Overseas Visitors health cover (OVHC)

We cover working visas (including 482, 485, 403, 407, 408, 457 and 870)and visitor visas (including 600, 601 and 651) and more.

We also cover bridging visas, student visas, and family and partner visas. We cover singles, couples and families.

For more information, see Visas we cover.

There are two levels of healthcare in Australia:

• Public health system (Medicare): This provides Australian residents with free or reduced cost access to medical providers – like doctors (GPs) and medical specialists – as well as public hospital services.  
• Private health system: This is something you opt into. It can include services like private hospital treatment, ambulances, dental and physiotherapy. The treatments and procedures you can claim for will depend on the level of insurance you choose.

For more information, see The Australian healthcare system.

The Australian Government has Reciprocal Health Care Agreements (RHCAs) with 11 countries: Belgium, Finland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Slovenia, Sweden and United Kingdom.

RHCAs allow eligible visitors from these countries to access some free or reduced cost healthcare services through Medicare. All international visitors should consider private health insurance to cover services generally not included under the RHCAs, like private hospital treatment and dental services.

For many visitors, private health insurance is a visa requirement so check your requirements before applying for your visa.

For more information, see Reciprocal Health Care Agreements.