The short answer is: usually not. Standard Overseas Student Health Cover does not pay for physiotherapy appointments, and most students find this out at the worst possible moment — standing at reception with a sore back, holding a card they assumed covered everything.

It is not a mistake on your policy and it is not unfair treatment of international students. Australians face exactly the same rule. This page explains why, how to check your own cover properly, and what your options are if you are not covered.

What OSHC actually is

If you hold a student visa (subclass 500), your visa requires you to hold Overseas Student Health Cover for its entire length. Most students buy it through their education agent or their university at the same time as they apply, and never read the policy afterwards.

OSHC exists because you cannot access Medicare, the government health system that citizens and permanent residents use. OSHC is designed to stand in for Medicare while you are here.

That single sentence is the whole explanation for everything below.

What OSHC normally covers

Policies differ, but a standard OSHC policy generally covers:

  • Visits to a GP — a family doctor — usually with some money back rather than the whole fee
  • Treatment as a patient in hospital, public or private depending on the policy
  • Ambulance transport in an emergency
  • Prescription medicines, up to a yearly limit
  • Some tests, scans and specialist appointments arranged by a doctor

Why physiotherapy is usually not included

Because Medicare does not cover it either.

OSHC is built to cover roughly what Medicare covers. Medicare is built around doctors and hospitals. Physiotherapy, along with dentistry, glasses, psychology and podiatry, sits outside it — in a separate category the Australian system calls extras or general treatment.

Australians who want help with physiotherapy fees buy extras cover to get it. It is a separate product they pay extra for. The same logic is applied to your OSHC, which is why the basic policy does not include it.

So it is worth being clear about the thing that most often causes confusion: this is not something being withheld from international students. Nobody in Australia gets routine physiotherapy through the basic public system.

The exception: OSHC with extras

Several OSHC providers sell an optional extras or ancillary add-on, sometimes called OSHC Extras. If you bought one — or your university's student package included one — then physiotherapy is very likely covered, up to a yearly limit.

If you are on a family OSHC policy, or your partner works and has an Australian policy that lists you, you may also be covered through that.

The only way to know is to check.

How to check in five minutes

Find your membership card or the certificate of insurance you were sent. Then either open your insurer's app or ring the number on the card, and ask these four questions exactly:

  • “Does my policy include extras, also called general treatment?”
  • “Is physiotherapy included, and how much do I get back for one appointment?”
  • “Is there a waiting period before I can claim, and have I already served it?”
  • “How much of my annual limit is left?”

Write down the answers. Those four numbers are the whole picture. If you would rather not do this on the phone in English, most insurers answer the same questions in their app, in writing, where you can take your time.

If you are covered

Bring the card to your appointment. We claim through HICAPS, which handles every registered Australian health fund, so the rebate comes off at reception and you only pay the difference. There is nothing to post and nothing to claim back later.

Students from Belgium, Norway and Sweden

Australia has Reciprocal Health Care Agreements with eleven countries. Students from a small number of them — Belgium, Norway and Sweden in particular — may be exempt from holding OSHC and may have limited access to Medicare instead.

If that is you, one thing to be aware of: that access still does not include routine physiotherapy, for the same reason it does not for Australians. Check your own position with your insurer or with Services Australia rather than assuming either way.

What if you are not covered?

You pay for the appointment yourself. This is what a large number of students do, and it is worth knowing what you are actually deciding about.

Our current fees are listed on the payment options page. New patients can currently book a reduced-price initial consultation with our physiotherapist Saloni — the conditions are set out on the new patient offer page. We will always tell you the cost before you commit to anything.

A few other routes worth knowing about, because students regularly qualify for one without realising:

  • Hurt at work? If you are an employee and you were injured doing your job — including casual and part-time work, which most students are doing — a South Australian work injury claim through ReturnToWorkSA may cover your physiotherapy rather than you paying. Report the injury to your employer and see a doctor.
  • Hurt in a car accident? Compulsory Third Party insurance may cover treatment after a motor vehicle accident in South Australia, including if you were a passenger, a cyclist or a pedestrian.
  • Working as a delivery rider? Whether you are covered depends on whether you are engaged as an employee or as an independent contractor, and platforms differ. It is worth asking rather than assuming you have nothing.

The things students actually come in with

After a few years of seeing students from the universities and colleges around Adelaide, the pattern is fairly consistent:

  • Neck and upper back pain from long study hours on a laptop at a kitchen table, often in shared accommodation with no desk. See neck pain.
  • Low back pain from warehouse, cleaning, kitchen or delivery work — frequently the first physical job someone has done. See back pain.
  • Ankle, knee and shoulder injuries from cricket, football and gym training.
  • Wrist and shoulder pain from riding long delivery shifts.
  • Pain that has been going on for months because seeing someone felt too expensive or too complicated to organise. That one is worth reading about separately — see physiotherapy for chronic pain.

You do not need a referral

In Australia you can book a physiotherapist directly. You do not need to see a doctor first and you do not need a referral letter, whatever your visa.

If explaining pain in English is difficult, you are not alone and it is not a problem here. Our physiotherapists speak English, Hindi and Gujarati between them — see languages we speak — and you can ask for whoever you would rather see when you book.

We are at 177 Trimmer Parade, Seaton SA 5023, with free parking, a short trip from Findon, Fulham Gardens, West Lakes, Woodville, Grange and Henley Beach. Ring 0403 907 587 or book online.

If you would like the wider picture of how healthcare funding works here, start with Medicare, private health and OSHC: who pays for your physio.

This article is general information about health insurance in Australia, not financial advice and not individual medical advice. OSHC policies differ between providers and between products, and the only reliable description of your cover is the one your own insurer gives you. Fees mentioned are correct at the time of writing.

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