Healthcare & Medicare in Australia

Medicare covers Australian citizens, permanent residents and New Zealand citizens, plus applicants for certain permanent visas. It subsidises GP visits, treatment in public hospitals, and many prescription medicines through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

If you hold or have applied for an eligible permanent visa, you can usually enrol soon after arrival, even while your permanent visa is being finalised in some cases. Permanent residents receive full Medicare coverage regardless of nationality.

When you see a GP, the visit may be 'bulk billed' (fully covered by Medicare at no cost to you) or charged with a gap you pay yourself. Medicare also covers treatment as a public patient in a public hospital at no charge.

At the pharmacy, the PBS caps what you pay for many prescription medicines, with a lower rate for concession-card holders. Carry your Medicare card to appointments so providers can claim on your behalf.

Most temporary visas — including student visas and many skilled provisional visas — require you to hold adequate health insurance as a condition of your visa. Students typically need Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) and many other temporary residents need Overseas Visitors Health Cover (OVHC).

Always check the specific conditions attached to your visa subclass, because holding the required cover is a visa condition and failing to maintain it can affect your status.

Australia has Reciprocal Health Care Agreements (RHCA) with 11 countries: Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

These agreements provide access to medically necessary treatment while you're in Australia — the exact scope varies by country, and visitors from New Zealand and Ireland, for example, are generally limited to public hospital care and PBS medicines. An RHCA is not a substitute for comprehensive private insurance, especially for non-urgent care.

Many residents hold private health insurance on top of Medicare. It can cover treatment as a private patient, shorter waits for elective procedures, and 'extras' such as dental, optical and physiotherapy that Medicare doesn't fully cover.

There are also tax and timing factors: higher earners without private hospital cover may pay the Medicare Levy Surcharge, and Lifetime Health Cover loading can increase premiums if you take out hospital cover later in life. It's worth weighing these up once your income and circumstances are settled.