Canadian having baby in australia

Hi we are thinking of moving to Australia in queensland from Canada and just wanted to see if anyone has had a baby over there. Is the medical covered for c sections and hospital stays? If not roughly what is the cost? We are trying to deside if we should wait till after the baby is born or come and have it over there?
thanks

That question can't really be answered without knowing your visas status.

If you have a permanent visa then yes, everything would be covered under Medicare (the public health system).

However, if you are on a temporary visa then you would not have any access to Medicare so you would have to rely on Private health care. Unfortunately almost all private health care has certain waiting period. It appears the waiting period for having babies is a year, which won't do you any good.

Here's a link for the Private Medical Cover. See page 28 for the obstetrics waiting time:
http://www.medibank.com.au/Client/Docum ... pGuide.pdf
It clearly states there is a one year wait to be eligible for cover.

So it appears if you come on a temporary visa you're out of luck. The only way to get around this would be to arrive on a temporary visa and then immediately apply for a permanent visa (if you are eligible). This would give you access to the public health system as soon as you've applied.

I know you've told me before you don't know what visa you're coming on, but I would suggest that this would be a good reasonable arguement to give the employer to sponsor you for a permanent visa.

Aside from that I don't know what to tell you. I'm sure you don't like what I've said and are hoping for a differing opinion.

My suggestion would be to post your question here:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=54
Make sure you clearly state you don't know which visa you will come on. Also mention that you are from Canada (not the UK). Canada doesn't not have a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia so there are no Medicare benefits on a temp visa. People from the UK however do get access to Medicare even while on a temp visa (lucky for them!), but this is because their country has a reciprocal agreement.

I will see if I can dig up some more info for you.

comet555 is correct.

My two children were born in Adelaide, but after I had received my permanent residency. Dependent on your financial situation and long term plans, you might consider having your child in Australia. Your child will automatically qualify for citizenship (and thus give you a certain option to apply in the future as well). The family payment system is quite good compared to Canada and you would receive the "baby bonus" payment for the birth of your child which would practically cover the costs involved.

We found the public hospitals in Adelaide to be top notch and the pre and post natal follow up tremendous. Best of luck!

Just to clarify what Davo said, the citizenship and payments are for permanent visa holders only.

So if you were on a permanent visa your baby would be born with citizenship and you would have access to any parenting/childcare/baby bonus payment that you might be eligible for. At last glance I think the baby bonus was about $5000, but then they don't get any paid maternity leave from the government like you do in Canada.

Temporary residents don't get any of that. A baby born in Oz would get a temporary visa and you would not be eligible for benefits.

So as Davo said there are definite perks to having PR, or getting it at some point in time.