Changes are necessary to make the system fairer for people living with HIV and support our national HIV strategy
Living Positive Victoria welcomes the report from the Department of Home Affair’s review of the Migration Health Requirement and Australia’s visa Significant Cost Threshold. We urge the government to act on all findings and recommendations in the report.
Under the current system, people living with HIV automatically fail the health requirement for permanent residency visas in Australia. This is due to how the significant cost threshold, which this month increased from $51,000 to $81,000 over 10 years, is calculated. People whose healthcare costs exceed the threshold are deemed to be too burdensome to the Australian healthcare system. This significantly limits the visas for which applicants are eligible, as very few offer a waiver for the health criteria.
People living with HIV are not a burden to Australia. The standard of HIV care in Australia involves two medical appointments per year and daily antiretroviral medication. The cost of this is not significantly above the average healthcare costs of Australians.
The current system harms individual people living with HIV. The policy, which is exempt from the Disability Discrimination Act, sends the message that migrant people living with HIV or other chronic health conditions are not welcome in Australia. It creates costly and significant need for migration and legal services and leaves people living with HIV in a state of limbo for many years.
Discriminatory policy creates the perception that Australia bans people living with HIV from permanent residency. This promotes stigma and disincentivizes temporary migrants and international students from knowing their HIV status, undermining national treatment and prevention strategy.
Key actions proposed by the review include:
- Changing how the Significant Cost Threshold is calculated by applying a multiplier to the national average per capita cost for health and community services.
- Regular review of the Significant Cost Threshold
- Special consideration for how children are affected
- Expanded access to the health waiver for skilled visa subclasses; and
- Identifying options to streamline health waiver processes for applicants
While the government has acted on some of the recommendations outlined in the report, it has made no commitment to key changes, with no timeline for action included.
Living Positive Victoria’s President, Craig Brennan, welcomed the report and the proposed changes but urged the government to act.
“The significant cost threshold is out of date, out of line with community expectations, and out of step with policies in countries like Canada and New Zealand,” he said.
“The threshold excludes people living with HIV from the opportunities for work and education that are available to other skilled migrants.”
“The Albanese government has not yet committed to changing how the significant cost threshold is calculated as recommended in the report or expanding access to the health waiver. Both changes are necessary to make the system fairer for people living with HIV and support our national HIV strategy.”
Listen to LPV Health Promotion Team Lead, Tim Krulic, chat with 3CR’s In Ya Face program on this topic HERE.