Guide to Reciprocal Health Care Agreements

Belgium’s RHCA with Australia will only provide essential care (i.e. care that cannot wait until you return to Australia), and won’t cover the entire cost of that care.¹ If you require emergency or essential medical care while in Belgium, the RHCA may cover:

• Your stay in hospital, except for the admission fee and a small daily fee, which you’ll be required to pay
• Partial reimbursement for the services you receive in hospital
• Part of the cost of seeing a GP or specialist. You’ll be required to pay between 25% and 40% of this cost
• Part of the cost of dental care, provided you have a referral from a doctor. You’ll be required to pay between 25% and 40% of this cost
• Part of the cost of certain allied health services (like physiotherapy), provided you have a referral from a doctor. You’ll be required to pay between 25% and 40% of this cost
• Some prescription medicines
• Half of the ambulance travel costs. You’ll be required to pay the other 50%.

You aren’t covered for anything that’s not on this list, including certain pharmaceutical medicines.

To claim your reimbursement under Belgium’s RHCA, you’ll need to pay for the services upfront and take your receipt, along with your passport and Australian Medicare card, to a Belgian health insurance provider.

To receive care under Finland’s RHCA with Australia, it needs to be essential and can’t wait until you return to Australia.² You’ll also need to pay a fee for all the treatment you receive from Finland’s public health system. The treatment and services you may be entitled to include:

• Medical and nursing care from health centres
• Outpatient care in hospitals (i.e. when you go to a hospital but aren’t admitted as a patient), whether you have a doctor’s note or have gone of your own volition
• Dental care in some clinics
• Prescription medicines
• Some costs incurred while travelling to receive medical care (contact Kela, Finland’s Centre for International Affairs, to find out which travel costs are covered).

Finland’s RHCA with Australia doesn’t extend to covering (either for free or at a partial cost) the daily fees of staying in hospital or specialist and outpatient charges.

You’ll need to show your passport and Australian Medicare card to receive reciprocal health care. You’ll then have to pay for treatment at that time before you can go to a Finnish health insurer to claim your refunds.

You can receive medically urgent care within 12 months of your arrival in Ireland under its reciprocal agreement with Australia, but you’ll be required to pay a fee for each service covered by the agreement.³ These services include:

• Maternity care
• Care you receive as a public patient in a public hospital
• A portion of the cost for prescription medicines (if you’ve already spent over a certain amount within one month).

The agreement won’t cover you for:

• Accommodation costs and care as a private patient at a public or private hospital
• GP visits
• Prescription medicines below the specified amount in one month
• Anything you organised before arriving in the country.

You can receive reciprocal health care in Ireland by showing your valid Australian Medicare card and your passport, and paying the non-covered part of any services you need.

You can only receive medical cover from the reciprocal health care agreement in Italy if:

• It’s essential
• You receive it through the national health system (i.e. the Servizio Santitario Nazionale)
• It occurs within six months of your arrival in Italy.⁴

Italy’s RHCA may cover:

• Care in an authorised or public hospital as a patient or outpatient (when you’re treated in hospital but not admitted as a patient)
• GP and specialist treatment in public clinics, authorised hospitals or health centres
• Emergency dental treatment in public hospitals.

You may not be covered for the cost of medications and testing. You’ll have to go to the closest health centre and show your passport and Medicare card to receive treatment.

Malta’s RHCA with Australia may cover you for essential medical care that occurs within six months of your arrival in the country.⁵ You may be entitled to:

• Operations, medications, nursing care, accommodation and meals you receive in a government hospital.
• Hospital outpatient care (when you’re treated in hospital but not admitted as a patient) you receive from government-employed specialists, public doctors and nurses at a health centre.
• Emergency ambulance transport to hospital.
• Urgent dental treatment in a government hospital.

You won’t be covered for non-urgent dental treatment, appliances and prostheses, and you’ll have to show your passport and Medicare card when receiving reciprocal medical treatment at a health centre or public hospital.

If you’re visiting the Netherlands and need urgent medical care, the country’s RHCA can help you, provided it’s within the first 12 months of your arrival in the Netherlands.⁶ However, you’ll first need to apply for an A111 Certificate of Eligibility, which you can do before leaving Australia or once you arrive in the Netherlands. You’ll need your passport and Medicare card when filling in the application form.

You may be entitled to free medical care covered by the Dutch health insurer, Zilveren Kruis, once you show your treating doctor your A111 certificate.

If you don’t provide your certificate, you may have to pay the bill up front and apply to Zilveren Kruis for a refund. You’ll still need to provide your certificate, along with the original bill or receipt and a completed claim form, to get a refund.

