I recently travelled to Australia for a trip I had been meaning to do for the last nine years or so. Part of the aim of that trip was to get transfused in Australia, and Sydney and in particular, as Australia has a reciprocal health care agreement with the United Kingdom, and a few other countries.
On the Australian Medicare website it says:
“The Australian Government has signed Reciprocal Health Care Agreements (RHCA) with the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Norway, Slovenia, Malta and Italy. These agreements entitle you to some subsidised health services for essential medical treatment while visiting Australia. […]
If you are a resident of New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Finland or Norway, you are covered for the length of your stay in Australia.”
On the http://www.gov.uk/ website
“Under the reciprocal healthcare arrangements, British citizens resident in the UK and travelling on a British passport are entitled to limited subsidised health services from Medicare for medically necessary treatment while visiting Australia.”
While the latter is not false, it implies that only British citizens are entitled to those services. In fact, anyone residing in the United Kingdom, travelling on ANY passport, is entitled to the same services.
On the NHS website the wording is better:
“Australia has a reciprocal healthcare agreement with the UK, which means that UK residents are able to get some healthcare services without charge while visiting Australia.”
The documents required if presenting a current non-British passport are a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), issued by the United Kingdom (should bear the initials UK), or NHS card or two documents proving residency (i.e. utility bills, bank statements) in the United Kingdom.
This has been confirmed by Medicare in an email to me, which I have pasted in the article Email from medicare about the reciprocal health care agreement.
Please note, in that email it is mentioned that the reciprocal agreement only covers a person who
- “has not entered Australia with the specific intention to obtain medical treatment”
On the medicare website the wording is slightly different. The reciprocal agreement does not cover
- “treatment arranged before your visit to Australia”
So it is important to NOT arrange anything before entering Australia. It’s fine to contact the relative department to introduce yourself and let them know you will be in Australia and you have Thalassaemia and that you may need a blood transfusion but it is imperative that you DO NOT arrange anything, not even a single appointment. Please make that clear in your email.
