Australia accused of discriminating against disabled migrants
When Luca was born in a Perth hospital two years ago, it flipped his parents’ world in ways they never expected.
With the joy came a shocking diagnosis: Luca had cystic fibrosis. Then Australia - Laura Currie and her husband Dante’s home for eight years - said they couldn’t stay permanently. Luca, his parents were told, could be a financial burden on the country.
“I think I cried for like a week - I just feel really, really sorry for Luca,” Ms Currie says. “He’s just a defenceless two-and-a-half-year-old and doesn’t deserve to be discriminated against in that way.”
With a third of its population born abroad, Australia has long seen itself as a “migration nation” - a multicultural home for immigrants that promises them a fair go and a fresh start. The idea is baked into its identity. But the reality is often different, especially for those who have a disability or a serious medical condition.
Luca, his parents were told, could be a financial burden on the country.
Oh hell that is evil. How can you even kick a child’s parents out of a country? He will be even more of a burden if the state has to take care of him.
It’s so weird, like I was born in Australia and moved away at the age of 4 and somehow have citienship? I wasn’t born disabled but am now. The system is so weird.
They’ve been here 8 years on working visas, neither is a permanent resident.
Unfortunately Australia does not grant citizenship by birth unless at least one of the parents is a permanent resident.
Not sure what their plans were, but it sure is a shitty situation if they were anywhere close to being granted permanent visas.
To me this just demonstrates how fucked our working visa system is.
The abled ones too, just not to the same degree.
Imagine though. That family lived in Australia for eight years straight, their kid was born in Australia, and they have to leave because their kid who was born in Australia has a disability. Crazy!
