11 September 2025
Excellent migration news for family members with Down syndrome
Down Syndrome Australia is very happy to announce positive changes in one of our key advocacy areas relating to education costs for children with a disability such as Down syndrome applying for a visa. These changes mean that many children who previously would have failed to meet the requirements for a visa now have an excellent chance of meeting them.
When a family applies to migrate to Australia their supposed health and community costs are assessed to see if they meet the Migration Health Requirement (MHR). If someone’s costs exceed a certain level, then they fail the MHR. Costs for school-age children with disability are taken to include the cost of ‘special’ or supported education in a state school, even if the family does not wanted ‘special ed’, or intends to send their child to a private school or to home school (a matter that we continue to advocate to be changed).
Previously, costs for supported or ‘special’ education for children with even a mild intellectual disability were assessed at such a high level that it was almost impossible for a child applying for visa to live in Australia for more than three years to meet the health requirement. This meant that their application for a visa could be refused and, consequently, in the case of an application for a permanent visa, the visas of all the family members would also be refused.
Since 1 August 2025, the supposed costs for education support have been very significantly reduced, particularly for children with Down syndrome or autism, so that many children who previously would almost automatically have failed to meet the MHR now have an excellent chance of meeting it.
DSA, in concert with our partner Welcoming Disability, has been advocating for a long time to have education for children with support needs viewed as a community investment (as are all other forms of schooling, including ESL) rather than a community cost for migration purposes. While we will continue to advocate that all costs for supported education are removed from assessment for the MHR, we view this current change as a very positive step.
Anyone with concerns or questions about migrating or applying for a visa for Australia with a family member with Down syndrome should consult DSA’s free migration advice service.
Contact DSA’s migration advisor, Jan Gothard, at migration@downsyndrome.org.au for further advice