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As part of the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme family accompaniment initiative, you can access health care assistance and family payments. This support is available if you hold a visa subclass 403 and are either:
- a worker in the PALM scheme approved to bring family members to Australia as part of the family accompaniment initiative
- a family member of one of these approved workers.
What health services you can use
We have health care support available for you and your family.
Medicare
Medicare is Australia’s health care system. You and your family can enrol in Medicare to get lower cost health care services like:
It is free to enrol in Medicare. You can enrol after your family arrives in Australia.
To enrol, you and your family must fill out the same Medicare enrolment form.
Read more about enrolling in Medicare.
Help with vaccinations
If you had immunisations overseas, you can get them recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). You will need to give us proof of each vaccine.
You can get vaccines in Australia if you were not able to get them at home. You can organise this after you have enrolled in Medicare, by visiting one of the following:
- a General Practitioner (GP)
- an immunisation clinic
- Community Health Centre.
You will need to do this to get Child Care Subsidy and Family Tax Benefit.
Find out how to add your overseas immunisations.
What family support payments you can get
You and your family may be able to get financial support from Centrelink.
Family Tax Benefit
Family Tax Benefit (FTB) is a 2 part payment to help families with the cost of raising children.
You may get FTB if your children are with you in Australia. Read more about Family Tax Benefit.
If you get FTB, you may also be able to access extra payments and services. This includes any of the following:
Child Care Subsidy
Child Care Subsidy (CCS) helps you with the cost of child care. It gets paid directly to the child care service. Read more about Child Care Subsidy.
What online services you can use
myGov is a secure way to access government services online in one place.
You can access our services online at any time using myGov. Using myGov, you can:
- link Medicare and Centrelink
- claim payments such as Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and Child Care Subsidy (CCS)
- get your letters from participating services sent to a single inbox online.
To do this, you’ll need to set up your online account with myGov. This online account is a secure way to access government services online.
To link Medicare and Centrelink online accounts, read more about creating a myGov account.
What other help you can get
You can get help in your language about Child Care Subsidy and Family Tax Benefit by calling the Centrelink multilingual phone service.
When you call us, you can let us know if you need an interpreter to help with the Medicare program. We will arrange one for free.
If you need a document translated to claim a payment or service, let us know when you call. We will do this for free.
You can read more about help available at information in your language.
Social work services
We have social workers who can help if you need to talk to someone for support.
They can help you with:
- finding mental health support services
- short term counselling
- information and referrals to other support services.
You can ask to speak to a social worker when you are talking to us. This can be in person or over the phone. If you need an interpreter, let us know and we’ll arrange one for you. You can also ask to speak with one on the Centrelink multilingual phone service.
You can also visit your nearest service centre and ask to speak with a social worker.