Enrolling in Medicare

Who can enrol in Medicare

To enrol in Medicare, you need to live in Australia and be any of these:

• an Australian citizen
• a New Zealand citizen
• an Australian permanent resident
• applying for permanent residency
• a citizen or permanent resident of Norfolk Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island or Lord Howe Island
• a temporary resident covered by a ministerial order.

You may also enrol if you’re visiting Australia from a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement country. Find out more about Reciprocal Health Care Agreements on the Services Australia website.

How to enrol in Medicare

You can enrol in Medicare either:

• online through myGov
• by completing a Medicare enrolment form.

Find the Medicare enrolment form and more about how to enrol in Medicare on the Services Australia website.

There are other ways to enrol if you're enrolling a baby or you’re an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Australian.

Enrolling your baby in Medicare

If you need to enrol your baby in Medicare, you can do it in your Medicare online account through myGov. Find out how to enrol your baby in Medicare.

Enrolling when you’re an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Australian

If you’re an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Australian, and have standard identity documents, you can enrol using a form. Find the Medicare enrolment form on the Services Australia website.

If you don’t have standard identity documents, you can use a referee. You both need to fill in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medicare enrolment and amendment form on the Services Australia website.

Find out more about enrolling when you’re Indigenous on the Services Australia website.