Thinking about moving to Australia and have a disability?

October 31, 2008 - Pressure is mounting on the Rudd Government (Australia) to intervene in the case of German doctor Bernhard Moeller who, along with his family, was refused permanent residency in Australia because his son Lukas has Down syndrome.

Victorian Premier John Brumby this morning said the Immigration department had made a “serious error” in refusing the application of Dr Moeller, who currently works in the Victorian country town of Horsham as its only permanent specialist physician.

And federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon today said she would be talking to Immigration Minister Chris Evans about the case, given the difficulty in attracting quality medical professionals to the regions.

“We understand the importance of having doctors working in our rural and regional communities and we support them in many ways,” Ms Roxon said.

“But for this particular case it's a matter I will raise with the immigration minister, but I understand .... court processes need to be undertaken first.”

Mr Brumby said the Government should reverse the decision because Dr Moeller was making a valuable contribution to the region, and because Lukas should be treated like any other child.

“In my view a serious error has been made by the federal authorities,” Mr Brumby said.

“I think this is a case which needs reversing and overturning. The quicker we can get a review and a decision on this the better.”

Dr Moeller is hoping to live permanently in Horsham after serving the community for over two years, but was notified by the Immigration Department on Wednesday his application for permanent residency had been rejected.

“A medical officer of the commonwealth assessed that his son's existing medical condition was likely to result in a significant and ongoing cost to the Australian community,” an immigration department spokesman said yesterday.

“This is not discrimination. A disability in itself is not grounds for failing the health requirement - it is a question of the cost implications to the community.

“It is long-standing government policy that high-cost medical conditions are a consideration in visa decisions.”

Dr Moeller, who has three children, said he had been welcomed by the community, and Lukas had been doing well in the government school he was attending.

“That Lukas could go to a regular school was one of the main reasons we came to Australia from Germany,” he told The Australian.

“If they really think Lukas is going to cause a big cost, I'm happy to deal with that, but they never asked me.”

Australia's disability discrimination commissioner Graham Innes said immigration was explicitly excluded from anti-discrimination laws, but the treatment of Dr Moeller was discrimination by any other measure.

“This is morally discriminatory. Disability is always viewed through the negative prism of cost and not from the perspective of the positive contribution a person can make,” he told The Australian from New York last night.

“There is no sense of the person or his potential in this decision. Who knows what contribution he make make in the future to Australia.

“Take myself as a person with a disability who has achieved things in society,” the blind commissioner said. “Take David Helfgott, the pianist who is enjoyed by thousands around Australia.”

Down Syndrome Victoria executive officer Catherine McAlpine said the decision was “disgraceful and discriminatory”.

“The Department are not looking at Lukas as an individual or seeing his potential. Instead, they are making assumptions based on their outmoded understanding of intellectual disability,” she said

“It is outrageous that, in the same year the Australian Government ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, it is effectively stripping this young man of his human rights.”
The department said Dr Moeller had the right to seek a review of the decision through the Migration Review Tribunal, and has further review rights should that fail.