An 820 holder can apply for Medicare. The Department of Home Affairs lists it among the things a subclass 820 visa lets you do: you can "apply for access to Medicare". The wording matters — it is permission to apply, not automatic cover. Medicare is administered by Services Australia, not by Home Affairs, and enrolment is a separate application with its own process and its own evidence requirements.
Who runs Medicare, and why that changes what you do
Two different agencies are involved in your life at this point, and they do not act on each other's behalf.
The Department of Home Affairs decides your visa. Services Australia decides whether you are enrolled in Medicare, issues the card, and manages the record afterwards. A visa grant letter does not enrol you, and a Medicare enrolment does not tell Home Affairs anything about your application.
That means the practical steps sit with Services Australia. It publishes the current enrolment requirements, the forms, the list of what to bring, and where enrolments can be lodged. Those requirements change from time to time, so the published list is the one to work from rather than anything you have been told by someone who enrolled a few years ago.
What enrolment generally involves
Enrolment in Medicare, in general terms, means completing the enrolment form Services Australia provides and satisfying it about two things: who you are, and what your immigration status is.
For identity, expect to have to produce original documents — typically a passport, and often more than one form of identification. For immigration status, remember that Australian visas are digital and there is no label in your passport. Your visa is evidenced through VEVO, the Department's online service, which shows the visa currently in effect and its conditions. Having that available, or a printed VEVO check, saves a return trip.
Important
Services Australia publishes what is needed and makes the decision. This page describes the shape of the process, not the criteria. Check the current requirements with Services Australia before you attend, and ask them directly about your own circumstances.
If you are enrolling a partner or children at the same time, or joining an existing family record, there are usually additional documents involved — for example, evidence of the relationship or of the children's identity. Again, Services Australia sets that list.
Bridging visa holders: it depends on your circumstances
The most common question on this topic comes from people who have lodged the 820 and are waiting on a bridging visa. The honest answer is that access in that period is not determined by the bridging visa on its own. It depends on the person's circumstances, and one of the things that can matter is whether they have applied for a permanent visa.
There is a fact about onshore Partner applications that is worth having clearly in mind here. The subclass 820 and the subclass 801 are lodged as a single application: the Department's own statement about the 801 is that "you paid for this visa when you made your applications for the temporary and permanent Partner visas". An onshore Partner applicant on a bridging visa has therefore already made a permanent visa application, and the lodgement record in ImmiAccount evidences it.
What that means for Medicare in an individual case is a question for Services Australia, not for this guide. Take your ImmiAccount lodgement evidence and your bridging visa details, and ask them. Do not rely on a forum, a friend's experience, or a general description — including this one — as a substitute for their answer about your own situation.
For what the bridging visa itself does and does not allow, see Bridging visa A.
Health cover while you wait
Partner applications can run for a long time. See 820 visa processing time for how the wait is measured and why it varies. Going without health cover for that period is a serious risk, and it is one you can manage in advance.
The options people in this position commonly consider are:
- Keeping existing cover. If you already hold health insurance — an overseas visitors or overseas students policy taken out for a previous visa, or cover from your home country — check whether it continues to apply once that visa ends, and for how long.
- Taking out private or overseas visitors cover. Insurers set their own eligibility, waiting periods and exclusions. Compare them on the terms rather than the price, and read what is excluded for pre-existing conditions and pregnancy.
- Reciprocal health care agreements. Australia has reciprocal health care agreements with a number of countries. Services Australia publishes which countries are covered and what the agreements provide. These agreements are limited in scope, so they are not a replacement for cover.
None of these is advice about your own case. They are the categories to check, and the checking is done with Services Australia and with insurers.
Medicare is not Centrelink
Access to Medicare and access to Australian Government payments are separate questions with separate rules. The Department warns that on an 820 you "might have to wait to access certain Australian Government payments and benefits", because newly arrived residents' waiting periods apply to a number of payments. Being enrolled in Medicare tells you nothing about whether a payment is available. See Centrelink payments.
When to get advice
Medicare enrolment itself is not usually a matter for a migration professional — Services Australia answers those questions. But if your health cover question is really a visa question underneath it — for example, if a serious medical issue has arisen that may affect the health requirement, or if you are on a bridging visa because you applied without a substantive visa — then an application prepared by a migration lawyer is more likely to succeed, because health and character issues on a Partner application are usually fixable only if they are identified before a decision is made. No one can promise an outcome.
What to do next
Contact Services Australia about enrolling, with your VEVO check and your identity documents ready. Then look at the rest of what the visa allows at what the 820 visa lets you do, and at the practical side of getting set up here at settling in Australia.
Common questions
Does an 820 visa give me Medicare automatically?
No. The Department of Home Affairs says you can apply for access to Medicare on a subclass 820 visa, but Medicare is run by Services Australia and enrolment is a separate application. Nothing happens because of the visa grant alone, so you need to enrol yourself.
Can I get Medicare while I am on a bridging visa waiting for my 820?
It depends on your circumstances rather than on the bridging visa alone, and Services Australia decides it. One of the things that can matter is whether you have applied for a permanent visa. Onshore Partner applicants lodge the temporary subclass 820 and the permanent subclass 801 as one application, so evidence of your lodgement may be relevant. Ask Services Australia about your own situation before assuming either way.
What do I need to bring to enrol in Medicare?
Services Australia publishes the current list of what to bring and accepts the application itself. In general terms, expect to have to prove your identity and your immigration status, and to complete an enrolment form. Australian visas are digital, so your visa status is normally evidenced through VEVO rather than a label in your passport.
What should I do about health cover while I am waiting?
Do not go uncovered. Options commonly used while a Partner visa is pending include keeping the health insurance you already hold, taking out private or overseas visitors cover, or relying on a reciprocal health care agreement if Australia has one with your country. Services Australia publishes which countries those agreements cover, and insurers set their own terms, so check both against your own circumstances.
Do I need to tell Medicare when my 820 is granted?
If you enrolled on the basis of an earlier visa or a pending application, your record may need updating when the visa is granted. Services Australia manages Medicare records, so any change of immigration status, address or name is dealt with through them, separately from anything you tell the Department of Home Affairs.
Sources
Keep reading
Work Rights on the 820 and Bridging Visa A
A granted 820 carries full work rights. Before grant, your bridging visa copies the work conditions from your old visa. How to check and how to lift them.
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Studying on the 820 Visa
You can study on an 820 visa, but the Department says there is no government support and costs are at your own expense. How fee status is decided.
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Travelling on a Granted 820 Visa
A granted 820 lets you travel in and out of Australia as often as you want. Before grant you need a Bridging visa B, and New Zealand passports face a trap.
Read the guide →