Do tourists have to pay for hospitals in Australia?

Yes, tourists generally have to pay for hospitals in Australia, and costs are very high if you do not have insurance, because Australia does not have free public healthcare for most visitors. Australian public hospitals charge overseas visitors who are not covered by Reciprocal Health Care Agreement or insurance, with fees set by each state. Typical charges are $1,500 to $2,500 per day for a public hospital bed in emergency or general ward, $3,000 to $5,000 per day for ICU, $500 to $1,000 for emergency department visit, and $20,000 to $50,000+ for surgery like appendix removal or fracture repair. If you have to pay privately without insurance, a single overnight stay can cost $3,000 to $10,000. Tourists from 11 countries including UK, New Zealand, Ireland, Sweden, Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Malta, Slovenia and Italy have Reciprocal Health Care Agreement RHCA with Australia that allows them to access medically necessary treatment as a public patient in public hospitals for free or low cost by enrolling in Medicare, but RHCA does not cover private hospitals, ambulance, dental or repatriation, and you still pay for some services. For all other tourists, including USA, Canada, Germany, France, India, China, you must pay full cost unless you have Overseas Visitor Health Cover OVHC or travel insurance. That is why Department of Home Affairs strongly recommends all tourist visa holders have adequate health insurance for entire stay.