All Australian visas are subject to a health requirement, which simply stated is that applicants will not meet the requirement if
1. they are considered to be a risk to public health or a danger to the community (usually if they have active TB); or
2. they have a disease or condition that would likely result in significant costs to the community or would prejudice access by citizens to health care and community services.Some (but not all) visas have facility for a waiver of this condition.
The health requirement is imposed on a "one fail all fail" basis, so that one family member who does not pass will result in no family members being granted a visa. There was a case which received media coverage last year of a foreign doctor whose visa was refused on the basis that he had a Downes Syndrome child.
Whether the health requirement should be relaxed and/or the circumstances in which a waiver is granted is currently the subject of a parliamentary enquiry. It is interesting to read the various submissions, but one recurring theme is that the current policy is discriminatory because it does not distinguish between a disease on one hand and a disability on the other.There was also an article about the inquiry by Natasha Bita in The Australian on 28 January 2010.
The committee's final report was released this week and is available by clicking the link to the inquiry's home page.
The MIA (in its email bulletin to members) summarised the report in the following way:
"Making 18 recommendations to Government, the Committee supports: modernised and transparent "significant cost thresholds"; a visa waiver process for "social and economic contributions" for those who fail new health requirements; a revision of the so-called "one fails, all fail" rule; a strengthening of compelling and compassionate visa waivers; and the distinguishing of disabilities from public health risks."
It will be interesting to see what changes are actually adopted.
Creative commons attribution for photograph:
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