Senator Evans and Mr Shorten asked the committee to look at the effect of the regulations on people with a disability applying for permanent visas for Australia after being alerted to the case of Dr Bernhard Moeller and his family last year.
The family’s application for permanent residency was refused by the department and upheld on appeal by the Migration Review Tribunal after a Commonwealth medical officer assessed that Dr Moeller’s 13-year-old son Lukas would incur significant public health and community care costs due to his Down Syndrome.
Senator Evans was then asked to intervene and granted the family permanent visas because of the valuable contribution they were making in their local community.