While in Australia, if you need to visit a doctor or stay in hospital, you could find yourself responsible for the full cost of treatment-which can be very expensive. Thus Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), as visa condition, is required of every international student in Australia and their dependent family members (spouses and/or children below age of 18). The students and their dependents should maintain OSHC for the duration of time they are in Australia.

OSHC covers the costs of medical and hospital care that holders may need while in Australia including some pharmaceuticals and ambulance services. However, it is very important to note that insurers will impose a waiting period (12 months in most cases) for cover on pre-existing conditions meaning that you will not be covered for existing health problem for the specified time. Once you have served any waiting periods, you will be entitled to claim.

You can arrange to pay for your OSHC through your educational institution or you can purchase OSHC online by visiting the OSHC insurers’ websites. Since different insures have different policies, you may want to compare them and make an informed choice that level of cover you have selected meets your need.

OSHC might not cover every item you would like to have covered. In this case you can purchase private health insurance along with OSHC.

Even with most careful attention, some unfortunate situations surface. You might fall sick during travel, get your luggage lost or not get to travel at all due to trip cancellation. In such situations travel insurance can be your best bid. It is intended to cover medical expenses, trip cancellation, lost luggage, flight accident and other losses incurred while traveling, either internationally or domestically. There are travel insurance companies, airline/travel booking companies to issue travel insurance on request.

Since a student on visa is generally going to rent a property, s/he shouldn’t be worried about the insurance of the building as the responsibility belongs to the owner of the building. But in case you have valuable items that you cannot afford to replace once they are gone, it is always a good idea to issue contents insurance.

Vehicle insurance provides financial protection against physical damage of the vehicle and personal injuries resulting from the accident. If you purchase a car, motorbike or other vehicle you will need to consider what type of insurance you will need to purchase. Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance is a state-based scheme that covers only personal injury liability. Comprehensive and Third Party Property Damage insurance– which cover insured property and vehicle, and damage to third-party property and vehicles—are sold separately.