Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)

Overseas Student Health Cover, or OSHC for short, is a type of health insurance created for international students studying in Australia.

If details about your OSHC are not included in your student visa application, then your visa will be refused. The purpose of OSHC is to cover certain medical or hospital bills that may arise during your stay. All students must have adequate OSHC from the day they arrive in Australia until they return home.

You may be wondering what OSHC covers. There are a range of plans that OSHC health insurers provide, which cover the minimum requirements.

OSHC covers the cost of some hospital and medical treatments, including ambulance services. It also includes limited pharmaceutical (prescription medicine) benefits. Please note, OSHC does not cover treatments like dental, optical or physiotherapy. These treatments come at an additional cost, by adding Extras cover to your OSHC plan through your insurer.

There is a useful OSHC fact sheet that is published by the Australia Government Department of Health and Aged Care which provides a good overview of OSHC.

For further information, there is a Deed for the provision of Overseas Student Health Cover, which is a legal agreement between the OSHC providers and the Australian Government. The deed sets out the conditions that the OSHC provider must comply with. This includes outlining what is covered, as well as other areas such as the protection and use of personal information. There are also OSHC - Explanatory guidelines for consumers available to read as well.