LYD1A KERR

I have been in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa since the end of March 2024. I’m incredibly lucky to be living in Melbourne, and I’m currently loving every minute!

First off, I am privileged to have a United Kingdom passport. This means I have access to Medicare through a reciprocal healthcare agreement between Australia and the UK.

Once I arrived in Melbourne, I submitted my application for Medicare. It took around 2 and a half months to become registered.

Once I received my Medicare number, I contacted a Diabetes Educator online. I was able to have Zoom call with her, and got signed up for the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS). She was incredibly helpful and talked me through the processes here and filled out the forms for me.

The NDSS allows me to get access to subsidised diabetes supplies at a much cheaper price than out of pocket.

How am I dealing with diabetes supplies?

Insulin

Before arriving in Australia, I ordered my usual insulin prescription, and was able to keep a vial or two left over at the end of each month. I was able to save up enough insulin vials to cover me for the year, if my calculations are correct. Of course, this is only if everything goes to plan, and my insulin doesn’t spoil.

My back up plan is to head to a GP for a prescription, then buy insulin from a pharmacy using my Medicare card. This is available under the PBS.

Continuous Glucose Monitoring

I was able to bring a three month supply of Dexcom’s with me to Australia. Considering I was paying £160 per month for the Dexcom in the UK, I wasn’t keen on the idea of trying to stock up a year’s supply.

Instead, in Australia, the Dexcom G6 has recently been subsidised by the government through NDSS. I’m very grateful to only have to pay around £17 per month now!

The Nurse submitted my first order for a one months supply of Dexcom G6’s. After that, I went to the pharmacy, and made an order with the pharmacist for more Dexcom G6’s.

Insulin Pump Supplies

As I use the Tandem T-Slim X2 insulin pump, I was worried about how I was going to access insulin pump consumables here. I brought three months supply with me, which isn’t a huge back up supply.

Thankfully, my hospital back in the UK had funding to supply me with one year of pump supplies. This is currently being sent to my sister every few months for her to store (thanks love u Alanah). One of my back up plans is for Alanah to ship these out to Australia when I start to run low on supplies.

But now that I am registered with the NDSS, I am able to order my insulin pump consumables, and buy them from a pharmacy. While these were free in the UK, I have to pay around £18 a month here. But, I’m not mad, especially because I will not forget about the whole £160 per month Dexcom fiasco.

At the same time as ordering the Dexcom’s, I was able to order more insulin pump supplies from the pharmacy.

In total, one month of Dexcom’s and two months of insulin pump supplies cost $100.50 (equivalent to £52.19).

I’m down to my last few infusion sets and cartridges, so I’ve definitely left this to the last minute, purely because in my head I get so worked up and over complicate everything. In reality, heading to the pharmacy to sort this out was so quick and easy!

Speaking of leaving things to the last minute, I was down to my last 5 thyroid tablets before I got a prescription for more. To do this, I made a Telehealth appointment using Updoc, and a GP rang me within 20 minutes (this cost me $49.99). I was then sent a barcode to show the pharmacist, and picked up my medication – all in the same day. It cost $18 (£9.35), whereas this was free back in the UK. But due to the pure ease and convenience, I really didn’t mind!

Tips for relocating to Australia with Type 1 Diabetes

• Do your research in advance – use the medicare, NDSS, and PBS websites to figure out what you’re eligible for, and to calculate the costs.
• Contact a diabetes educator to sign up for NDSS.
• Find a GP or Telehealth provider and book an appointment to be referred for diabetes monitoring, or to request prescriptions.
• Bring as many supplies as you can from your home country – the Australian government permits a three month supply of medication to be brought into the country.

If you are heading to Australia and worried about how to access medication or any diabetes supplies here – I hope this provides some peace of mind. If you’re used to getting everything for free (like me from the UK), you should definitely take these added costs into account when budgeting, but I suppose the trade off of is that access to GP’s and appointments are much more widely available and convenient.

Thank you for reading! ❤

Love, Lydia x