Health Care in Australia
As a permanent resident, you will receive immediate entitlement
to public healthcare, administered through
a government scheme called Medicare. This is an Australia-wide
health insurance scheme, funded through income tax.
 Through
Medicare, you receive:
- free treatment as a public patient in a public hospital;
- free or subsidised treatment by doctors in a general
practice; and
- subsidies on some medicines and treatment by participating
specialists.
Private health insurance also plays an important
role in the health care system in Australia, providing about
11% of national health care funding. There are many healthcare
funds in the marketplace and each offers a variety of schemes
and different levels of cover.
People with private health insurance receive benefits such
as choice of doctor, choice of hospital and shorter waiting
periods for non-urgent procedures. Private health insurance
can also help with the cost of services such as dental, optical,
physiotherapy and podiatry services.
All health funds operate ‘qualifying periods’, whereby new customers
have to wait a specified period before being eligible to claim
non-emergency treatments and services. When comparing health
funds, you should pay particular attention to these waiting
periods, as they can vary considerably.
Do you qualify for a Skilled Visa?
Determine your eligibility across all Skilled Visa subclasses in just
a few minutes and begin the Visa Application Process
to Australia.
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