- Author
- AFAO - Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations
- Title
- Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Migration: Inquiry into the Migration Treatment of Disability
- Imprint
- 4 November 2009, 19 pp
- Description
Reproduced with the kind permission of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations.
- Abstract
"This review is an opportunity to reform over-arching policies fundamental to the treatment of people with disability under Australia’s Migration, Refugee and Special Humanitarian Programs. AFAO believes that whether or not Australia’s discrimination against people on the grounds of disability under migration law was ever justifiable, the time has come to remove discrimination on the grounds of disability from our migration program.
This submission relates primarily to policies affecting people with disability in respect of permanent visa applications – for both migrant and humanitarian applicants. Although the Terms of Reference do not specifically refer to Australia’s refugee and special humanitarian programs, given that the Health Requirement is currently applied to applicants for permanent protection as well as to prospective migrants, our
submission covers the application of the Health Requirement to refugee and humanitarian applicants as well. AFAO’s submissions regarding humanitarian applicants and refugees are made in the strongest possible terms."