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| Health and Safety in Australia | |||
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| Scroll down for information about Insurance, Disabled Visitors, Sun Protection, Watersports and Surf Safety, Smoking and Public Toilets | |||
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| You should encounter few health hazards when travelling within Australia. Commonsense is the key and normally you would follow similar simple health and safety rules to those that you would observe at home. In tropical areas in particular you need to take precautions against excessive exposure to the sun, insect bites (mainly at dusk and dawn) and dehydration. When partying and having a good time you should protect yourself from risks such as exposure to HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases as you would anywhere else. | |||
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Before departure, international visitors are strongly recommended to take out travel insurance with comprehensive health cover and medical repatriation to cover the duration of their stay in Australia. Medicare is Australia’s public health care funding system. Australia currently has different reciprocal health care agreements with 9 countries (New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Italy and Malta). These agreements provide free or subsidised care as a public patient in public hospitals and subsidised medicines, but does not cover out-of-hospital medical treatment. The agreements do vary and do not cover repatriation in the case of illness or injury – visitors can refer to the Medicare website www.medicareaustralia.gov.au(Visitors) |
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| Enjoy outdoor activities such as sightseeing, bushwalking, boating and camping without the risk of exposure to the sun by using simple skin protection precautions. Wear a broad-brimmed hat, a shirt with a collar and sleeves and a pH30+ broad spectrum, water resistant sunscreen on exposed areas of skin. Try to avoid the sun mid-morning to mid-afternoon when the ultra violet rays are at their strongest. | |||
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Popular beaches in Australia are patrolled from October to April by volunteer members of the Surf Life Saving Association - visit their website
www.slsa.asn.au Always swim of surf at places patrolled by surf lifesavers of lifeguards and remember to swim between the flags that mark the safest areas and yellow flags. If you are unsure of surf conditions, ask a lifesaver. A particular surf hazard can be strong currents known locally as ‘rips’. If you find yourself dragged along by a rip, you should float with the current and not fight against it. Try not to panic and raise your arm for assistance from the lifesavers. From late-October to early-May venomous box jellyfish, also called marine stingers or sea wasps, occur in the coastal waters of northern Australia (mainly north of the Tropic of Capricorn). Some major beaches do have stinger safety nets surrounding the beach and the jellyfish is rarely found in waters surrounding the islands of Queensland or on the Outer Barrier Reef. However the stingers are present on all beaches in the Northern Territory as well as on the Kimberley coastline in Western Australia. Beaches affected by stingers normally have warning signs. In inland and coastal waters north of the Tropic of Capricorn (WA, NT and QLD) you should not swim in remote rivers or lagoons or in areas were signs are displayed warning of the possible danger of crocodiles. |
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| Each Australian state has its own anti-smoking legislation, which can be a somewhat confusing. However in general terms throughout Australia, smoking is not permitted in government buildings, enclosed public areas such as cinemas, galleries, restaurants; on public transport including airlines, coaches, taxis and inside all Australian airport terminals. Most states have also been phasing in total indoor smoking bans in hotels, pubs, clubs and hospitality venues. | |||
| A rather bizarre (and very Australian), but nevertheless useful, government website is The National Public Toilet Map Finder www.toiletmap.gov.au | |||
| Return to - Top AUS GUIDE BOOK Contents Page or hit 'Back' button to return to previous page | |||
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| Truly Australia have attempted to give an honest and objective description of the topics covered on this page and have deliberately avoided regurgitating tourist office media releases. The information shown has been compiled from a variety of reputable sources and our own experiences. We check and review this information from time to time, but we assume no responsibility for the absolute accuracy of the details given. |
