Australia’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship is looking to redefine its health requirement criteria for permanent residency, after a German family’s residency was controversially rejected on grounds of disability.

All Australian permanent residency visa applicants are required to meet a specified health critera before their application for residency can be granted.

Part of the Australian visa application process involves an assessment of health costs associated with particular disabilities.

Accordingly, immigration minister Chris Evans, has stated that the following terms will be used as reference:

•     Report on the options to properly assess the economic and social contribution of people with a disability and their families seeking to migrate to Australia.
•    Report on the impact on funding for, and availability of, community services for people with a disability moving to Australia either temporarily or permanently.   
•    Report on whether the balance between the economic and social benefits of the entry and stay of an individual with a disability, and the costs and use of services by that individual, should be a factor in a visa decision.
•    Report on how the balance between costs and benefits might be determined and the appropriate criteria for making a decision based on that assessment.
•    Report on a comparative analysis of similar migrant receiving countries.
The new considerations have come to light in the wake of a controversial ruling in which Dr Bernhard Moller, who had spent two years working in the Australian healthcare system in rural Victoria, was refused permanent residency for his family as his son’s Downs Syndrome was considered to be an unwanted financial strain on the health sevice. 

Senator Evans intervened and overturned the ruling, claiming that Dr Moller’s work in the community far outweighed the financial burden brought upon by his son’s disease.

Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services, Bill Shorten, commented, “People with disability are capable of making important contributions to the Australian workforce and general community.”

He continued, “I welcome this inquiry as a chance to highlight this contribution and the need for an immigration policy that recognises the rights of people with a disability and their carers to be treated fairly.”