Eldrew05

Hi everyone..This is my first post (thread?)Hope I have done it right. I have wanted to move to Australia for years. My other half (OH?) visited in Dec 07 & its made me more determined to bring our children up there..MY daughter is 6years old & has multiple disabilities, she attends a great Special school in Uk at mo....Any one out there have conections with any children with disabilities, job or family wise, can avdise on any great schools & where they are.??Be great to hear from anyone who has a child with a disabilty & what is available to children with mobility & learning difficulties..I would also like to find work with children or adults with disabilities- any ideas?Thanks

northernbird

Welcome to British Expats.

First start of course is finding out if you are eligible for a visa. What do you do and your OH do for work?

Eldrew05

I am trying to contact agents now to see if there are ways, but my daughter has to be priority before I go down the long road. I need to know what is there for her.other than the weather..My OH is an associate director in reinsurance in London at the mo, alhough he has no insurance qualifications..I was in banking before I had the kids, but now thinking of training in another field to assist possible visa if necessary..I have a lot of knowledge in the disabilty field & may take this further..I love gardening, art & considered teaching for many years. OH is 40 this year I am 36.Thankx for reply this is all just maybes ( or more like hopefullys) at mo.dont know where to start

northernbird

www.immi.gov.au

this is the Australian immigration website. This will give you information on whether your jobs are in demand in Australia. I don't know enough about medical requirements as to whether your daughter would meet the medical criteria. Speak to an agent, there are a few excellent ones that post on here. Alan Collett and George Lombard should probably be your first port of call.

Eldrew05

Are you saying that the children have to have medicals too, not just the adults?

quoll

I believe there can be challenges to getting a visa if a person has disabilities which are likely to be a drain on services in years to come. That said, generally Australia does disabilities quite well as far as I can see. Different states have different ways of dealing with them but generally most states have gone down an inclusive education route - there are still special schools for the most needy kids but there has been a trend to offer small group support in mainstream educational environments or even supported to some degree in mainstream classes. The degree to which the kids participate in the mainstream depends on their capacity to do so. All kids have an IEP which should address their particular needs but they too are incredibly variable - some states do them better than others!

The ACT has a range of options from special schools through special units in mainstream to inclusion support. We have criteria for accessing those programs but generally a child who is eligible for a special school setting in UK would be eligible for a similar program here.

Pollyana

Yes, they do.

Josie1100

We have a son with disabilities. He has mild cerebral palsy and Aspergers (autism). We managed to get Permanent Visa's but........ we have a Labour agreement and it carries a waiver as I understand?

My son's medical was the part that we were concerned about. He attends a main stream school here in Maroubra and is just in the process of having funding and support put into the classroom as he only started school here 2 days ago.

I would suggest you get some advice and speak to some agents as previous people have suggested.

Tammy

JAJ

Onshore Labour Agreeement (subclass 855) does carry a health waiver but only if you reside (or propose to reside) in a "participating" State/Territory.

datamile

Read

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/heal...ents/index.htm


The health requirement is designed to:

minimise public health and safety risks to the Australian community;
contain public expenditure on health and community services, including Australian social security benefits, allowances and pensions; and
maintain access of Australian residents to health and other community services.

Some background...

People who have medical problems that may harm the health of the Australian public would find it difficult to meet the health criteria as would those who cause Prejudice of Access (transplantation, dialysis, blood products, radiotherapy, high level nursing home care, etc). However most health problems relate not to contagious diseases but the cost of caring for those problems.

If the cost of the health care is ‘significant’ then a refusal of a visa application normally follows.

As a general guide an assessment is made of the likely health costs over 3-5 years. If these costs are greater than $20,000 they are considered ‘significant’. In calculating these costs factors taken into account include use of Health and Community services, Costs of Support Services (carer payments, disability support pensions, residential care, respite care and home help, disability equipment, supported education, palliative care).

Some medical conditions of importance include …

• HIV – costs of specialist care, antiviral medication and hospital/hospice care, loss of work capacity
• Chronic Active Hepatitis (B or C) – costs of specialist care, interferon and antiviral medication, liver failure. Loss of function, work capacity.
• Heart Disorders – eg ischaemic heart disease, coronary artery disease, valvular disease, heart failure, arrhythmias. Costs of specialist care, bypass surgery, valve replacement, implantable defibrillator, heart transplantation. Loss of function, work capacity, independence.
• Blood Disorder – eg haemophilia, thalassemia major, leukaemia. Costs of specialists care, blood products, bone marrow transplantation, palliative care (if required).
• Endocrine Disorders – diabetes. Costs of specialist care, potential for kidney failure and need for dialysis, other complications, loss of function & work capacity.
• Growth hormone deficiency. High costs of growth hormone therapy.
• Deafness – costs of cochlear implant (depending on age), speech therapy, deaf service teacher & interpreters, loss of work capcity.
• Blindness – costs of income support, Braille equipment, guide dog, loss of work capacity.
• Nerve and Brain disorders – cerebrovascular disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, dementia, paralyses. Costs of treatment, rehabilitation, residential care, loss of independence.
• Orthopaedic and connective tissue disorders (eg arthritis). Cost of joint replacements, loss of work capacity, loss of independence, residential care.
• Psychiatric Disorders – eg schizophrenia, major depression, drug and alcohol dependence. Costs of specialist care, hospital inpatient costs, residential care, rehabilitation, and detoxification programs.
• Chest Disorders (excluding TB) – eg chronic obstructive disease, cystic fibrosis, respiratory failure. Costs of specialist care, recurrent hospital admissions, specialized medications, lung transplantation, home oxygen.
• Cancers – cost of treatment (initial and for any recurrence) and surveillance. If in remission, can be cleared ?


There is a health waiver available for a number of visa classes where the costs can be more than significant, mostly this occurs in close family cases like Partners, fiancés etc. In such situations the costs can be up to around $200,000 and still meet the health criteria, although all are treated on a case by case basis

Eldrew05

Hi Tammy- thanks for responding. Can I contact you thru your email?If so How do I do this?Wondered how old your son is, was he statemented in Uk & what schooling has he previously had?Thanks Tracey

Eldrew05

Thanks for responding- are you in education? In the Uk goverment trying to put all children into mainstream. I have been there & it isnt a good place if your child has severe disabilities- although every child is different. My daughter is a lot happier in a low key enviroment geared around her needs with resources on hand..We would be willing to pay for her education & medical services if need be- is this an option?

Eldrew05

Thanks for all your advice- I will wait to talk to agents.

quoll

I was in education until recently. Some states have a bigger push to inclusion - Victoria for instance is very strong on it. I quite understand that there are horses for courses and a number of parents are making the same decisions that you are because you know your kids and what suits them best. Unfortunately the pedagogues are very strong on the notion of inclusion often to the detriment of the child. (That's one reason I quit - more attention to bean counting and "cutting edge" schemes and less to client service!)

I dont know that there is an option to pay for educational and medical support - if you were prepared to do that it would run to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Our high needs special schools, even a few years ago, ran out at over $20K pa.

Eldrew05

Thanks again for your comments. I feel a lot of UK teachers are leavng the proffession for the same reason...