Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for Australia

Who can sell you OSHC

Only insurers approved by the Australian Government may issue OSHC. There are five: Bupa, Medibank, Allianz Care Australia, nib and ahm. A policy from anyone else is not OSHC and will not satisfy the visa condition, however it is marketed.

Most universities have a preferred provider and will arrange a policy for you as part of accepting your offer. That is usually the simplest route, though it is worth comparing — you are free to buy from any of the five.

What it costs

Premiums are set by each insurer and change annually, so we do not quote a fixed price here. What matters when you compare:

• Policy length. You pay for the whole visa period up front, which for a three-year bachelor’s degree is more than three years of cover.
• Cover type. Single, couple and family policies differ substantially — a family policy is several times a single one.
• Waiting periods for pre-existing conditions, pregnancy and psychiatric care.
• The provider’s direct-billing network, which decides whether you pay up front and claim back or simply show your card.

What OSHC covers — and what it does not

The minimum standard covers in-hospital treatment, a contribution towards out-of-hospital medical services benchmarked to the Medicare Benefits Schedule, emergency ambulance, and a limited pharmaceutical benefit.

It does not generally cover dental, optical, physiotherapy or other allied health. If you need those, you buy an extras policy alongside — it is separate from, and additional to, the compulsory OSHC.

Exemptions and reciprocal agreements

A small number of students are exempt from the OSHC condition, including Norwegian, Swedish and Belgian students covered by specific national arrangements, and some scholarship holders whose sponsor arranges equivalent cover.

Australia also has Reciprocal Health Care Agreements with a number of countries, which can give visitors access to Medicare for medically necessary treatment. That is genuinely useful, but it is not a substitute: with the narrow exceptions above, the visa condition still requires OSHC.

Practical points students get wrong

• Buying cover only for the course length. The visa usually runs a few months past your course end date, and the policy has to cover that too.
• Letting it lapse. OSHC must be maintained for the whole visa. A gap breaches a visa condition.
• Assuming travel insurance will do. It will not — it is not OSHC.
• Forgetting to add a partner or child who joins you later. The policy must be changed to a couple or family policy.
• Not registering the policy with the insurer’s app on arrival, which is what lets you use direct billing instead of paying up front.