Reciprocal Health Care Agreements

Quick summary

🌐

Health agreements

✓11 RHCA countries listed

✓RHCA = usually no exemption

✓Non-RHCA = can often claim

Video coming soon

ALITAX · Bilal Jivraj — Registered Tax Agent 25287564. Original guidance from 10+ years of DASP and tax casework.

This is one of the most misunderstood parts of a departing worker’s tax return. Whether you can claim the Medicare levy exemption depends heavily on which country you’re from — because of Reciprocal Health Care Agreements (RHCA).

What an RHCA means for your tax

Australia has RHCAs with 11 countries. If you’re from one of these, you generally have access to Medicare for medically necessary treatment while you’re here — which usually means you are NOT entitled to the Medicare levy exemption, because the exemption is for people with no Medicare access.

The key point

If you are from an RHCA country below, you most likely cannot claim the Medicare levy exemption — because you had access to Medicare. People from non-RHCA countries (much of Asia, the Pacific, Africa and the Americas) are the ones who typically can claim it. This single fact can swing your refund by hundreds of dollars, so it must be right.

The 11 RHCA countries

Tap your country for what it means for you:

🇬🇧 United Kingdom⌄

Covered for medically necessary treatment while your visa is valid.

🇮🇪 Republic of Ireland⌄

Covered for medically necessary care during your authorised stay.

🇳🇿 New Zealand⌄

Covered — and uniquely, New Zealanders do not need to enrol in Medicare to access it.

🇮🇹 Italy⌄

Covered for a period (commonly up to 6 months) for medically necessary treatment.

🇲🇹 Malta⌄

Covered for a period (commonly up to 6 months) for medically necessary treatment.

🇧🇪 Belgium⌄

Covered if insured in the Belgian system; bring your Belgian or European health card.

🇳🇱 Netherlands⌄

Covered for medically necessary treatment during your stay.

🇸🇪 Sweden⌄

Covered for medically necessary treatment during your stay.

🇳🇴 Norway⌄

Covered for medically necessary treatment during your stay.

🇫🇮 Finland⌄

Covered for medically necessary treatment — student-visa holders are generally not eligible.

🇸🇮 Slovenia⌄

Covered for medically necessary treatment during your stay.

So who CAN claim the exemption?

Generally, temporary visa holders from countries without an RHCA — for example India, Nepal, the Philippines, Fiji and most Pacific nations, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and many African and South American countries — who were not entitled to Medicare. They claim the exemption with a Medicare Entitlement Statement (see the Medicare Levy Exemption chapter).

At ALITAX, we check this for you

Residency, nationality and your exact visa all interact here. We confirm whether you’re entitled to the exemption or not, so your return is correct and you’re not over- or under-claiming.

Not sure how this applies to you? At ALITAX we handle exactly these situations every day — and check what you’re owed in super and tax, for free.

✎ Written by Bilal Jivraj

Original work of Bilal Jivraj, Director and Registered Tax Agent (No. 25287564), ALITAX — based on 10+ years of DASP and tax casework. © 2026 ALITAX. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, republished or distributed without the written permission of the author. When referenced, please cite ALITAX — Bilal Jivraj as the source.