Any student who is planning on coming to Australia needs to think about health insurance. The Australian Government requires that most international students have Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for the entire length of their stay. If you do not have OSHC, your visa may be cancelled.
If you only plan to be in Australia for a short time or your course lasts less than 12 weeks, you may be able to study on a visitor visa. In this case, OSHC is not required – although private health insurance is still a good idea!
OSHC is different to regular travel insurance. Only Australian registered private health insurers can offer OSHC, because these policies are monitored by the Australian Government in order to protect the interests of the students. There are a number of policies to choose from:
GETI Tasmania prefers to deal with Medibank Private, one of Australia’s largest private health insurance companies. We will organise your OSHC for you as a part of your application and your deposit will include health cover for the full length of your stay. You will then need to provide proof of your OSHC to the Australian Department of Immigration as a part of your visa application.
If you decide to extend your studies in Australia, you can easily change your OSHC while you are here. If you finish your studies and stay in Australia on a different visa, you will no longer be able to stay on OSHC. You will need to find alternative health insurance.
Click here for more information from Medibank Private on OSHC, including a full explanation of what is and is not covered, and an explanation of Australia’s health care system.