Health insurance

If you haven’t yet applied for permanent residency in Australia or if you come here on a temporary visa, you should purchase health insurance cover to protect yourself and your family for any unforeseen medical expenses.

Australian private health insurance for overseas visitors is available from Australian registered health organisations, insurance brokers and general insurers.

Lifetime Health Cover

Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) is a Government initiative designed to encourage people to take out hospital insurance earlier in life, and to maintain their cover.

Under LHC, health funds are able to charge different premiums based on the age of each particular member when they first take out hospital cover with a registered health fund.

LHC recognises the length of time that a person has had private health insurance and rewards that loyalty by offering lower premiums. People who take out hospital cover early in life will be charged lower premiums throughout their life, relative to people who take out cover later. This means that you will pay 2% extra on top of your premium for every year that you are over the age of 30 when you first take out hospital cover.

You can learn more about the Lifetime Health Cover from the Department of Health and Ageing.