Down Syndrome NSW Welcomes Significant Cost Threshold Increase

The Significant Cost Threshold has been increased from 1 July 2024 from $51,000 to $86,000. Assessing visas on the basis of if an applicant or their child has a health condition or disability likely to incur “a significant cost to the Australian community” to treat or support has been a heartbreaking and complex process for many in our community.

“Having supported many families migrating to Australia and in particular NSW, the algorithm and components that sit behind the Significant Cost Threshold have seen too many refused entry with no account of the economic and social benefits of a more diverse and inclusive society in Australia, nor a fair cost threshold consistent with international benchmarks.” Down Syndrome NSW CEO stated.

“We warmly welcome the increase following the recent review, which we were pleased to contribute to on behalf of our members”.

The Significant Cost Threshold is the underpinning policy to ‘contain public expenditure on health care and community services’ as outlined in the Migration Regulations 1994.

According to the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs, the ‘average cost for an Australian’ is calculated as the average spending for health and welfare services an Australian would require over a 5-year period. To determine the average spending for health and welfare services, we use two published Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reports on Health spending and on Welfare spending. A projection is then applied to the AIHW data to bring the figure from historical data into the current year, and this is used to set the SCT value. The SCT is reviewed biennially.

The last increase was in 2021, from $49,000 to $51,000 making the current increase to $86,000 significant albeit likely not far enough.

In November 2023, the Department of Home Affairs sought views on the policy settings for the Australian visa Significant Cost Threshold.

The Department sought opinions and advice from a broad variety of stakeholders on:

• How the Australian visa Significant Cost Threshold is calculated
• How ‘Significant’ is defined in the Australian visa Significant Cost Threshold
• The implications of special education as a costing policy definition of ‘community service’
• The impact of the migration health requirement on non-citizen children with a disability born in Australia to people on temporary visas
• And any other matters in relation to the Migration Health Framework.

Down Syndrome NSW was consulted as part of this process.

By comparison to other countries, our increase is welcomed yet doesn’t go far enough.

• The Canadian significant cost threshold is set at three times the Canadian average cost for health and social services. In 2022, the amount was C$120,285 (A$138,692) over five years, or C$24,057 (A$27,738) per year.
• New Zealand’s significant cost threshold is NZ$81,000 (A$74,792) over five years.
• The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s most recent report into our national health expenditure (made up of medical and hospital costs) suggests it is currently about A$7,900 per person per year, which doesn’t include disability services or other community services such as education support, which are all included the significant cost threshold. Education continues to be a discrepancy whereby special education is deemed a cost to Australia, yet mainstream education and English as a second language are deemed investments.

Cost elements that are included in the Significant Cost Threshold include specialised education support, early intervention support, disability support services funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Employment Support, Youth Support, Social Services and Protection Support.