Compare Overseas Visitor Health Cover
You'll need health cover for your life down under! Get cover for a whole bunch starting from around $60 a month! (all rhymes intended)
Compare other products
We currently don't have that product, but here are others to consider:
How we picked theseFinder 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.
Sort: Default
Key takeaways
- It's likely you will be required to have health insurance when you come to Australia.
- If you want cover for more than hospital care, look for options with a tick below GP visits and dental.
- There are different levels of OVHC cover which affect the price you will pay - prices start from around $60 a month.
What is overseas visitors health cover?
Overseas visitors health cover (OVHC) is private health insurance designed specifically for people coming to Australia on a temporary visa. It's mandatory on some visas, but you may be exempt if you're a citizen of a country with a reciprocal health care agreement. If you're a student, you may need overseas student health cover.
OVHC can cover the following:
Hospital care
Cheaper policies will cover emergency ambulance rides and treatment in a hospital, plus accommodation fees. Other common services include cover for hernias, cancer and joint replacements.
Extras (out-of-hospital services)
Extras cover includes out-of-hospital care such as dental, optical, physiotherapy and chiropractic. Some more expensive OVHC policies will cover these treatments automatically. In other cases, you may need to take out a separate extras policy in addition to basic OVHC cover.
Doctor's appointments
This is when you need to make an appointment at a doctor's clinic, known as a General Practitioner (GP) in Australia, because you're feeling unwell or have some other health issue that may require medication.
Prescribed medicine
If you are on medication, it's likely worth getting a policy that will cover your prescriptions. Otherwise, medicine can be quite expensive in Australia.
Repatriation
If you become seriously unwell or suffer a life-altering disability, most overseas visitor policies will pay to fly you home under medical supervision.
Do you need overseas visitor health cover?
If you plan on working in Australia, your visa application will generally require you to have OVHC in place by the time you enter Australia, unless you're a citizen of a country that has a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia.
Visas that require OVHC
More resources on Finder
More guides on Finder
-
Emergency department wait times in Australia
Find out how long you might actually spend in ED, why queues are so brutal and what you can do to get the care you need.
-
Not-for-profit health funds: What’s all the fuss?
If you’re like many Australians, you may not have heard about not-for-profit health funds. Read on to discover what they are, what they can do for you and whether you’re eligible to join one.
-
Australian Unity health insurance review
Looking for health cover but aren't sure which policy is best? This article looks at Australian Unity's health insurance options and helps you decide whether any of its policies are what you need.
-
How to switch health insurance: Step-by-step
This guide looks at the reasons people switch, and what it means for your waiting periods. You can also compare new options with over 30 Australian health funds.
-
Suspending your health insurance policy
Can you (and should you) suspend your health insurance policy when you travel overseas? Find out here.
-
How to pay for health insurance in Australia
From direct debits to salary packaging, what’s the best way to pay for your health insurance premiums? Find out here.
-
NT Health Insurance
Read our guide to health insurance and health funds specific to residents of the Northern Territory.
-
Health Insurance South Australia
Read our guide to health insurance for people living in South Australia.
-
Health Insurance Tasmania
Guide to finding health insurance for those living in Tasmania.
-
Health Insurance WA
Check out our list of the most popular health funds in WA and see how private health cover costs in WA compare with the rest of the country.