Victoria Health Scrubs: What Colour Nurses, Doctors and Midwives Wear in VIC Hospitals

One of the most common questions we get from Victorian healthcare workers is some version of: "What colour do I need?" It's a deceptively simple question — and in Victoria, the answer is more complicated than most other states. Unlike NSW Health, which publishes a statewide colour framework covering most roles and Local Health Districts, Victorian hospitals operate under facility-level or health network-level uniform policies. There is no single Victorian government colour code that applies everywhere.

This guide explains how uniform colour decisions are made across Victoria's major health networks, what colours are most commonly worn by role, what to do when you can't find your facility's specific policy, and where to order the right scrubs with embroidery before your first shift.

How Victoria's uniform policy differs from NSW

NSW Health operates a centralised colour framework. The state publishes guidelines that cover Registered Nurses, Enrolled Nurses, midwives, medical officers and allied health across all its Local Health Districts — with some LHD-level variation acknowledged, but a clear default for every role. A nurse starting at any NSW Health facility can arrive on their first day with navy scrubs and be confident they're correct for their role.

Victoria works differently. The Victorian Department of Health does not mandate a single colour framework across all public hospitals. Instead, each of the state's major health networks — Alfred Health, Melbourne Health (Royal Melbourne Hospital), Austin Health, Monash Health, Northern Health, Eastern Health and others — sets its own uniform and dress code policy independently. Within those networks, individual sites or departments may have additional requirements.

In practice, this means the "correct" colour for an RN at The Alfred may differ from the correct colour for an RN at Northern Hospital — even though both are Victorian public hospitals. The good news is that across Victoria's major health networks, a strong consensus has emerged around a small number of core colours for each clinical role. These de facto conventions are what this guide covers.

Colours by role: what most Victorian hospitals use

Based on our supply experience across Victorian public hospitals since 2001, the following colour conventions are consistent across most of Victoria's major health networks. These are the de facto standards — they are not guaranteed to apply at your specific facility, but they represent the safest starting point if you cannot confirm your facility's policy before your first shift.

Major Victorian health networks and their colour conventions

Infectious Clothing Company has supplied scrubs and embroidery to Victorian public and private hospitals since 2001. Based on our supply experience and the public information available, here's what we know about colour conventions at Victoria's major health networks. Note that policies are set and updated at the facility level — contact your NUManager or the facility's nursing workforce team for the most current requirements.

Alfred Health (The Alfred, Sandringham, Caulfield)

Melbourne Health (Royal Melbourne Hospital, Royal Park)

Austin Health (Austin Hospital, Heidelberg Repatriation, Royal Talbot)

Monash Health (Monash Medical Centre, Casey, Dandenong, Kingston)

Other major Victorian health networks

Theatre, midwifery and specialist roles

Theatre and perioperative staff

In virtually all Victorian public hospitals, theatre scrubs — the greens worn in the operating suite — are hospital-issued and laundered on-site. You do not purchase these yourself. The reason is infection control: theatre scrubs stay within the facility and are not worn in transit or outside the sterile zone.

If you work in perioperative services and your facility requires you to purchase your own scrubs for pre- or post-operative areas (anaesthetic bay, PACU, day surgery), hunter green or teal are the most common colours. Confirm with your NUM or perioperative nurse manager before purchasing. For theatre-specific recommendations, see our theatre and surgery scrubs guide.

Midwives

Eggplant (a deep aubergine purple) is the most consistent midwifery colour across Victorian maternity services — used at Alfred Health, Royal Melbourne, Monash Health, and most other major networks. The colour is clinically meaningful: it distinguishes midwives from RNs (navy) at a glance, which matters in busy delivery suite environments where rapid role identification affects patient safety.

The Dickies EDS Signature and Cherokee Infinity both carry eggplant — the Dickies shade reads slightly deeper and warmer, the Cherokee shade is slightly cooler. Both are accepted at Victorian maternity services. If you're purchasing for a team order, stick to one brand to ensure shade consistency on the ward.

Nursing students on clinical placement in Victoria

Nursing students placed in Victorian hospitals wear what their university specifies — not what the hospital specifies. The placement hospital accepts whatever colour the university has mandated. Colour requirements vary significantly between Victorian nursing schools:

How to order compliant Victorian scrubs

Infectious Clothing Company has supplied Victorian hospitals since 2001. We stock all the core Victorian hospital colours across Cherokee, Dickies and Wink, and offer in-house embroidery for facility logos, name and role identification.

Victorian hospital colours available at Infectious across all three brands:

Frequently asked questions