Health insurance for your visa, sorted.
Most Australian temporary visas, including the Skills in Demand (482), Temporary Graduate (485) and Visitor (600), require adequate health insurance as a visa condition (8501). Compare visa-compliant Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC) from our partners, buy online in minutes, and receive the certificate you need for your application.
Bupa Overseas Visitor Cover
A household name in Australian health insurance. Bupa OVHC covers a wide range of work and visitor visas, with budget, mid-range and top covers that satisfy condition 8501, and your visa-ready certificate issued as soon as you purchase.
Allianz Care OVHC
A global specialist in visa-compliant cover. Allianz Care OVHC supports one of the widest ranges of visa subclasses, including 482, 485, 600, 601 and working holiday visas, with instant certificates and multilingual support.
Health insurance and your visa — what to know before you buy
Condition 8501 — what it actually requires
Most Australian temporary visas carry condition 8501: the holder must maintain adequate health insurance for the whole of their stay. It is a condition, not a formality — letting a policy lapse is a breach of the visa, and evidence of cover is routinely requested at application and again at any extension. “Adequate” generally means a policy at least equivalent to Overseas Visitor Health Cover from an Australian provider. Travel insurance rarely qualifies.
OVHC, OSHC, and Medicare — which one applies to you
The market uses three labels that are easy to confuse. Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC) is for work and visitor visas — the 482, 485, 400, 407, and 600 among them. Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) is a separate product for subclass 500 student visa holders and their families; a student generally cannot satisfy their visa condition with OVHC. And citizens of countries holding a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with Australia — including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Ireland, and several others — may have limited access to Medicare, which can satisfy condition 8501 in some cases, though many still take out cover for what Medicare does not reach.
What OVHC covers — and what it doesn’t
A visa-compliant OVHC policy covers hospital treatment and medically necessary services at a defined level; mid-range and top tiers add extras such as GP visits, prescriptions, and ambulance. Three things are worth reading before buying: the waiting periods (often twelve months for pre-existing conditions and pregnancy), the gap between what a provider charges and what the policy pays, and whether ambulance cover is included — it is not automatic in every state. The cheapest compliant policy is compliant. It is not necessarily useful.
When to buy
Cover should run from the day you arrive in Australia — or from grant, if you are already onshore — and the certificate is usually needed before the visa can be granted, not after. Both providers above issue visa-ready certificates as soon as the policy is purchased.
Disclosure: Mantra Migration Services may receive a commission from insurance partners when you purchase cover through links on this page. This does not affect the price you pay. We provide general information only, not financial product advice. Please read the policy terms to make sure the cover suits your visa and circumstances.