Access to Medicare

Medicare eligibility is generally restricted to people living permanently in Australia who are:

• Australian citizens;
• permanent Australian residents (who have permanent visas);
• New Zealand citizens; or
• certain persons with applications for permanent visas under consideration (excluding applicants for parent visas or applicants for protection visas who have also applied for a parent visa).

People visiting Australia or living temporarily in Australia generally do not have access to full Medicare and should consider purchasing appropriate health insurance designed for people who have no or limited access to Medicare.  Under some Visas, the purchase of appropriate health insurance will be a requirement.