Shift work makes the travel rules confusing, and the uniform rules are stricter than most people expect. Here's what nurses and midwives can actually claim.
Start 14-day free trialFree for 14 days · no card needed
By the Nomo team · Last reviewed 24 September 2026
Protective clothing you buy yourself, like non-slip nursing shoes, scrubs, gloves and face masks, is claimable because it protects you from a specific risk at work. So is a compulsory uniform: one your workplace explicitly requires under an agreement or policy, enforces consistently, and which is distinctive enough to identify the organisation.
Conventional clothing doesn't work. A white shirt and black pants are everyday clothes, so they're not deductible even if your ward requires them. You can claim the cost of washing the clothes you can claim. The ATO accepts $1 a load if the load is only work clothes.
Annual practising certificate fees, union and professional association fees, and agency commissions and fees are all deductible. So are technical and professional publications, and equipment like a stethoscope or a pin watch.
Continuing professional development to maintain your registration is claimable, and so is further study that deepens what you already do, such as a Master of Health. Study that only relates to your job in a general way, or that's really about moving into a different career, isn't. See self-education expenses.
Being on call, starting before dawn or working a public holiday doesn't make the trip to your usual hospital claimable. It's still ordinary home to work travel. What you can claim:
This is where nurses' kilometres add up. The ATO's own example is a nurse at a GP clinic who drives from the clinic to patients' homes to provide care: those trips are claimable. The same logic covers community and home care nurses driving from base to client to client.
The trip from home to your first patient is harder. If you have a regular base you report to, it's usually private. If your work is genuinely itinerant, with a web of workplaces, no fixed base and uncertainty about where you'll be sent, home trips can count. The ATO sets out the indicators under trips you can and can't claim.
Agency nurses working at a different hospital each shift should check those indicators carefully. Moving between two jobs on the same day is claimable either way. See the work kilometre tracker and driving between job sites.
Phone, data and internet are claimable for the work-related share, with records to back it up. But if the only thing you use your phone for is messaging your manager about shifts, or checking rosters, payslips and income statements, that's not deductible work use.
From 2026–27, you can take a standard deduction of up to $1,000 for work expenses with no receipts. Scrubs, shoes, registration renewals, CPD and work driving all count toward the $1,000. Union and professional association fees are claimed on top, based on the ATO's current draft ruling.
| Example (illustrative amounts) | Covered work expenses | Better option |
|---|---|---|
| Ward nurse: $250 of scrubs and shoes, $180 registration renewal, 300 km between sites ($273) | $703 | The $1,000 standard deduction, plus union fees on top |
| Community nurse: 1,500 km between patients ($1,365), $250 of scrubs and shoes, $180 registration renewal | $1,795 | Claiming actual expenses, plus union fees on top |
Run your own numbers in the standard deduction calculator.
| Keep | For |
|---|---|
| Date, km and purpose of each trip between sites or patients | Car expenses |
| Receipts for scrubs, shoes and equipment | Clothing and equipment claims |
| AHPRA, union and association receipts | Fees, including the ones claimed on top of the $1,000 |
| Course invoices and a note on how each relates to your current role | Self-education |
| A 4 week diary of work phone use | The work share of your phone |
Nomo logs the drives between clinics and patients in the background, and keeps the AHPRA renewal, the CPD invoice and the scrubs receipt together, ready for July. Nomo is an Australian tax deduction and mileage/work kilometre tracking app for PAYG employees and sole traders.
Every work trip for the year, with the total km.
Receipts read and sorted as you go.
One running total across trips and expenses.
See the tax deduction tracker.
Yes, if you bought them yourself. Scrubs and non-slip shoes are protective clothing. A plain white shirt and black pants aren't claimable.
Yes. Annual practising certificate fees are deductible for nurses and midwives.
Yes. Driving from your base to patients' homes, and between patients, is work travel. Home to your first patient is usually private if you have a regular base.
No. It's still ordinary home to work travel, whatever the time.
No, even if your employer requires it.
No. Based on the ATO's draft ruling, union and professional association fees are claimed on top of it.
Every drive between patients, counted.
Trips, receipts and fees kept together all year. 14 days free, no card needed.
Start 14-day free trialBy the Nomo team · Last reviewed 24 September 2026. We check these pages against current ATO guidance and update them when the rules change.
General information only, not tax advice. Rules change and everyone’s situation is different, so check ato.gov.au or talk to a registered tax agent about your situation. Nomo is a record keeping app, not a registered tax agent.