Welcoming Disability
Calling for reform of Australia’s migration health laws to end discrimination against people with disabilities and health conditions.
BREAKING: Our Recommendations to the Federal Government’s Review of Australia's visa Significant Cost Threshold have been endorsed by over 70 organisations and experts: Read our submission here
“Australians value fairness and compassion. Our immigration policies should reflect this rather than treating people with a disability as a lesser valued class.”
Graeme Innes AM, Former Australian Disability Discrimination Commissioner
The Facts
Australia’s migration laws discriminate against people with a disability or a health issue applying to enter Australia.
The Australian government is treating people who have a disability or a health issue differently from other prospective migrants and this is unfair. All people should have a right to equality under Australian law. They should not be denied entry, forced to leave Australia or be unable to make a new life here because of their health situation or disability.
The current migration regulations exclude people based on the so-called ‘health requirement’. The health requirement assesses possible costs of a visa applicant to the Australian health system or community services and is based on the services that an Australian citizen or permanent resident would be entitled to access.
The health requirement does not take into account whether a visa applicant would actually use or even be eligible for those services. Nor does the health requirement consider what contributions the person or their family will make to the Australian community.
This can make it very difficult for people with a disability or health issue to successfully migrate to Australia.
People are being refused Australian visas simply because they have a disability or health issue. This can happen even when they are not eligible to access any Australian health or community services.
Read our Position Statement on migration and disability.
Read our news stories about the families and children that have been affected.
Read the latest news and updates on the Welcoming Disability campaign.
“The Federal Government must change its migration laws so that people with disabilities or health issues are treated fairly and have their human rights respected and protected.” - Natalie Wade, Chair of Disability Rights at Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
Read our Open Letter calling on federal government to end discrimination against migrants with disability.
“The heart of the process is proving to the government that you're worth more to the country than the cost of your treatment. So you're reduced to coming up with lots of different arguments for why your contribution to society is worth more than whatever this number is. How can I possibly quantify how much being able to live and work close to my husband's family is worth?”
— Health waiver Applicant
The Issues
2020 marks a decade since the Australian government’s Joint Standing Committee on Migration delivered the report Enabling Australia: Inquiry into the Migration Treatment of Disability. This report made eighteen recommendations regarding a just approach to migration and disability in Australia. Few have been actioned, despite stated government support in the government’s 2012 Response to the Inquiry for many of the recommendations.
In 2019, the UN Report on Australia's Review of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) recommended that Australia “review and amend migration laws and policies to ensure persons with disabilities do not face discrimination in any of the formalities and procedures relating to migration and asylum, especially remove the exemption in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 to certain provisions of the Migration Act. “
The Solution
The Welcoming Disability campaign calls on the Australian government to revisit the 2010 Enabling Australia Report and to implement its recommendation as a matter of urgency.
Australia must change its migration laws so that people with disabilities or health issues are treated fairly and their rights respected. Key actions which must be taken now include:
the Enabling Australia Report (2010), which recommended changes to the migration system for people with disability and health issues, needs to be reviewed and its recommendations implemented;
migration health requirements and policy need to be reviewed;
migration health requirements need to be made subject to the Disability Discrimination Act, from which they are currently exempt;
The financial impact of relaxing the health requirement should be quantified to inform this review.
How can I help?
You can get involved in this important campaign and support a fair go for migrants with a disability.
Our Allies
About Us
In March 2020, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) and Down Syndrome Australia launched the Welcoming Disability campaign. The campaign responds to ongoing discrimination faced by people with disabilities or health issues applying to come to Australia as temporary or permanent residents.
Calling for immediate review of the 2010 parliamentary report Enabling Australia: Inquiry into the Migration Treatment of Disability and for a revived investigation into the application of migration laws to people with disability or with health issues, the Welcoming Disability campaign will lead the important national conversation on the way prospective migrants and visitors to Australia who have health or disability-related issues are treated.
The Welcoming Disability Campaign does not provide legal advice or migration advice. The information provided on all materials created for the Welcoming Disability Campaign is of a general nature only and should not be relied upon by individuals. If you require advice on your situation, contact a lawyer or a Registered Migration Agent.