Technical article

Can a Newcomer Use the Public Health System? Australia, New Zealand, Fiji

If one of them fell ill in the first year, would the public hospital take them?

By Neil Solomon · 3 min read

Picture a couple named Ron and Alice. Both are 66. They are weighing Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. They have savings and a pension. Their first worry is plain. If one of them fell ill in the first year, would the public hospital take them?

The pages I read say the answer turns on status. A permanent resident is treated one way. A visitor or a temporary visa holder is treated another way.

Side by side

Australia

The Department of Home Affairs page (updated 25 September 2026) lists who can use Medicare. It includes permanent residents, citizens, Resident Return visa holders, New Zealand citizens who are lawfully in Australia, and some temporary visa holders under a Ministerial Order. Those who apply for permanent residence are covered only if certain conditions apply.

Some visas carry condition 8501. It requires the holder to "maintain adequate arrangements for health insurance while the holder is in Australia."

Visitors from a few countries get limited help under reciprocal agreements. For the United Kingdom, Services Australia (page updated 24 June 2024) lists "medically necessary care as a public patient in a public hospital including inpatient and outpatient services", and some medicines at the general rate. Cover ends at the first of your British health insurance or your visa expiring. For New Zealand the page says: "Your cover is for public inpatient and outpatient hospital care only." It also says no Medicare enrolment is needed.

The full list of agreement countries is not among the sources. The sources show nothing about the United States or Canada. The pages that would say so did not load.

New Zealand

The Immigration New Zealand page gives the two lines in the table. It shows no update date. It sends readers to the Health New Zealand eligibility guide for the detail, such as work visa holders and Australians. That guide did not load for me, so I state nothing about those groups.

Fiji

The Ministry of Health page I reached is about the Free Medicine Scheme. It is aimed at citizens with an annual income below FJD 20,000 (the page uses a $ sign; I read it as Fijian dollars), and it says nothing about foreigners or fees. No official page on whether a retiree from abroad can use public hospitals or what the charges are was found. The page lists a Free Medicine Programme contact, and a call to them might help.

What is left open

• New Zealand: work visa holders, Australians, UK citizens.
• Australia: the full agreement list, and waiting periods for newly arrived permanent residents.
• Fiji: any rule or fee for non-citizens.