Last updated: July 2026  |  Reading time: 11 min Quick Answer: How do new migrants enrol in Medicare? Eligible Australian residents and some visa holders can enrol in Medicare online through myGov or by submitting a Medicare enrolment form with their supporting identity and visa documents. Check that your citizenship or visa status is eligible. Prepare your passport or ImmiCard and residency evidence. Apply online through myGov where available. Use the Medicare enrolment form if online enrolment is unavailable. Link Medicare to myGov and add your digital card to the myGov app. When you first move to Australia, Medicare can feel more complicated than it needs to be. You may know that it helps cover doctor visits and hospital treatment, but the difficult part is working out whether your visa is eligible, which documents you need and where the application actually goes. The process is much easier ...

Last updated: July 2026  |  Reading time: 10 min myGov is the single account that connects you to almost every Australian government service you'll ever need — tax returns, Centrelink payments, Medicare, superannuation, and more. If you're new to Australia, or you've been putting off setting it up, getting this sorted properly saves an enormous amount of time and frustration later. The setup itself takes about 15 minutes. The confusion usually comes from not knowing which services to link, or hitting an identity verification step without the right documents. This guide walks through the whole process clearly so you get it right the first time. What Is myGov? myGov (my.gov.au) is an Australian Government portal that gives you secure online access to a range of federal government services through a single login. Instead of creating separate accounts for the ATO, Centrelink, Medicare, and other agencies, you link them all to one myGov account and access everythi...

Last updated: July 2026  |  Reading time: 12 min When I arrived in Australia, I had a rough idea of what I needed to do — get a TFN, open a bank account, find somewhere to live. What I didn't realise was how many of these things connect to each other, and how getting the order wrong creates headaches that take weeks to untangle. No TFN means your bank withholds tax on interest. No Medicare card means you're paying full price at the doctor. No myGov account means you can't access half of these things online. This checklist covers everything you need to sort out when you arrive — in the right order, with links to the full guides where you need more detail. Your Progress Settlement Checklist Progress 0% 0 of 32 tasks completed — tick items as you go Week 1 — The Essentials These are the things you genuinely cannot do without. Get these sorted in your first week. 🪪 Tax File Number (TFN) Week 1 Apply for your TFN online at ato.gov.au — it's fr...

  Last updated: June 2026  |  Reading time: 8 min Most people know about the Medicare Levy — the standard 2% that comes off almost everyone's taxable income to help fund the public health system. What catches people off guard is the Medicare Levy Surcharge , which sits on top of that and applies specifically to higher earners who don't hold private hospital cover. I've spoken to people earning $105,000 who had no idea they were being charged an extra 1% — roughly $1,050 — straight to the ATO each year. They assumed Medicare covered everything and didn't think about private health insurance at all. That's an easy and completely avoidable mistake. Here's how the MLS works, what the current thresholds are, and what you actually need to do to avoid it. What Is the Medicare Levy Surcharge? The MLS is a government policy designed to push higher-income earners toward private health insurance, taking some pressure off the public hospital system in the p...

Last updated: July 2026  |  Reading time: 12 min When I first came to Australia, I assumed tax residency was simple — if I lived here, I was a resident. It turned out the ATO doesn't see it that way. The question they're actually asking is: where is your life genuinely based? And the answer can change your tax bill by thousands of dollars. Understanding your Australian tax residency status is one of the most important things to get right when you arrive — or leave. It determines what income gets taxed, at what rates, whether you get a tax-free threshold, and whether you pay the Medicare Levy. This guide explains how it works in plain English. Tax Residency vs Immigration Status — They're Different This is where most people get confused first. The ATO uses completely different rules from the Department of Home Affairs (immigration): You can be an Australian citizen or permanent resident but not a tax resident (e.g., if you've moved overseas permanently) You c...