Australian UN committee member speaks out about immigration case

The rejection of the Moeller family's application for permanent resident status continues to make news both in Australia and around the world, with the response of a noted Australian legal expert speaking from his newly announced position at the United Nations.

Professor Ron McCallum AO, has been elected as one of 12 experts to the first monitoring committee for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Professor McCallum, the former Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Sydney and an expert in industrial law, won his place from a large field of candidates from other countries. Professor McCallum’s lived experience of disability further qualified him for the role. He is the only Australian currently serving on a UN treaty body.

The Australian reported on 5th November:

.....refusing German doctor Bernhard Moeller's application for permanent residence in Australia on the basis of the cost to the taxpayers of his son Lukas's Down syndrome is "outrageous" and not in the spirit of international disability agreements, law expert Ron McCallum says.

Click here for the full text of The Australian's report.

Click here for the Human Rights Commission's response to Prof McCallum's appointment.

Prof McCallum was profiled by the ABC TV program Compass in 2007. Click here to read the transcript. He is a 2008 Ambassador for the Don't DIS my ABILITY campaign.