Medicare and Health Cover for New Migrants to Australia

Medicare is Australia's public health system. If you are enrolled, it covers all or part of the cost of seeing a doctor (GP), treatment in a public hospital as a public patient, many specialist services, and subsidised prescription medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Some GPs 'bulk bill', meaning Medicare pays the full fee and you pay nothing at the appointment.

The single most important thing to understand as a new migrant: Medicare is tied to your visa status, not just to living here. Whether you can enrol depends entirely on what visa you hold. Permanent residents and a handful of visa categories get in; most temporary visa-holders do not, and need private health cover instead.

This guide explains, in plain English, exactly which group you fall into, how to enrol if you are eligible, and what to buy instead if you are not. Health and visa rules change, so always confirm your specific situation on servicesaustralia.gov.au (Medicare) and homeaffairs.gov.au (visas).

You can enrol in Medicare if you hold a permanent resident visa. Australian citizens and New Zealand citizens living here can also enrol (more on New Zealanders below).

Importantly, you do not always have to wait for your PR to be granted. You can enrol once you have APPLIED for permanent residency, provided you are living in Australia. Services Australia specifically lists people who have applied for a combined partner visa, subclass 309/100 (offshore) or 820/801 (onshore), as eligible to enrol on this basis. This is a huge relief for partners of Australians who are on a bridging visa waiting for a decision.

Refugees, humanitarian entrants and certain eligible asylum seekers can also enrol. Some temporary visa-holders covered by a specific Ministerial Order are eligible too, though this is a narrow category. If you are unsure, the safest move is to apply and let Services Australia assess you, or call them.

Note that Medicare eligibility and access to Centrelink income-support payments are separate things. Many newly arrived residents face a Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period before they can claim Centrelink payments, even if they already have Medicare. Don't assume one means the other.

As a permanent resident you generally need two things: a current passport or ImmiCard, and proof of permanent residence from the Department of Home Affairs (your visa grant letter or evidence in your VEVO record). Services Australia notes you do not need to get your documents certified.

• Online (fastest): Sign in to your myGov account, link Medicare, and complete the enrolment as an individual or a family. You can track progress online.

• By form: Complete the Medicare enrolment form (MS004) and email or mail it with your supporting documents to Medicare Enrolment Services. This is the path if you cannot enrol online.

If you are enrolling a family, you need identity documents for any children under 15. To include someone aged 15 or older on the same enrolment, they give you their application number, or they can choose to have their own Medicare card. Once approved, Services Australia contacts you with next steps and posts your Medicare card to the address you provided. A Medicare card is typically valid for several years and is reissued automatically before it expires.

If you have applied for PR but it is not yet granted, the document set is different (you prove your application rather than a grant). Check the Services Australia page 'Documents to enrol in Medicare if you've applied for permanent residency'.

Australia has Reciprocal Health Care Agreements (RHCAs) with 11 countries: New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Slovenia and Sweden. If you are a resident of one of these countries visiting Australia (for example on a working holiday or tourist visa), you may be able to access Medicare for medically necessary care.

'Medically necessary' means care you need while you are here that cannot reasonably wait until you go home, treatment for an illness or injury that occurs during your stay. It is not a substitute for comprehensive travel or private health insurance. Typical RHCA cover includes treatment as a public patient in a public hospital and some PBS medicines at the general rate. Visa health-insurance conditions still apply, so an RHCA does not automatically satisfy a visa requirement to hold insurance.

Time limits vary by country. For example, visitors from the United Kingdom are generally covered from the day they arrive until their visa expires, while visitors from Italy are covered for a maximum of 6 months. To use an RHCA you must enrol in Medicare and prove your eligibility (usually with your overseas passport and evidence you are enrolled in your home country's health system). Always check the country-specific page on Services Australia, because the rules and durations differ.

Be clear-eyed about the gaps: RHCAs do not cover treatment you travelled to Australia specifically to get, elective procedures, dental, ambulance in most states, or care once your eligibility period ends. Many migrants still take out private cover on top.

New Zealand citizens are a special case. On arrival, eligible New Zealanders are usually granted a Special Category Visa (subclass 444), a temporary visa that lets you live, work and study in Australia for as long as you remain a New Zealand citizen.

SCV holders can enrol in Medicare. If you cannot immediately provide the two standard residency documents, you may still be able to enrol under the reciprocal agreement between Australia and New Zealand, particularly if you are staying longer than 6 months, until you can supply the residency evidence.

Be aware that Medicare eligibility is not the same as access to the full range of Centrelink payments. New Zealanders who arrived after 26 February 2001 are generally 'non-protected' SCV holders and face restrictions on income-support payments, even though they can get Medicare. Check your specific entitlements on the Home Affairs 'Entitlements for New Zealand citizens' page and with Services Australia.

If you are here on a temporary visa and are NOT covered by an RHCA, you are generally not eligible for Medicare. You must arrange private health insurance, and for most students and skilled workers this is a mandatory visa condition (condition 8501: maintain adequate health insurance for your whole stay).

International students on a subclass 500 visa must hold Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for the full duration of the visa. OSHC covers hospital and medical treatment and ambulance services, plus LIMITED pharmaceuticals, benefits are capped at $50 per pharmaceutical item up to $300 a year for a single membership ($600 for a family). It does NOT cover general 'extras' such as dental, optical or physiotherapy, you would need separate Extras cover for those. Keep your OSHC paid up continuously: if it lapses you may be unable to claim, and you could breach your visa condition.

Working-visa holders, for example on the subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa or the subclass 485 Graduate visa, generally need Overseas Visitors Health Cover (OVHC) because their visa carries condition 8501. OVHC must be comprehensive enough to meet the visa requirement, must cover the whole period of stay, and must also cover any family members joining you on the visa. Minimum benefit levels apply, for example, admitted hospital treatment at the relevant state or territory gazetted rates.

Compare OSHC/OVHC policies carefully: waiting periods (often 2 months for pre-existing conditions and up to 12 months for pregnancy-related care are common across the industry), what is excluded, and whether ambulance is included in your state. This is exactly the kind of cover a comparison site can help you weigh up before you commit.

If you ARE enrolled in Medicare, you generally pay the Medicare levy (a percentage of your taxable income) through your tax return, and higher earners without private hospital cover may also pay the Medicare Levy Surcharge. Getting appropriate private hospital cover can remove the surcharge.

If you are a temporary resident NOT entitled to Medicare, you should not have to pay the Medicare levy, but you have to prove it. Apply to Services Australia for a Medicare Entitlement Statement (MES, form MS015), which states the period in a financial year you were not entitled to Medicare benefits. You then use it to claim the Medicare levy exemption in your tax return. You can apply from 1 July each year, you need a separate statement for each year, and it can take up to 8 weeks to issue, so apply early.

Scam warning, this matters: Applying for a tax file number (TFN) through the ATO is completely free. The ATO warns of fake websites, often advertised on Facebook, Instagram and X, that offer to get you a TFN or ABN 'for a fee' and then steal your money and identity. Apply only through ato.gov.au. Also beware fake job offers asking for upfront payments and anyone claiming to be a 'migration agent' who is not registered.

On visas specifically: for a fee, only an OMARA-registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner (immigration lawyer) can lawfully give you Australian visa advice. You can verify an agent on the Register of Migration Agents. For anything complex, a refusal, a tricky partner or employer case, an appeal, professional help is genuinely worth it. The OMARA suggests getting three quotes to ensure a fair price.