Who is covered?
Australia’s national public health insurance scheme, Medicare, provides universal health coverage for citizens and permanent residents, as well as automatic coverage for people with temporary visas from countries with whom Australia has reciprocal arrangements. All overseas students are required to enroll in Overseas Student Health Cover. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs covers eligible veterans and dependents by directly purchasing public and private health care services. The Australian government provides some assistance for asylum seekers while their applications are processed.Voluntary private health insurance plays a mixed complementary and supplementary role, offering people access to treatment in private hospitals and covering some ancillary health care services. Policies are taken out by individuals or families, encouraged through tax penalties for high-income earners and tax rebates for low and middle-income earners.