Australian Unity is an Australian health insurance brand that provides a range of Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC) to non-residents. If you're visiting or working in Australia, your visa will most likely require that you have a sufficient level of health insurance.
Our Verdict
Each of Australia Unity's 6 policies come with ambulance cover to help you out in an emergency.
Cover is available for a wide range of visa types, as listed below.
There's room for improvement when it comes to complaints. Between April and June, Australian Unity recieved 5.6% of the market's complaints – this figure is more than double their overall market share of 2.6%.*
*Private Health Insurance – Quarterly Bulletin 99: 1 April to 30 June 2021 Review by our insurance writer James Martin
Comparison of overseas visitors health cover from Australian Unity
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Finder Score for overseas health insurance
To make comparing overseas health insurance even easier, we developed the Finder Score. Factors like price, hospital cover, extras cover, emergency travel, and more are weighted and scaled across 50+ policies from 15+ providers to produce a score out of 10. The higher the score, the more competitive the policy.
Australian Unity offers 6 policies for overseas visitors, broken down into working visa cover, and visitor and working holiday visa cover. All policies include cover for emergency ambulance transportation fees.
Budget Workers Cover. This basic policy covers you for the costs of a shared room in a public hospital, including overnight accommodation, day surgery and theatre fees. You can claim money back for in-hospital fees but it does not cover private hospital or extras (out of hospital) cover.
Mid Workers Cover. This mid-range policy covers you for a shared room in private and public hospitals for the majority of minor and major operations, with some restrictions. You can claim money back for in-hospital and extras (out of hospital) fees as well as money back for some out of pocket medications, with some restrictions.
Workers Cover Plus. The most comprehensive cover for working visa holders, this covers you for a shared room, or private room where available, in private and public hospitals for the majority of operations. You can claim money back for in-hospital and extras (out of hospital) fees as well as money back for some out of pocket medications.
Basic Overseas Visitor Cover. This policy covers you for the costs of a shared room, some in-hospital fees, day surgery and theatre fees in an agreed private hospital, though restrictions apply for public hospitals.
Mid Overseas Visitor Cover. This mid-range policy includes everything the basic policy covers as well as cover for a private room, where available, in a private hospital. Other services include cover for some prescriptions, pre-existing conditions and rehabilitation.
Top Overseas Visitor Cover. Cover includes everything in the mid-range policy as well as hip and knee replacement. It also comes with higher yearly benefit limits for singles, couples and families.
Who is Australian Unity OVHC for?
Australian Unity OVHC is tailor made for visa applicants who require health insurance as part of their visa requirements. It's also suitable for you if you are travelling around Australia and you don't have travel insurance or it doesn't cover your medical expenses.
Australian Unity provides cover for working and non-working (visitor and holiday) visa holders. Here's a simple breakdown of which cover is suitable for specific visa types.
Working Visa Cover: You will need a working visa health insurance policy if you are on a working visa. This includes visas such as the 407 Training Visa, 482 Temporary Skill Shortage Visa and the 485 Temporary Graduate Visa. You can also get cover for the 457 Visa with Australian Unity OVHC.
Non-working Visa Cover: This is for temporary visitors who are not working, including the 600 Visitor Visa. It's also intended for those who are here and on certain working holiday visas, including the 417 Working Holiday Visa and 462 Work and Holiday Visa.
Features and benefits
Below are listed some of the main features included with Australian Unity policies.
Cover for accommodation and theatre fees in over 500 private hospitals throughout Australia, up to yearly limits.
Emergency ambulance transportation when you need to go to hospital.
Help covering the costs of medical fees from doctors' fees and GP visits to tests and X-rays that occur in and out of hospital.
Emergency room fees when you are admitted to hospital.
Cover for a range of treatments and services including day surgery and procedures.
For a more detailed list of specific benefits and services covered, check out the table below. Remember to read the product disclosure statement (PDS) for a full list of services provided.
Visa type
Workers visa
Visitor and holiday visa
Shared room accommodation
Plus. Yes
Mid. Yes
Budget. Yes
Top. Yes
Mid. Yes
Basic. Yes
Theatre fees
Plus. Yes
Mid. Yes
Budget. Yes
Top. Yes
Mid. Yes
Basic. Yes
In-hospital doctor and specialist fees
Plus. Yes
Mid. Yes
Budget. Yes
Top. Yes
Mid. Yes
Basic. Yes
Day surgery and procedures
(for included services)
Plus. Yes
Mid. Yes
Budget. Yes
Top. Yes
Mid. Yes
Basic. Yes
Pregnancy and related services
Plus: Private. Restricted
Public. Yes
Mid: Private. Restricted
Public. Yes
Budget: Private. Restricted
Public. Yes
Not covered
How OVHC works
While Australian citizens and residents have access to both Medicare (Australia's public healthcare system) and private health insurance, overseas visitors generally do not. This means if you don't have health cover, you will most likely need to pay for hospital and out of hospital services yourself.
When you sign up for a policy with Australian Unity, it will email a compliance letter that you can include as part of your visa application to make sure it is accepted.
Depending on the policy you get, Australian Unity OVHC can give you access to hospital and out of hospital (commonly known as extras) care. Keep in mind that if a doctor charges more than the standard Medicare rate, you will incur out-of pocket-expenses that Australian Unity will not cover.
Visas covered
The visas covered by an Australian Unity Overseas Visitor policy include:
462 Work and Holiday
407 Training
408 Temporary Activity
457 Temporary Work (Skilled)
482 Temporary Skills Shortage
403 Temporary Work Visa (International Relations)
485 Temporary Graduate
400 Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist)
417 Working Holiday
444 Special Category - New Zealand Citizen
461 New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship
476 Skilled - Recognised Graduate
489 Skilled Regional
188 Business Innovation and Investment
Bridging Visa A, B, C, D & E
590 Student Guardian
600 Visitor
601 Electronic Travel Authority
651 eVisitor
Other working and non-working visas
How to claim
You can claim for the following services in these ways:
Emergency ambulance
For ambulance services, you can claim by mail or fax.
Fill out a health cover claim form.
Get and attach your ambulance receipt to the form.
Mail or fax the completed form and receipt to Australian Unity.
Hospital services
Before agreeing to hospital treatment, contact Australian Unity to make sure you're covered and to help speed up the claims process. The majority of private hospitals have an agreement with Australian Unity which will cover you for some or all accommodation and theatre fees. If you get pre-approval, the hospital will send the bill to Australian Unity.
For medical services, you will generally have to either:
Pay the doctors up front, then claim the money back.
Submit unpaid bills to Australian Unity.
You can mail, email or fax your health cover claim form for medical services and doctor visits. Follow these steps when submitting your claim:
Fill out a health cover claim form.
Attach any relevant receipts to the form.
Send the completed form and receipts to Australian Unity.
Gary Ross Hunter has over 6 years of expertise writing about insurance, including life, health, home, and car insurance. Having reviewed hundreds of product disclosure statements and published over 800 articles, he loves simplifying complex insurance topics for everyday readers. Gary has contributed to major outlets like Yahoo Finance, The Sydney Morning Herald, and news.com.au, and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English Literature from the University of Glasgow, along with a Tier 2 General Advice certification, ensuring his work adheres to ASIC’s RG146 standards.
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