The Netherlands’ RHCA medical treatment can include:

• GP, specialist or psychiatry services
• Nursing and specialist care in a hospital
• Childbirth in a hospital
• Treatment by paramedics
• Partial refund for ambulance or taxi transport to get urgent medical care
• Partial or full refund for prescription medicines in a hospital.

The Netherlands’ RHCA doesn’t cover you for staying in a single room in hospital (unless essential), psychiatric care if you’re under 18 years old, repatriation costs or non-specialist dental treatment if you’re 18 years or older.

New Zealand’s public health system can treat you under the RHCA if you require urgent medical care (that can’t wait until you return to Australia) within two years of arriving in the country.⁷ All you have to do is show your passport and Australian Medicare card.

New Zealand’s RHCA covers:

• Hospital care
• Partial costs of GP-prescribed medications
• Maternity services
• Pharmaceuticals.

Under the RHCA you won’t be covered for ambulance transport, GP treatment or other primary care.

You’ll only be able to receive essential medical treatment from Norway’s public health system under the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement.⁸ Essential treatment refers to care that can’t wait until you get home, and it must occur within 12 months of your arrival in Norway.

Norway’s RHCA with Australia may cover you for:

• Care you receive from a National Insurance Scheme (NIS) GP, in an NIS hospital or as an outpatient (when you receive treatment in a hospital without being admitted as a patient)
• Specialist or other medical treatment as prescribed or referred by an NIS GP
• Ambulance transport
• Urgent dental treatment
• Childbirth care
• Prescription medicine (after you’ve spent a certain amount on medicines in 12 months)
• Oxygen therapy
• Dialysis.

The RHCA also provides free:

• Health care for children up to 12 years old
• Doctor consultations for children up to 16 years old
• Prescription medications for children up to 16 years old
• Psychological care for children up to 18 years old.

You’ll need to show your passport and Medicare card and provide your Australian address for this treatment. If you want to claim on your medications, you will need to keep all your receipts to prove how much you’ve spent.

Unfortunately, students and diplomats aren’t covered under Norway’s RHCA, and other adults will be required to pay a small fee for each service covered by the agreement.

When visiting Slovenia, you’ll be able to receive urgent medical care for only part of the total cost; you’ll just need to show your passport and Medicare card.⁹

Slovenia’s RHCA could cover you for:

• Partial costs of treatment in hospitals, health centres and pharmacies within the public health system.
• Partial costs of treatment you receive from private GPs, specialists, dentists and pharmacies contracted to the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia (HIIS).
• 30% of the price for certain prescription medications and medicines.
• Emergency ambulance services if referred by a doctor, and 10% of the cost of other ambulance transport.

The agreement doesn’t cover:

• The full or partial cost of some medicines
• Treatment by non-HIIS GPs, specialists and dentists.

You can access essential medical treatment in Sweden by showing your passport and Medicare card.¹⁰ This may entitle you to:

• Free maternity services
• Partial costs for prescription medicines
• Care from a doctor and as a hospital outpatient (i.e. you’re not admitted into hospital as a patient).

Children will receive all health services for free, while adults will still be required to pay a small fee for the above health services. However, Sweden’s RHCA with Australia doesn’t cover the cost of staying in a hospital.

If you’re visiting the UK and need urgent medical care that can’t wait until you return to Australia, the UK’s RHCA will cover you so long as you seek treatment through the National Health Service (NHS) within six months of your arrival.¹¹

Ask to be treated as an NHS patient and have your passport and Medicare card ready to show the staff. You’re then eligible for:

• Treatment by NHS GPs and nurses in clinics (provided you register as an NHS patient)
• Care while in a public ward of an NHS hospital
• Care in an NHS hospital when you’re not admitted as a patient (i.e. outpatient care)
• Ambulance transportation to an NHS hospital or other facility
• Partial costs for prescription medications as an NHS patient.

You wouldn’t be covered for any type of dental care, as well as costs for medication that isn’t subsidised or prescribed to you if you weren’t treated as an NHS patient. Keep in mind that there may have differences in health care in various parts of the UK, so you should be sure to look up the region you’re travelling to before departure to be sure you know what’s covered.

You must have been living in Belgium prior to your arrival in Australia and have insurance through Belgium’s health system to enrol in Medicare and receive the benefits and payments from your treatment.¹² Students visiting Australia and diplomats and their families are also eligible.

To enrol in Medicare, you’ll need to complete the enrolment form and submit your supporting documents via mail or email. These documents can include:

• Your passport
• Your current visa
• Your valid Belgian Health Insurance Card
• Your valid European Health Insurance Card.

