New Zealand citizens are able to access a range of health care benefits through Medicare in Australia. If you're an NZ citizen but aren't yet enrolled in Medicare, you can still access some health services with Australia and New Zealand's Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA).
However, not all health care costs are covered by the RHCA or Medicare, so you may want to take out private health insurance.
Just like in New Zealand, Australia's healthcare system is split up into public and private sectors:
Public health services in Australia are provided by Medicare. If you're a New Zealand citizen living in Australia, you should be able to apply for a Medicare card which gives you access to free emergency care in a public hospital and helps pay for some non-hospital treatments such as GP visits and medication.
Private health insurance is essentially designed to cover the services that Medicare doesn't help out with. This includes most out of hospital services such as dental, physio and optical. It can also pay for ambulance services which are not free in most Australian states. Health insurance can also give you access to treatment in a private hospital.
Yes. New Zealand citizens are eligible to enrol in Medicare if they:
You will need to supply all of the following in order to enrol in Medicare:
Medicare is available to all Australian citizens and permanent residents, including New Zealand citizens residing in Australia. It provides cover for all or some of the following medical costs:
While Australia’s Medicare system allows New Zealanders to access a wide range of subsidised medical services, it only goes so far, which is largely why around half of Australians have private health cover in place. Unlike Medicare, it can help pay for the following:
RHCA stands for the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement. Under the RHCA in place with New Zealand, Kiwi citizens in Australia without a Medicare card are able to access:
However, despite these many benefits, the RHCA is not without limitations:
Due to this it's recommended not to use the RHCA as your sole medical cover and consider taking out a health insurance policy during your stay in Australia.
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