Health ref. no. 810
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT
HEALTH INSURANCE ACT 1973
Health Insurance (Eligible persons and citizens of Malta) Order 2017
I, GREG HUNT, Minister for Health, pursuant to subsection 6(1) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 (‘the Act’), hereby DECLARE that:
(a) Every person included in the specified class of persons:
(i) the person is a citizen of Malta who is ordinarily resident therein; and
(ii) the person is a holder of a current Maltese passport or a current Identity Card issued under the Identity Card Act 1975, or included as a dependent in any of those documents; and
(iii) is not a person who is the holder of a student visa under the Migration Act 1958 and its Regulations; and
(iv) the person is lawfully present but not ordinarily resident in Australia,
being a person who, but for this Order, would not be an eligible person for the purposes of the Act shall, for a period not exceeding six months after the person’s last entry to Australia, be treated as being an eligible person for the purposes of the Act.
(b) This Order shall have effect from the date of signature.
Dated this 26th day of October 2017
GREG HUNT
MINISTER FOR HEALTH
ATTACHMENT – STATEMENT OF REASONS
Health Insurance Act 1973
Class Order under Subsection 6(1)
ORDER NO: 810
DATE OF ORDER: 2017
RELATED ORDERS:
NAME OF PERSON OR GROUP: Maltese citizens
REASONS FOR APPROVAL:
Citizens of Malta who are lawfully present in Australia but not ordinarily resident in Australia are eligible for Medicare upon arrival in Australia, while on a visa that exceeds 6 months.
This is an interim measure to address an anomaly in the Australia-Malta Reciprocal Health Care Agreement. Currently, the agreement does not permit a person entering Australia on a visa exceeding a 6 month period to be eligible for Medicare.
Note: The name of this instrument was amended on registration as the instrument as lodged did not have a unique name (see subsection 10(2), Legislation Rule 2016).