Irish family facing deportation over son's cystic fibrosis given fresh hope

An Irish family facing deportation because of their Australian-born son’s health condition has been given fresh hope with a tribunal recommending their case be considered for ministerial intervention.

Christine and Anthony Hyde moved from Dublin to Australia in 2009 and have been living in the small regional town of Seymour in rural Victoria for the best part of a decade.

The couple were on the cusp of being approved for permanent residency when their now three-year-old son Darragh was born with cystic fibrosis.

The family’s visa application was then denied because Darragh was deemed a burden on the health system.

A child born in Australia does not automatically become a citizen unless their parents are already citizens. Under Australian immigration rules, children born in Australia are not eligible to apply for citizenship until they are 10 years old.

The Hyde family’s plight prompted a groundswell of public sympathy after it was first reported on nine.com.au last month, with an online petition collecting more than 67,000 signatures.

The case was heard by the Administrative Review Tribunal yesterday afternoon.

Mrs Hyde, who works as an assistant principal at a local primary school, told nine.com.au the family were aware that the tribunal did not have the power to reverse their visa decision by the Department of Home Affairs.

However, they had been hoping for the tribunal to recognise that their case met the criteria for a ministerial intervention, which is exactly what happened.

“It is good news, this is what we were hoping for,” Mrs Hyde said.

“Of course, there is still a huge, huge battle ahead of us. But in terms of those barriers that we have, this is one of them and we have gotten through that first barrier, which is great.”

The Hyde family’s case will now go back to the Department of Home Affairs where a decision will be made on if it should be put before the minister.

If the department decides to refer the case to the minister, a decision is not likely to be made until after the federal election.

However, the tribunal's decision meant that the current immigration minister, David Coleman, could intervene at any time he wanted to, Mrs Hyde said.

The latest development in the Hyde family’s case comes after Mr Coleman chose to intervene in a similar, high-profile case last week.

Kinley Wangchuk, 18, and his family from Queanbeyan had been facing deportation back to Bhutan because his hearing impediment meant he was considered a taxpayer burden.

However, after Mr Coleman’s intervention, the family has been granted permanent residency.

Ms Hyde said the Wangchuk family’s case had given them cause for hope.

“Of course every case is different, but there are a lot of similarities and it shows there is grounds for the minister to intervene in these type of cases,” she said.

Previously, a spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs told nine.com.au that the department could not comment on individual cases.

“Most visas require applicants to meet the migration health requirement set out in Australian migration law. The health requirement is not condition-specific and the assessment is undertaken individually for each applicant based on their condition and level of severity,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“It is an objective assessment to determine whether the care of the individual during their stay in Australia would likely result in significant costs to the Australian community or prejudice the access of Australian citizens and permanent residents to services in short supply.

“For certain visas, primary criteria for the grant of the visa requires that all members of a family unit satisfy certain requirements. If one of the members of a family unit does not satisfy these requirements, then the primary applicant will not meet the criteria for the grant of the visa.”

Contact reporter Emily McPherson at emcpherson@nine.com.au.