The immigration health requirement for Australia Visa applicants is outlined in the Migration Regulations 1994. This is under the Public Interest Criteria of Schedule 4. The requirement has 3 major objectives according to the Government:
• To safeguard Australians from public safety
and health risks like infectious
diseases, especially tuberculosis
• To protect access for Australians to short
supply medical services like organ
transplants
• To limit the volume of cash that the
government has to spend on community and
health services
The present
guidelines for the administration of the policy state that “it is crucial for Australia and continuing the Australia Visa
programs that health costs and public health risks are not improperly enhanced
by immigrants and travellers”.
The cost for
health requirement has however been criticized by advocates. Many of them claim
that it unjustly targets those with a permanent disability. This is in
contravention with the international human rights obligations of Australia. It
is under the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities of the United Nations.
In practice,
whether the health costs will be unduly increased or not is calculated against
something known as ‘significant cost
threshold’ policy of the government. The Australia Visa applicants with
medical condition or disability will not pass the requirement. This is if the
cost of the medical condition or disability is judged by an MCO - Medical Officer of the Commonwealth to
be higher than the threshold. As of now, the ‘significant cost threshold’ is
fixed at $40,000, as quoted by the SBS.
The hypothetical
cost of services for Temporary Australia
Visa is assessed by the intended stay period. For example, consider an
applicant of Australia Student Visa.
The student wants to remain in Australia for 4 years and the predicted medical
costs are $12,000 annually. The applicant will not fulfil the requirement in
this scenario.
Whether the cost
is exceeded or not is calculated by the cost of services incurred over 5 years
for most applicants of Australia PR Visa
below 75 years. The costs are calculated for over 3 years only for applicants
above 75 years.
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