Health insurance when moving to Australia: the checkpoints

Australia has Medicare, a public system for eligible people, alongside private health insurance. Which system you end up in depends on your residence status.

Medicare, Australia’s public health insurance system, is available mainly to citizens, holders of a permanent residence visa, New Zealand citizens with lawful residence and, under conditions, applicants for permanent residence.

In most cases, visitors to Australia are not entitled to Medicare and pay all treatment costs themselves, including in a public hospital. Anyone not covered by Medicare is treated as a private patient and pays any costs the policy does not cover at the point of treatment, in the public as well as the private system.

The responsible minister can treat groups of people as eligible by order, and regulations can provide for this for certain temporary visas.

Access comes from your status, not from an employment contract alone.

Visitors from a country with which Australia has concluded a reciprocal treatment agreement are treated as eligible for their stay, as set out in the agreement. Whether your country is one of these agreement countries is something you check on the Services Australia website before you rely on it.

Australia requires adequate health insurance for many temporary visas, either as a criterion when you apply or as a condition during your stay. This page covers only this health insurance requirement, not the visa procedure.

For several temporary visas, including Subclass 482 and Subclass 500, the regulations require adequate health insurance for the planned stay when you apply. This also applies to accompanying family members.

The minister can define by legislative instrument what counts as adequate; Home Affairs recommends at least outpatient medical services, hospital treatment, medical devices, medicines and ambulance transport.

Ask your insurer whether the authority recognises the policy.

For the period before you become eligible, or as a supplement, international health insurance can be an option. You can find more on families at Health insurance for the family abroad.

Before you deregister (Abmeldung) in Germany, you clarify in writing what happens to your current insurance. The questions below apply to any destination country. They are questions, not legal advice: the answers are in your contract documents or come from the body you ask.

You clarify three Australia topics in advance with your health insurer (Krankenkasse): until when your cover in Germany lasts, whether an agreement is relevant for you, and how you bridge the time until you are entitled to Medicare. The agreement between Germany and Australia covers pension entitlements and pensions, not health insurance. Statutory health insurance (GKV) generally pays only within Germany, and Australia is not among the exceptions listed by the Federal Ministry of Health.

If you have statutory insurance: questions for your Krankenkasse

• What happens to my membership when I deregister in Germany, and on what date does it end?
• Can I suspend the membership or take it up again later, and under what conditions?
• What confirmation of my previous insurance periods do I receive, and how quickly?
• What applies to co-insured family members: who stays insured and who does not?
• Until which day does my cover last, so that there is no gap between Germany and Australia?
• Does an agreement apply in my case, or does cover end when I leave?

If you have private insurance: questions for your insurer

• Does my contract end with the move, is it suspended or does it continue?
• Is there an Anwartschaft (a German option to keep certain rights in private insurance while abroad), and what is preserved under it? Ask about the difference between the small and the large Anwartschaft, and whether a new health assessment would be needed on a return.
• Does my contract apply in the destination country, and for how long at a stretch?
• Which documents do I receive in writing before I cancel?
• Does the policy in Australia apply for the whole length of stay, and from which day?
• Does the insurer confirm benefits, deductible, waiting periods and exclusions in writing?

Do not cancel any contract before it is clarified in writing what applies afterwards. We explain the connections on the pages Health insurance when emigrating and PKV and Anwartschaft. For families, there is more at Health insurance for the family abroad.

1. Assuming Medicare without the status

   In most cases, visitors are not entitled to Medicare and pay all treatment costs themselves. Check your status before you rely on Medicare.

2. Overlooking the visa condition

   Some visas carry condition 8501, which requires you to maintain adequate health insurance during your stay. Check your conditions before you leave.

3. Choosing a policy without waiting periods

   A waiting period is the time after the policy starts before you can claim certain benefits; the policy sets it. Ask which benefits are not covered at the start.

4. Relying on German insurance as protection

   Statutory health insurance (GKV) generally pays only within Germany, and Australia is not among the exceptions listed by the Federal Ministry of Health. Ask your insurer on which day your cover ends.