You’ll be covered under the RHCA from the day you arrive in Australia until your Belgian Health Insurance Card, European Health Insurance Card or visa expires (whichever comes first). If you receive medical treatment before you’ve enrolled in Medicare, you may be able to claim the Medicare benefit once your enrolment is completed.

The treatments covered by the RHCA can include:

• Medically necessary care either in a public hospital as a public patient or out of hospital
• Some Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medications are also covered.

To be eligible for treatment under the RHCA, you’ll need to have been living in Finland before your arrival – diplomats are their families are also eligible but those on student visas are not.¹³

Once you’ve arrived, you’ll also need to enrol in Medicare by completing an online form and providing documentation such as:

• Your passport
• Your current visa
• Your Sickness Insurance Card
• Your European Health Insurance Card
• Evidence you live in Finland (e.g. work contracts, lease agreements or bank statements).

The type of supporting documents you need may vary depending on whether or not you’re a citizen of Finland or just living there.

Those who qualify for RHCA services will be covered from when they first arrive in Australia until either their visa or Finnish health insurance expires. If you receive treatment between this time and when your Medicare enrolment is complete, you may be able to claim retrospectively. Finland’s RHCA with Australia covers necessary medical care in and out of hospitals, as well as certain PBS medications.

If you’re an Irish resident and lived there in the six months before you came to Australia, you can be treated under the RHCA.¹⁴ You also don’t need to enrol in Medicare. If you’re visiting on a student visa, you are not eligible for Medicare.

You can be covered for necessary inpatient and outpatient hospital care, in addition to some PBS medicines.

To access Medicare in Australia you will need to:

• Be treated at a public hospital or pharmacy
• Ask the staff to treat you as a patient under Australia’s RHCA with Ireland
• Show your Irish passport and European Health Insurance Card
• You might also need to provide proof that you live in Ireland (i.e. rental agreement, bank statement, property or contents insurance).

Outpatient care doesn’t extend to any visits to a medical practitioner or other hospital services. However, if you’re a diplomat, you’re entitled to the full extent of Medicare and are not limited to inpatient and outpatient care.

You’ll be covered from the day you arrive in Australia until your visa expires.

If you’re travelling to Australia from Italy, you must be an Italian citizen and eligible for your home country’s national health insurance to access health care under Australia’s RHCA.¹⁵ You can access necessary inpatient and outpatient healthcare from a public hospital as well as get certain PBS medications at the general rate.

You’ll first need to enrol in Medicare. People with student visas and diplomats and their families are eligible to enrol in Medicare.

To enrol in Medicare in Australia, you’ll need to mail or email your completed form to Medicare Enrolment Services, along with documentation that proves your Italian citizenship. These can include:

• Your passport and current visa
• Your valid European and Italian Health Insurance Cards or a statutory declaration of your eligibility to receive medical care under national health laws in Italy.

You can be covered under Australia’s RHCA with Italy from the day you arrive in Australia until either six months have elapsed or your European Health Insurance Card, Italian health insurance or visa expires. You can still submit a Medicare claim if you receive treatment between arriving in Australia and enrolling in Medicare.

Maltese visitors to Australia can access medically necessary health care, and some PBS medications under the Medicare reciprocal agreement, provided you are a citizen of Malta and were living there before arriving in Australia.¹⁶ Unfortunately, if you travelled to Australia on a student visa, you’re not eligible to receive RHCA benefits.

You need to enrol in Medicare once you’re in Australia to receive your benefits, which you can do by completing a Medicare enrolment form and either mailing or emailing it to Medicare Enrolment Services, along with supporting documentation, which can include:

• Your visa
• Your Maltese passport, identity card or proof that you’re a dependent currently on another person’s Maltese identity card or passport
• Proof you live in Malta (e.g. work contracts, bank statements).

You’ll be covered by the reciprocal agreement for six months after you arrive in Australia, or sooner if your visa expires before that time. However, if you receive medical treatment after arriving in Australia but before you can enrol in Medicare, you may still be able to submit a claim once you have enrolled.

If you were living in the Netherlands before you came to Australia and are enrolled in the Netherlands Health Insurance Scheme, you could receive necessary treatment from a public hospital and certain PBS medications under your country’s RHCA with Australia.¹⁷ This is provided you enrol in Medicare. People with student visas and diplomats and their families are eligible for Medicare.

To receive Medicare payments for your health care under the RHCA, you’ll need to enrol by completing an enrolment form and mailing or emailing it to Medicare Enrolment Services. You’ll also be required to supply Medicare with documentation, such as:

• Your passport
• Your visa
• Proof of valid insurance with the Netherlands Health Insurance Scheme
• A valid European Health Insurance Card or proof that you reside in the Netherlands.

