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If you come on a student visa in Australia, the Australian government imposes that all international students are legally covered during their stay at a reasonable price: this is the Overseas Students Health Cover or OSHC. This insurance is compulsory for anybody on a student visa and is entirely part of the student visa conditions.

The OSHC covers the basic medical care, must be subscribed for the length of your student visa and the price varies according to the length of your stay and to your family status (single or accompanied by one or more members of your family). Click here for further details.
As the OSHC does not cover dental and optic care, public liabilities, loss of luggage, etc., it is wiser to have a complementary insurance. We propose you an insurance company expert about Australia: CAP Student Australia.
See more details here.

If you come on a Business or tourist visa to study a short English course, attend one or several conferences or organise business appointments, we advise you to be well covered.
We have consulted several insurance companies and we were advised the following contract: CAP Protection Australia.
See more details here.

If you come to Australia on a Working holiday visa or WHV, we advise you to organize an international insurance from your home country that will cover all your medical costs (doctors, specialists, hospitals…), rapatriation, public liability ... You can eventually select an insurance contract in Australia but the costs will be higher as you are considered as a visitor.
Important : if you really want to be safely covered while in Australia, subscribe to an insurance before leaving your home country.
Be also aware that because you will be working and receive a salary, it is not that easy to find the right insurance contract and they are limited. We have made our own survey among all international insurances directed to the young market and specialised in Australia. We have selected the following one : CAP Working Holiday Australia.
See more details here.

It is often more interesting to subscribe in your home country to an insurance specialised in expats since you are still not considered as a resident in Australia. If you have a family, do subscribe for an exhaustive contract. We can propose you a new and exhaustive formula that will cover you and your family for all aspects of life: CAP Security Australia.

You are automatically covered by Medicare, the national health care system.
It only covers basic health care such as doctor consultations and surgery in public hospitals. To be covered for other care such as dental, optical, ambulance, pregnancy, acupuncture..., you need to be covered by a private insurance company such as Medibank Private, HCF, MBF... In Australia contributing to a private insurance may lower your taxe rate!

- Once in Australia, if you need to consult a doctor, select carefully a surgery or medical centre: the rate of consultations can vary from AU$35 to AU$60 and often medical centres are cheaper than doctor surgeries. Avoid specialists and dentists if you are not insured in Australia, it costs a fortune!
- Australia being a very multicultural country, you can easily find doctors speaking your own language; contact your consulate in the city where you live to ask for a list of doctors.
- In most cases, you will have to advance the costs of medical services, so keep the receipt and fill in a “claim form” with your insurance company in Australia to be refunded.