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Working in Australia
Visiting Australia
Studying in Australia
Overseas visitor cover
The Australian healthcare system
Useful links
Member benefits
Get your health insurance visa letter instantly
Once you have applied for Bupa overseas visitors cover, you will receive your health insurance visa letter to support your visa application, by email. Please ensure you provide a valid email address on your application for cover.
Graduating or Working in Australia
100% visa compliant plus receive your visa letter instantly
A global member network
Experienced. Drawing on over 65 years in health
Affordable. Cover from $23.05 per week^
^Price includes GST and is based on our Essential Lite Visitors Cover for a single person
Visiting Australia
Global. 22 million members across 190 countries
More than 10,000 registered healthcare providers on Members First network.
Experienced. Drawing on over 65 years in health
100% emergency ambulance cover by our recognised providers
Working & Holidaying
Global. 22 million members across 190 countries
More than 10,000 registered healthcare providers on Members First network.
Experienced. Drawing on over 65 years in health
100% emergency ambulance cover by our recognised providers
Find out more
The Australian healthcare system
Do you have access to Medicare?
Reciprocal Health Cover
482 and 485 visa information~
The Temporary Skill Shortage 482 visa
You are required to have health insurance for yourself and any family members that are travelling with you on the 482 visa.
To be granted a 482 visa, you must make adequate arrangements for health insurance for yourself and your family members travelling with you. All of our working overseas visitor covers fulfil this requirement; so once you have applied for cover with us, we will email you a health insurance visa letter to support your 482 visa application.
If you are enrolled with Medicare under a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RCHA) and have a Reciprocal Medicare card, you will be considered as having met this requirement. However, even if you are eligible for Reciprocal Medicare benefits you can only apply for Reciprocal Medicare once you arrive in Australia. So, if you apply for your 482 visa outside of Australia you will still have to arrange health insurance and provide proof that you have fulfilled this requirement to support your visa application.
Reciprocal Medicare means you'll only be covered for treatment that is deemed medically necessary and does not cover you for important things such as ambulance services. Overseas visitors cover can help ensure you are covered if the unexpected does happen, offering you greater peace of mind.
The Temporary Graduate 485 visa
All our working overseas visitor covers meet the 485 Department of Home Affairs (DHA) health insurance requirement.
As part of the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) you are responsible for all of your health costs while you are in Australia. You will need to switch your Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) to an Overseas Visitors Cover (OVC) before your OSHC expires.
You will not be covered by Medicare unless your country has a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA) with Australia. If you are not from a RHCA country it is important that you have adequate health insurance.
Are you eligible for a rebate?
The Australian Government has agreements called Reciprocal Health Care Agreements (RHCA) with certain countries to enable residents of these countries to receive Medicare benefits when visiting or working in Australia for medically necessary treatment.
If you are a citizen of a country with a RHCA with Australia, and you take out private health insurance, you may be eligible for a government rebate. However, you may also need to pay the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) as part of your tax.
Do you have access to Medicare?
See if the tax rebate affects you
Still got questions?
Visit our FAQs. We answer some general questions on healthcare and insurance.
Get a quote134 135 from within Australia,
+61 3 9487 6400 from outside Australia.
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9am - 1pm Saturday
(All times in AEST)
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Terms and conditions
*Yearly limits, waiting periods, fund and policy rules apply.
~Applicable to 482 and 485 visa only.
* To be eligible for this offer from Bupa HI Pty Ltd (Bupa) you must: (i) reside in Australia; (ii) either be a new Bupa health insurance customer who has not been insured by Bupa within the last 60 days, or transfer from a Bupa Overseas Student Health Cover; (iii) take out an Eligible Bupa Health Insurance Policy between 18/07/2022 and 25/09/2022 and such policy must commence by 25/10/2022; (iv) pay the premiums by direct debit; and (v) maintain the Eligible Bupa Health Insurance Policy and make all required payments under that policy for 90 days (Eligible Customers). An Eligible Bupa Health Insurance Policy is a single, single parent, couple or family Working Overseas Visitors Cover product issued by Bupa Exclusions: Offer excludes Mid 60 Visitors Cover, Overseas Student Health Cover, Short Stay Visitors Cover, Non-working Overseas Visitors Cover; Domestic Health Insurance products, Extras only cover, Ambulance only cover and Corporate funded covers. Offer: Eligible Customers will receive from Bupa 4 weeks free health insurance after 90 days of payment. General: Yearly limits, waiting periods, fund and policy rules apply. Offer not available with any other Bupa promotion. To see the full terms and conditions, visit bupa.com.au/4weeksfree. Bupa reserves the right to extend this offer.