You can find out which documents you’ll need through the Services Australia website.

Australia’s RHCA with the Netherlands will cover you from the day you arrive in Australia until your Netherlands health insurance, European Health Insurance Card or visa expires (whichever comes first). If you need medical treatment after you arrive in Australia but before you’ve enrolled in Medicare, you can still submit a claim after your enrolment is completed.

If you’re a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident and temporarily visiting Australia, you can receive inpatient and outpatient treatment in a public hospital and some PBS medications under the RHCA.¹⁸

You don’t need to enrol in Medicare to be eligible, unless you’re staying in Australia for more than six months and are a student or a diplomat from New Zealand. When in a public hospital or pharmacy, you must provide the treating staff with your New Zealand passport and ask them to treat you under the agreement. You’ll be covered from your arrival in Australia until your departure.

You may be eligible for medical treatment in an Australian public hospital and certain PBS medications if you were living in Norway before coming to Australia, are a member of Norway’s National Insurance Scheme and enrol in Medicare when you arrive here.¹⁹

However, if you’re visiting Australia on a student visa or are a diplomat or member of a diplomat’s family, you won’t be eligible for RHCA cover.

To enrol in Medicare and receive your payments for medical treatment, you’ll need to supply your completed enrolment form and supporting documents. You’ll also need to provide documentation, which may include:

• Your passport
• Your current visa
• Proof of your insurance under the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme
• A valid European Health Insurance Card.

Cover under the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement will begin when you arrive in Australia and cease when your visa, Norwegian health insurance or European Health Insurance Card expires (whichever comes first). You can still submit a Medicare claim once you’ve enrolled if you received medical treatment before you were able to enrol.

As a visitor from Slovenia, you can be eligible for some public hospital services and PBS medications if you were living there before you arrived in Australia and are insured by the Slovenian health system.²⁰ Diplomats, their families and people travelling on student visas are eligible for cover.

You’ll first need to enrol in Medicare, and you can do that by completing the enrolment form and providing Medicare with some supporting documentation that may include:

• Your passport
• Your current visa
• Your Slovenian and European Health Insurance Cards.

Your RHCA coverage will begin when you arrive in Australia and end once your visa or Slovenian or European Health Insurance Cards expires (whichever happens first). If you received medical treatment in Australia before you could enrol in Medicare, you might still be able to submit a claim for benefits.

Swedish visitors to Australia could receive medical care under the RHCA if they lived in Sweden before coming to Australia.²¹ People travelling on student visas and diplomats and their families are also eligible.

If you’re visiting Australia from Sweden, you’ll need to enrol in Medicare if you want to be treated under the RHCA. You just need to complete the enrolment form and supply Medicare with documentation such as:

• Your passport
• Your visa
• Proof of Swedish residency (ie.e rental agreement, work contract, etc)
• Your valid European Health Insurance Card
• Your Swedish Social Insurance Health Insurance Certificate.

Documents may vary depending on whether or not you’re e Swedish citizen.

You’ll then be covered by the Medicare reciprocal agreement from the day you arrive in Australia until either your visa or Swedish health insurance expires.

Sweden’s reciprocal agreement with Australia covers medically necessary care in and out of public hospitals and certain PBS medications. If you happen to need medical treatment before you can enrol in Medicare, you can still submit a claim for benefits once you have enrolled.

If you were living in the UK before arriving in Australia, travelling from the UK on a student visa or are a diplomat or member of a diplomat’s family, you’re eligible to receive medical care under your country’s Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with Australia.²² The agreement covers medically necessary care in Australian public hospitals as a public patient and certain medications listed on the PBS.

You’ll need to enrol in Medicare to receive the benefits and payments for your medical services and treatments. To do this, complete an enrolment form and, depending on your UK citizenship status, provide some of the following documentation:

• British or non-British passport
• Current visa
• Proof of British citizenship or residency
• UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC)
• European Health Insurance Card
• National Health Insurance Card (for residents of the Isle of Man)
• Health Service card (for residents of Northern Ireland)
• Health and Social Services Department health card (for residents of the States of Jersey)
• Proof of insurance coverage from the Guernsey States Insurance Authority or other evidence of your residency in Guernsey
• Proof that you live in the UK, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man.

Visit the Services Australia website to find out which documents you’ll need to provide to enrol in Medicare.

Your RHCA coverage will start when you arrive in Australia and ends once your visa or British health insurance expires (whichever comes first). You can still submit a claim for medical treatment if you received it before enrolling in Medicare.

Please note: All information on this page is correct as of April 2024. Cover and requirements are subject to change.