OSHC for inbound Students
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Health insurance for inbound students
All student visa holders must have Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) which provides medical and hospital insurance in Australia. You must not arrive in Australia before your health insurance starts. If you are in Australia and do not have adequate health insurance, you are in breach of visa condition 8501.
Your education provider might organise your OSHC coverage for you, or you can select an approved OSHC provider yourself and pay the policy.
You will need OSHC coverage for the duration of your visa. To find out the length of coverage you will require, see student visa grant periods.
If your education provider arranges your OSHC coverage, you will need to know the name of your health insurance provider, the date that your policy starts and finishes and should be aware of the terms and conditions of your policy. If you arrange OSHC coverage yourself you will also need to know the policy number to include in the visa application.
Exceptions: You do not need OSHC if you are:
- a Norwegian student covered by the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme
- a Swedish student covered by Kammarkollegiet
- a Belgian student covered under the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with Australia.
Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)
International students undertaking formal studies in Australia, and their dependents (for example, spouses and children under 18 years old), must obtain OSHC. It includes cover for visits to the doctor, some hospital treatment, ambulance cover and limited pharmaceuticals (medicines). OSHC insurers can provide a range of different OSHC products. These may range from a basic product which covers only the compulsory minimum services to comprehensive products which cover, in addition to the compulsory minimum services, extra services as specified under the particular policy. You can find more information, including a list of the providers and average costs, on the Department of Health (opens in a new window) website.
Remember, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship requires overseas students to maintain OSHC for the duration of time they are in Australia. For further information please visit the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (opens in a new window) website.
Private health insurance
Travel insurance
Australia has a very reliable travel industry, but cancelled flights, lost luggage or other un-planned issues can arise. If you are travelling with valuables or are on a travel schedule you have to meet, travel insurance can help cover any mishaps or missed flights. You can arrange travel insurance through a range of providers including travel insurance companies, airlines and travel booking companies.
However, the travel insurance you aquire have to comply with Rotary International standards.
Australian Health Management (ahm)
1800 081 875