485 visa health insurance

Pricing is based on a single live in the State of New South Wales on a visa and is not from a country that Australia has a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA) with and is not eligible for cover under Medicare. Prices are accurate for 2025 but are subject to change.

How 485 Visa Health Insurance Works

To get a 485 Temporary Graduate visa, you must hold "adequate" health insurance for your entire stay in Australia, as per Condition 8501. This cover, known as Overseas Visitors Health Cover (OVHC), ensures you're covered for medical emergencies, GP visits, and hospital treatments, as you typically won't be eligible for Medicare. Providers offer various policies, from basic to comprehensive, helping you meet visa requirements and access necessary healthcare services.

How to provide evidence of your health insurance arrangements

"If applicants are required to provide evidence of their health insurance arrangements, any the following may be considered acceptable, unless a particular visa subclass instruction requires other specific information:

• a copy of the insurance policy;
• a written letter or cover note from an acceptable insurance provider, certifying that the primary visa applicant and any accompanying family members immediately upon visa grant or their arrival in Australia, are, or will be, covered by insurance that is at least as comprehensive as the prescribed adequate level of cover;
• evidence that the visa applicant has lawfully enrolled with Medicare via Reciprocal Health Care Agreements (RCHA);
• evidence that the primary visa applicant and any accompanying family members immediately upon visa grant or their arrival in Australia, are, or will be, covered by health insurance that is at least as comprehensive as the adequate level of cover required under policy, with the understanding that the applicants will either enrol with Medicare under a RHCA or enrol in a private insurance arrangement after arrival; or
• for citizens from the Republic of Ireland that may access RCHA, evidence that they hold an Irish passport.

Family members applying separately from the primary visa applicant or visa holder must produce evidence as per above, which clearly indicates that they, as dependant applicants, will be covered upon arrival in Australia by a policy with an adequate level of cover."

— Kaku Caro is a lawyer in LegalVision’s Corporate Immigration team. He has previous experience in the areas of commercial litigation, corporate and personal immigration. He also has experience advising on visa eligibility and preparing visa applications such as partner visas, employer-sponsored work visas, parent visas, and general skilled migration visas.

How OVHC Works for Families and Couples

For families and couples on a 485 visa, everyone needs health cover. A Couples or Family policy offers convenience under one provider. These policies can be more comprehensive, allowing for extras like dental. If planning a family, consider higher-level cover well in advance, as pregnancy-related services often have a 12-month waiting period. Dependent children (usually under 18) are automatically included in family policies, covering hospital and major dental needs.

What is the 8501 visa condition?

Visa condition 8501 requires you to “maintain adequate arrangements for health insurance during your stay in Australia”. It applies to most temporary Australian working visas and all student visas, and is designed to ensure that foreign visitors can meet any hospital or medical treatment costs they incur while in Australia.

If this condition applies to your chosen visa, you will need to purchase health insurance cover in order for your visa application to be approved. Working visa applicants need to take out Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC) while student visa applicants must purchase Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC).

Contact the Australian Government’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection to find out whether the health insurance requirement affects you.

What's the cheapest 485 visa health insurance?

Below you'll find Finder partners offering the cheapest 485 health cover insurance. To see more plans you can sort the table at the top of this page by price. Prices quoted are based on a single policy.

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Updated regularly

Product	Finder Score	Meets condition 8501	Hospital cover	Dental	Medical repatriation	Price
Frank Basic Workers Cover	Finder Score 8.5 Great				$10,000	From $60 per month	Get quoteMore info Compare	loading Fetching your data...

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The benefits of a higher level of overseas visitor health cover

When you shop around for OVHC you will find that most private health funds offer an affordable policy that only satisfies the bare minimum of the health insurance requirements for the 485 visa. If you’re on a tight budget or only want cover for the absolute essentials, these types of policies will do just fine.

However, most health funds also offer slightly more expensive policies that provide a more comprehensive level of hospital cover and also allow you to add extras cover. Choosing one of these higher-level policies means you are covered for many more features, including:

• Treatment in a private hospital
• Your choice of doctor or specialist
• No excess or co-payment for public hospital stays
• Cover for medical repatriation
• Gap cover to eliminate your out-of-pocket expenses
• Shorter waiting periods
• Extras benefits including optical, dental, physio, chiro, natural therapies, podiatry, health management programs and much more
• Cover for high-cost medical procedures, for example, pregnancy and eye lens surgery
• Cover for psychiatric services and rehabilitation

So while high-level cover costs more, the benefits it offers could be well worth the expense. It’s important to shop around and find a policy that meets all your requirements.

Transitioning from a student visa to a 485 visa

If you’re holding a valid student visa when you apply for a 485 visa, you will already be covered by Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) as a requirement of your student visa. The OSHC you have in place is an acceptable level of health insurance to apply for a 485 visa, and you’ll need to supply evidence of this cover along with your visa application.

However, while your application is being processed, you will need to take out 485 visa-compliant health insurance. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection will contact you during processing to request evidence that you have taken out an adequate level of OVHC.

Finally, it’s important to remember that under the Reciprocal Health Care Agreements in place between their countries and Australia, Belgian, Norwegian and some Swedish students are not required to take out OSHC. However, if transitioning to a 485 visa, these students will need to take out OVHC.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Do I need health insurance for 485 visa?

  Yes. Condition 8501 of your visa application states that you must maintain adequate health insurance for the whole of your stay in Australia.

• What exclusions apply to OVHC policies?

  OVHC policies generally exclude pre-existing conditions (often with a 12-month waiting period), elective cosmetic treatments, assisted reproductive services, and some high-cost procedures like organ transplants, with specific waiting periods also applying to pregnancy, psychiatric care, and rehabilitation.

• What happens if you transition to citizenship?

  For anyone who becomes a citizen, you'll have access to Medicare. Whilst this covers you for the basics – things like emergency services – it's really worth looking at more comprehensive cover should you be settling in to stay here long-term. Remember, things like dental and optical care not covered by Medicare, so it's worth looking into extras cover.

  You'll also be able to switch to domestic health insurance, which offers more choice and is available to Australian residents. With over 600 health insurance policies to choose from, there are a lot of options out there to suit your individual needs.

• Can a non-resident get private health insurance in Australia?

  No, you will generally have to take out Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC) or verseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) which is a type of private health insurance designed for non-residents of Australia.

To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been reviewed by Tim Bennett, a member of Finder's Editorial Review Board.

Written by

Gary Ross Hunter

Journalist

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. See full bio

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Gary Ross has written 593 Finder guides across topics including:

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