Overseas Student Health Cover in Australia
If you are on a student visa, we want to make sure you and your dependants stay healthy and happy.
Overseas Student Health Cover is a requirement of your visa.
Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) provides support for your use of Australian medical and hospital cover. Condition 8501 of your student visa grant requires that you must maintain adequate health insurance for the whole of your stay in Australia unless you fall into one of the exemption categories.
Breaches of your student visa conditions may incur serious consequences. Visit the Department of Home Affairs for more information.
You do not need OSHC if you are:
- a Norwegian student covered by the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme
- a Swedish student covered by Kammarkollegiet
- a Belgian student covered under the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with Australia.
Length of insurance cover
You and your dependents must hold OSHC for the full duration of your student visa grant. Your OSHC commences from the date you arrive in Australia and a minimum of two weeks before your course start date. You must not arrive in Australia before your health insurance start date as per your OSHC certificate.
Course and visa duration
The length of your student visa will depend on the duration of your course:
- For courses 10 months or longer that will finish at the end of the Australian academic year (between November and December) visas will generally be granted until March 15 of the following year.
- For courses 10 months or longer finishing any time between January and October – visas are granted for two months longer than the course end date.
- For courses under 10 months in duration, visas will generally be granted for up to one month longer than your course end date.
Undertaking more than one course?
If you undertake more than one course as part of a packaged offer, your OSHC must be valid from the day you arrive in Australia and for the duration of your packaged course visa. For more information on the length of stay for student visas, visit the Department of Home Affairs.
Medibank Comprehensive OSHC
Our preferred provider of overseas student health cover in Australia is Medibank Private, and a Medibank Comprehensive OSHC policy is purchased for students by us. The Comprehensive policy offers students three types of cover:
- Single policy: covers only the valid student visa holder
- Couple policy: covers one valid student visa holder, plus either one adult spouse or recognised de facto partner
- Family policy: covers one student visa holder plus more than one dependant – this can only include one adult spouse or recognised de facto partner, and one or more dependent children aged under 18.
Need to speak to a Medibank representative?
A Medibank representative can help you to:
- answer questions about your OSHC
- make a claim
- order your OSHC membership card online
- renew your policy
- add extras cover (dental, optical, physiotherapy).
Fact sheets, claim forms and general information are also available from studentHQ.
You can also contact Medibank through their helplines.
In person
Medibank office at studentHQ
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
10am–4pm
Virtual
Zoom – meeting ID 657 4335 1956*
Tuesday and Thursday
3.30–4.30pm
Your Swinburne Letter of Offer will list how much your OSHC will cost for a single, couple, and family cover policy based on the duration of your visa grant. If you choose Medibank Comprehensive OSHC, you will pay your deposit when you submit your Offer Acceptance Form and indicate which type of cover you require on your Offer Acceptance Form.
To apply for OSHC, complete the relevant section of your Offer Acceptance Form and include payment for your cover when you pay your deposit. We will then purchase OSHC for you.
A welcome email will be sent to your student email (your student email is your 9-digit student ID @student.swin.edu.au) with instructions on how to activate your Medibank OSHC policy when you arrive in Australia.
You will need the following documents to activate your policy:
- your policy certificate (sent to your email)
- your Passport
- your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE).
You will be asked to confirm and update your personal details as part of activating your policy.
Once complete, you will be able to access Medibank’s Online Member Services.
You will receive a thank you email after you have activated your policy with a link to a digital membership card. You can download and save your digital card to your photo library on your mobile phone or download the Medibank app.
You will also receive a plastic membership card. This will automatically be posted to your Australian address and will arrive within ten business days.
If you already have OSHC, you must provide evidence of visa-length cover in your visa application. This means you must be able to show that you have OSHC for the full duration of your student visa grant — from the beginning of your first course until you complete your final course.
If your student visa is coming to an end so is your OSHC. You must maintain valid OSHC for the duration of your student visa. If you have transferred from another institution and your cover is due to expire before you complete your final course with us, you must renew your OSHC before your current cover expires. Your OSHC membership card shows the expiry date of your cover.
There are a several ways you can renew or extend your Medibank Comprehensive OSHC:
- Online (credit card payments) or via your OSHC app.
- By telephone - call 134 148 (credit card payments)
- Visit the on-campus representative at Hawthorn campus
You must remember to have your OSHC membership card with you when you renew your OSHC.
If you have questions about your cover, your claim or if you need to go to hospital for an overnight stay, you can contact Medibank:
Medibank OSHC website
T: 134 148
E: oshc@medibank.com.au
Access the Medibank 24/7 student health and support line on 1800 887 283.
All students holding cover with any other provider should access their websites or directly as per their advice to you.