Healthcare and Medicare
Australia has a public health system called Medicare, a bit like the NHS but with more paying at the point of use. Whether you can use it depends on your visa, so plan your cover before you fly.
In 30 seconds
- Medicare is for residents. Most people on temporary visas, such as a 482, need private Overseas Visitors Health Cover
- If you lived in the UK before arriving, the UK–Australia agreement can give you some Medicare cover, but not ambulances, and it doesn’t replace insurance your visa requires
- Ambulances aren’t covered by Medicare in most states, and higher earners without private hospital cover pay an extra tax
Medicare: what it covers
If you are resident in Australia (for example, a citizen or permanent resident), Medicare helps pay for:
- Treatment as a public patient in a public hospital, including emergency care and most surgery
- GP and specialist visits, tests, scans and X-rays
- Eye tests (every 3 years under 65, yearly from 65)
- Prescription medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)
It doesn’t cover ambulances, most dental care, glasses and contact lenses, hearing aids, or private hospital costs. Unlike the NHS, a GP visit may cost you something. If the GP “bulk bills”, Medicare pays them directly and you pay nothing. Not all GPs do, so ask the price when you book.
The UK–Australia agreement
The two countries have a reciprocal health care agreement (RHCA). Services Australia says that if you were living in the UK before you arrived, you may be able to enrol in Medicare under it. Students are eligible too.
- It covers medically necessary care out of hospital, care as a public patient in a public hospital, and some PBS medicines at the general rate
- It doesn’t apply if you travel to Australia for treatment. The UK government says it doesn’t cover ambulances or medical evacuations
- To enrol, show your visa, your passport and proof you lived in the UK, such as your GHIC (Global Health Insurance Card). Cover starts the day you arrive and ends when your visa expires
Services Australia’s page is written for visitors and doesn’t say how the agreement applies if you move on a long-term work visa, so ask Services Australia before you rely on it. The agreement doesn’t replace insurance your visa requires: the government’s private health site says people with reciprocal cover should still consider Overseas Visitors Health Cover.
On a temporary visa: Overseas Visitors Health Cover
People on temporary visas are generally not eligible for Medicare as residents are. Many temporary visas, including the 482, carry condition 8501: you must keep adequate health insurance for your whole stay. For the 482 it is mandatory. Check your visa grant letter Overseas Visitors Health Cover (OVHC) is private insurance sold for this. Pick a policy that meets your visa’s rules, and read what it excludes.
Private health insurance, the levy and the surcharge
| Charge | How it works |
|---|---|
| Medicare levy | 2% of taxable income for most residents, collected with your tax |
| Medicare levy surcharge | An extra 1% to 1.5% if your income is above the threshold and you don’t have private hospital cover |
| Lifetime Health Cover loading | 2% extra on hospital cover premiums for each year you are over 30 when you first join, up to 70%. It stops after 10 years of continuous cover |
| New migrants | You have until the first anniversary of your full Medicare registration, or the 1 July after your 31st birthday if later, to take out hospital cover without the loading |
| 2026–27 income | Singles surcharge | Families surcharge |
|---|---|---|
| Up to A$105,000 (single) or A$210,000 (family) | 0% | 0% |
| A$105,001–123,000 / A$210,001–246,000 | 1% | 1% |
| A$123,001–164,000 / A$246,001–328,000 | 1.25% | 1.25% |
| Above A$164,000 / A$328,000 | 1.5% | 1.5% |
The family threshold rises by A$1,500 for each dependent child after the first.
Ambulance cover by state
| State | Ambulance costs |
|---|---|
| Queensland | Covered by the state for Queensland residents |
| Tasmania | Covered by the state for Tasmanian residents |
| NSW, Victoria, WA, ACT, NT | Free for some concession card holders; others need insurance or a subscription |
| South Australia | Buy cover through a health insurer or the state ambulance service |
An ambulance can be very expensive without cover. Many private policies include it, but check the type of transport covered.
Medicines
Once you are on Medicare, PBS medicines cost up to A$25 a script for general patients (A$7.70 with a concession card). After you spend A$1,748.20 in a calendar year, they drop to A$7.70. See Bringing medicines to Australia.
What to do next
- Check whether your visa has condition 8501 and arrange cover before you fly
- If you’ll be a permanent resident, register for Medicare soon after arrival
- Price hospital and ambulance cover before your Lifetime Health Cover deadline
- Services Australia: Reciprocal Health Care Agreements, visiting from the United Kingdom
- Home Affairs: Adequate health insurance for visa holders
- Home Affairs: Visas subject to condition 8501
- privatehealth.gov.au: Working visa applicants
- Australian Government Department of Health: What Medicare covers
- privatehealth.gov.au: Overseas visitors and health insurance
- privatehealth.gov.au: Ambulance cover
- privatehealth.gov.au: Lifetime Health Cover
- ATO: Medicare levy surcharge income, thresholds and rates
- PBS: Fees, patient contributions and safety net thresholds
- GOV.UK: Australia travel advice: health
- ATO: What is the Medicare levy