Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)

If you are coming to study on-campus in Armidale or Sydney, you must have health insurance. It's a condition of your student visa that you (and any family coming with you) have Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC). This is the minimum level of medical and hospital insurance international students need to study in Australia. You need to maintain this level of cover for the entire time you are here.

UNE currently has an agreement with Bupa, a private health fund, for on-campus international students. In most cases, we will organise OSHC for you. However, you can select an approved OSHC provider yourself and pay the insurance.

If you are studying at more than one educational provider and both are arranging OSHC, you must ensure that there's no gap between policies. As one policy expires, the next one needs to start immediately.

If you have a child born after your arrival in Australia, and you only have a single policy, you must upgrade to a family policy. If family members join you after your arrival in Australia, they must also show that they have an OSHC policy for the duration of their visas.

More information about OSHC is available on PrivateHealth.gov.au.

Exceptions

Some Norwegian and Swedish students don't t have to have OSHC. The Australian Department of Health and Aged Care advises that these countries have national health schemes which provide enough cover.

If you are studying by distance from your home country, you do not need OSHC either.