Country information Australia

Health insurance for foreign au pairs in Australia

An au pair stay in Australia allows you to learn more about Australia’s culture and language, while you live with a host family and look after their children. Au pair stays can be challenging for participants. You find yourself in an unknown environment and have to take responsibility for one or more children. But this challenge leads to the development of your own personality.

Maybe your au pair stay in Australia will affect your future plans and you will try to study in Australia.

Eligible group

In order to become an au pair in Australia you need to apply for a visa. For au pairs in Australia the Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) and the Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) are the right visas to apply for.

The Working Holiday visa is designed for young people who want to holiday and work in Australia for up to a year. As long as your Working holiday visa is valid you are allowed to leave and re-enter Australia as often as you want. During your stay you are allowed to work for each employer for up to six months and to study for up to four months. Working Holiday visa holders are allowed to apply for a second Working Holiday visa for up to one more year.

You have to meet following requirements:

• you must be between 18 and 30 years of age
• you do not have a dependent child with you during your stay in Australia
• you must have sufficent funds to support yourself during your stay in Australia
• you must have sufficent funds to buy a return ticket to your home country
• you must meet character and health requirements
• you must have a passport from an eligible country (Belgium, Canada, Republic of Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (including British National Overseas passport holders), Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom)

The Work and Holiday visa is also designed for young people who want to holiday and work in Australia for up to a year. As long as your Work and Holiday visa is valid you are allowed to leave and re-enter Australia as often as you want. During your stay you are allowed to work for each employer for up to six months and to study for up to four months. Working Holiday visa holders can apply for a second Working Holiday visa for up to one more year.

You have to meet following requirements:

• you must be between 18 and 30 years of age
• you do not have a dependent child with you during your stay in Australia
• you must have sufficent funds to support yourself during your stay in Australia
• you must have sufficent funds to buy a return ticket to your home country
• you must meet character and health requirements
• you must meet the educational requirements (Depending on the passport you hold, the education requirements could be slightly different.)
• you must have functional English language skills
• you must have a letter of support from your government
• you must have a passport from an eligible country (Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, People's Republic of China, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, USA, Uruguay, Vietnam)

In both cases the visa holders are allowed to work for each employer for up to six months. In case of an employment as an au pair for six months you can apply for an continuation of the employment for a further period of six months. In order to be eligible for a continuation your main task as an au pair in Australia must be child care rather than domestic work. Further, the youngest child you take care of should not be older than twelve years old.

Legal basics about health insurance for au pairs in Australia

Australia’s statutory healthcare system is called Medicare. It provides subsidies for primary care and public hospital care. Medicare ensures that all Australian citizens and permanent residents have access to quality health services. Temporary workers in Australia do not have access to Medicare unless they decide to become permanent residents in Australia.

Citizens of countries Australia has a Reciprocal Health Care Agreements (RHCA) with have limited access to Medicare even if they work in Australia temorarily. Please note that the limited access to Medicare through RHCA does not replace private travel health insurance for your stay abroad.

The statutory healthcare system Medicare is only avaliable for citizens of Australia and permanent residents. As a foreign au pair in Australia you are responsible for all healthcare costs during your stay. That’s why foreign au pairs in Australia should take out a travel health insurance for they stay abroad.

Insurance advice

Every country has its own healthcare system. On the basis of characteristics like your home country, the duration of your stay, the reason of your stay and the destination of your trip different needs for health insurance appear. Our organistion recommends Care Concept AG from Germany for health insurance solutions abroad. Click here for further informations about Care Concept AG.

As an Au pair in Australia you are not insured through the statutory health insurance in your home country. Further, you will generally do not have access to Australias statutory healthcare system Medicare. Citizens of countries Australia has a Reciprocal Health Care Agreements (RHCA) with have limited access to Medicare. Please note that the limited access to Medicare through RHCA does not replace private travel health insurance for your stay abroad. You are responsible for all medical costs incurred during your stay in Australia. In order to make the costs for medical and drug treatment controllable we recommend the health insurance Care Discover.

Foreign au pairs in Australia from Germany and Austria can check out special health insurance solutions.

Topics about Australia

Au-pair in Australia

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