The Australian government's immigration website says that "you must have and maintain adequate health insurance for the whole of your stay in Australia" if you are subject to the 8501 visa condition.
Most Australian visas come with the 8501 visa condition. This means you need to take out health insurance for coming to Australia. There are several Australian insurers that offer cover tailored to visa holders.
The 8501 condition applies to most working visas, including:
You can meet the 8501 health insurance requirement by taking out Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC). This is a type of health insurance designed specifically for visa holders coming to Australia.
The policies below all meet the 8501 condition. They can all send you a certificate within 48 hours of taking out a policy. You can attach this to your visa application. The start date should be when you expect to arrive in Australia, so you won't start paying for your policy until then.
You aren't obligated to get health insurance if you are from a country that has a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA) with Australia.
You will be eligible for Medicare – Australia's public healthcare system – if you're from the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, The Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Norway, Slovenia, Malta or Italy.
However, it still may be worth getting health insurance. The Australian immigration website says:
"all visitors to Australia are strongly recommended to make their own arrangements for private health insurance (regardless of whether or not it is a visa condition)."
RHCAs also don't generally cover ambulance transportation, medical evacuation and some out of hospital services such as dental care – but many Overseas Visitor policies can.
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