Internalised stigmas and cultural taboos are some of the biggest barriers to support for people with disabilities in migrant communities.
“Even if they were aware that supports existed, [people with disabilities] were unlikely to access them, because they felt like they would be bringing shame upon themselves,” Vanessa Papastavros, national program manager of the Speak My Language disability program, told SBS Examines.
“Amongst carers of families with people who have disabilities, they would also limit the person with a disability from social activities or experiences, because they were so afraid they would experience stigma from other members of the community.”
Mark Tonga, a migrant from Fiji, said friends in his community treated him differently after a spinal cord injury left him with tetraplegia.
“People freak out when they don’t know how to deal with it,” he said.
But he says his injury isn’t what can hold him back – it’s the lack of access.
The world has a disability. We don’t have a disability.
“When you have a building, and you have people in the building go: ‘oh, people with disability won’t come in here.’ Well, put a ramp down mate … and we’ll come in!”
Another hurdle for migrants with disabilities or chronic health conditions is the Migration Health Requirement.
This is a measure of how much someone’s medical needs would cost the Australian community.
Migration agent and advocate Dr Jan Gothard says the requirement is discriminatory.
“It makes the person with a disability feel excluded or marginalised,” she said.
“It also sends a message to the community that people with health and disability conditions are actually a burden on the community.”
This episode of SBS Examines looks at the unique challenges faced by migrants with disability in Australia.
