Overseas visitors on temporary visas are not eligible for Medicare benefits unless they are from a country through which Australia has a 'Reciprocal Health Care Agreement'. Currently, Australia has agreements with United Kingdom, Malta, Finland, Sweden, Italy, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Ireland. If you are visiting Australia from these countries, you are normally covered for emergency treatment only in a public hospital. If you are unsure of your Medicare eligibility status, you should confirm with your local Medicare office, which is listed in your local telephone book.

A number of private health funds provide health cover for overseas visitors. Some have special tables of repayment for overseas visitors and others provide similar coverage under hospital tables available to Australian residents. Benefits available, membership costs and eligibility can vary between funds.
The contact details for the health funds can be establish in the 'Yellow Pages'under health insurance. Or, if you would like information relating to the various health funds via the Internet, the Private Health Insurance Administration Council website details all registered health funds within each state. It also provides contact details for each fund and, if they have a web site, a link to each fund's website.

Overseas visitors health cover does not count towards Lifetime Health Cover as it is not required to contribute to the support of community rating as normal Australian private health insurance does. Community rating requires Australian private health funds to charge everyone the same premium regardless of health status and claims history.