Health ref. no. 823
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT
HEALTH INSURANCE ACT 1973
Health Insurance (Eligible persons – Persons from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories who are holders of a Bridging Visa E (Subclass 050 and Subclass 051) with work rights and their immediate family members on a Bridging Visa E) Order 2024
I, Daniel McCabe, First Assistant Secretary, Medicare Benefits and Digital Health Division, Health Resourcing Group, delegate for the Minister for Health and Aged Care, for the purposes of subsection 6(1) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 (the Act) hereby DECLARE that:
(1) Every person included in the specified class of persons to whom clause 2 applies, being a person who, but for this Order, would not be an eligible person for the purposes of the Act shall, during any period in which the person is in Australia on or after 31 January 2024, be treated as having been or as being an eligible person for the purposes of the Act.
(2) This applies to:
(a) a person who is from Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories and is the holder of a Bridging Visa E (Subclass 050 and Subclass 051) with work rights; or
(b) a person who is an immediate family member of the person mentioned in paragraph 2(a) and is the holder of a Bridging Visa E (Subclass 050 and Subclass 051); or
(c) the child of a person referred to in paragraph 2(a) or 2(b) and who:
(i) was born in Australia; and
(ii) is taken to have been granted a Bridging Visa E (Subclass 050 and Subclass 051) because of section 78 of the Migration Act 1958.
(3) However, clause 2 does not apply to a person who is an unauthorised maritime arrival or who was not immigration cleared on their last entry to Australia, as those terms are defined in the Migration Act 1958.
(4) This Order commences on 12 August 2024.
Dated 5 August 2024
Note: See the Health Insurance (Eligible persons unauthorised maritime arrivals and holders of Bridging E (Class WE) visa) Order 2017 in relation to persons who are unauthorised maritime arrivals or who were not immigration cleared on their last entry to Australia.
Daniel McCabe
First Assistant Secretary
Medicare Benefits and Digital Health Division
Department of Health and Aged Care
ATTACHMENT - STATEMENT OF REASONS
Health Insurance Act 1973
Class Order under Subsection 6(1)
ORDER NO: 823
DATE OF ORDER: 5 August 2024
RELATED ORDER: 807
NAME OF PERSON/GROUP: Persons from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories who are holders of a Bridging Visa E (Subclass 050 and Subclass 051) with work rights (and their immediate family members on a Bridging Visa E).
REASON FOR APPROVAL:
The Bridging Visa E (Subclass 050) is a subclass of visa which allows the holder to stay in Australia lawfully while they finalise their immigration matter or make arrangements to leave Australia. The Bridging Visa (Subclass 051) is a subclass of visa which allows the holder to stay in Australia lawfully while their Protection visa application is being processed.
Under subsection 6(1) of the Health Insurance Act 1973, the Minister for Health and Aged Care has a discretionary power to declare certain people or classes of people eligible for Medicare in specified circumstances.
The Health Insurance (Eligible persons – persons from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories who are holders of a Bridging Visa E (Subclass 050 and Subclass 051) with work rights and their immediate family members on a Bridging Visa E) Order 2024 provides access to Medicare for persons who have been granted a Bridging Visa E with work rights by the Department of Home Affairs and their immediate family members on a Bridging Visa E. This measure is part of the Australian Government’s response to provide additional assistance to those from significantly affected areas of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories impacted by the Hamas-Israel conflict (and their immediate family members on a Bridging Visa E).
The Health Insurance (Eligible persons – persons from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories who are holders of a Bridging Visa E (Subclass 050 and Subclass 051) with work rights and their immediate family members on a Bridging Visa E) Order 2024 will apply retrospectively from 31 January 2024. However, no person will have their rights, as existing at the time the order takes effect, affected so as to disadvantage them, or liabilities imposed on them, other than the Commonwealth.