who were not nurses.  A separate Register of  Midwives was established, the name of the Board was changed to Nurses and Midwives Board, and it became possible for education institutions to offer midwifery courses without a pre-requisite or co-requisite that students be registered as nurses.  The first Bachelor of Midwifery course was accredited to commence in New South Wales in 2005.