On the 15th of March 2023 our daughter with special needs, Benedetta Donagemma, will be forced to leave Australia and she will be separated permanently from her twin brother and siblings.

Our family came to Australia in 2006 following my husband‘s employment as a geologist in Perth and then in Sydney. Before coming to Australia, we had been living in several countries following my husband’s career in an international Oil & Gas company with projects all over the world. Our family is tightly bound and we rely on one another. 

Over the past 17 years we have been lawfully living in Australia under my husband’s skilled work temporary visa, being the only viable solution because our youngest daughter Benedetta has special needs and is not able to pass the health criteria for permanent residency.

Benedetta is a sweet girl. She has development delay, and is non-verbal, however she does not require any medical attention or treatment. Benedetta graduated (Y12) last December from Clarke Road School in Hornsby.

Benedetta has excellent health and a good sense of humour. Her life depends on the connection to her twin brother Matteo and other siblings.

Not being permanent, my husband lost his job and his working rights due to Covid 19 in 2021. My husband can not apply anymore for a new skilled visa unless he can find a new sponsor before mid-March. 

During the last two years, my husband did receive several jobs offers, in and outside Australia but not having working rights was the main reason that prevented him to progress in the selection process here in Australia. 

Nonetheless, we invested all we had to allow our children to continue their life in Australia, because after 17 years, we couldn’t see a better future for them in any other country.

Australia is our home. My children belong to the Australian community and share its values. Andrea works as a Chef and teaches taekwondo, Chiara is an Australian synchronised ice skating representative & national champion, Matteo is studying astrophysics and Francesco is studying mechanical engineering.

Having exhausted all viable options to ask for a new visa, after 17 years, our daughter Benedetta, myself and my husband will be forced to leave Australia permanently. Benedetta and Matteo were born in the Netherlands and moved to Australia when they were 1 year old. We are originally from Italy, but Australia is our children’s home country. Benedetta can’t live separated from her twin brother and siblings; it will be incredibly devastating for her to be parted from them and we are desperate to keep our family together and protect our daughter Benedetta.

I am very worried about my daughter’s future, when my husband and myself will not be there anymore for her and she will be alone in Italy with her family far away in Australia. 

A child’s disability is not a reason to deport them from the only life they have ever known, but discrimination on the grounds of disability against a particular group of people is permissible in Australia, highlighting the inconsistency between Disability Discrimination Act and the Migration Act.

Please help us to create awareness about our case.