By Chang Min Park
Accredited Specialist in Immigration Law · Legal Practitioner Director of Park & Co Lawyers
A parent may be told that a child’s health assessment puts the family’s visa application at risk. The next question is often: “If we can pay for treatment ourselves, why does this affect the visa?”
The child visa health requirement involves a statutory assessment, not simply a bill for treatment. The visa subclass and stream, the medical assessment and the availability of an exception or waiver need to be examined together.
What the Medical Officer of the Commonwealth assesses
A Medical Officer of the Commonwealth (MOC) considers the applicable health requirement. Public health concerns are one part of the assessment. Another concerns likely healthcare or community-service costs and access to services in short supply.
The significant-cost assessment does not simply depend on whether your family plans to use a service. Under the relevant criteria, likely service needs can be assessed regardless of whether those services will actually be used. A promise to pay privately therefore does not, by itself, answer the primary health criterion.
Home Affairs currently publishes a Significant Cost Threshold of AUD 86,000. The relevant assessment period can vary with the visa and condition. Older examples using AUD 51,000 should not be treated as a current calculation.
PIC 4005 and PIC 4007 have different consequences
Public Interest Criteria 4005 and 4007 both contain health requirements. PIC 4007 includes a possible waiver of the cost and service-access requirement in specified circumstances. PIC 4005 does not contain that same general waiver discretion.
It is therefore important to identify which criterion applies to your particular visa stream. Finding a successful waiver story from a different visa does not establish that your family has the same option.
Even where a PIC 4007 waiver is available, it is not automatic. Other visa criteria must be satisfied, and the decision-maker must assess whether a grant would be unlikely to cause undue cost or undue prejudice to access to services. The public-health aspects of the criterion are separate.
Special consideration for some children born in Australia
The current criteria make a distinction for a minor born in Australia who is ordinarily resident here. Home Affairs says its officer will consider eligibility for this assessment where the child does not meet the health requirement; a separate request for special consideration is not required.
The Department’s guidance identifies the child’s age at decision, Australian birth and ordinary residence as important requirements. An Australian birth certificate alone does not establish every part of the assessment. This consideration is also different from acquiring Australian citizenship.
If the child does not qualify, the availability of a health waiver still depends on the visa subclass and applicable criterion. Do not assume every child’s application is exempt from all health requirements.
Medical evidence should address the assessment, not just the label
A diagnosis may not explain current function, prognosis or likely services. Relevant specialist reports can help clarify the child’s circumstances and any assumptions used in the assessment.
For a developing child, dates matter. A report based on an earlier assessment may need to be considered alongside later clinical evidence. Ask the treating practitioner to explain the medical position accurately, including uncertainties. A lawyer cannot supply a clinical diagnosis.
The legal task is to identify what the applicable test requires, whether the assessment rests on the relevant facts and what additional material can properly be provided. Disagreement with a diagnosis and an application for a waiver are different issues.
Protect the family’s application and response timetable
Some visa criteria require health assessment of other family members, including in certain circumstances members who are not applying to migrate. One family member’s position can therefore affect the application more widely. Check the actual family criteria rather than relying on the slogan “one fails, all fail”.
Keep the Department’s correspondence, MOC material if available, reports, application details and response dates together. If further medical evidence will take time, address that promptly. More time or a favourable reassessment should never be assumed.
A sound plan separates the medical facts, the applicable legal criterion and any available exception or waiver. Each requires its own evidence.
Assess the health issue and the legal pathway together
Provide Park & Co Lawyers with the visa subclass and stream, the Department’s health correspondence, relevant medical reports and any response deadline. We can identify the applicable criterion and the evidence needed for the legal assessment.
Enquire about a visa health assessment
Prefer email? enquiry@parkcolawyers.com
Submitting an enquiry does not create a solicitor–client relationship. Representation and fees are agreed separately.
Sources and further reading
- Migration Regulations 1994: PIC 4005 and 4007
- Home Affairs: significant healthcare and community service costs
- Home Affairs: special consideration for children born and ordinarily resident in Australia
- Home Affairs: health waivers
Sources checked on 11 October 2026. This article provides general information, not advice about an individual application. Check the law and official guidance applicable to your circumstances before acting.
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