British Expats - Public Health System Oz & Maternity Leave

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Originally Posted by fancy (Post 8557980)

If I were to go to Oz on a sponsorship visa would my family and I be entiteled to the public health system?

If you come to Australia on a 457 visa (temporary employer sponsorship), you may be entitled to Medicare (public health service) under the reciprocal agreement. It will depend on where you were a resident before you come. UK residents can benefit from Medicare. You can claim some expenses back and be treated for free in the public system. You will also have to take up private health insurance as a condition of your visa.

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And also,,,I would like to have a baby in next year or 2.....What r my options??? Would I be entiteled to maternity leave? I Know im not entitled to paid maternity leave, but could I loose my sponsorship?

As it stands, there is no compulsory paid maternity leave here yet. It's in the works though and should be introduced next year. See http://www.familyassist.gov.au/New/2...s/default.aspx. This proposal could be amended depending on the outcome of the general elections at the end of this year.

Employers have to give up to 12 months maternity leave though with the obligation to take the person back at the end at the same level of job and pay.Some employers do offer paid leave, but they are few and far between.

AFAIK, if you are the primary applicant on the 457 visa and get pregnant, the employer has to give you maternity leave. Bear in mind that most companies have a policy to only give paid maternity leave to employees who have been in the job for a little while. It was 12 months in my workplace. Not sure if that's the same acrosss the board.

I don't think they could use the pregnancy as grounds for terminating the sponsorship, but you might want to double-check with DIAC and the prospective employer. If you decided to not go back to work after the maternity leave however, the sponsorship would be terminated and you would not have a valid visa anymore.

If you are a dependant of a 457 visa holder, getting pregnant will have no effect on your partner's visa.