Hi there - I knoow this post is a little old but I had to reply. As a kiwi who has been here 3 years with my family and a CP son I have come across some difficulties.


Firstly even though my dh is is a wanted posistion for citizenship or permanent residensy we hvae been denied it because of our CP son.

Yes through the school, medicare, health system does help there is no benefits like careres payments and respite help from any agencies here. When my boy first enrolled in school suddenly bec ause he exsisited I had numerous phonecalls from agencies offering afterschool care, respite, trips, etc but when I said I have no funding they hang up!!!

I do reccommend you get health ins even though there is a stand down of 1 year with pre exsisting conditions.

My son desparatley needs a new wheelchair and there is no funding for it so we need to buy ourselves.

All in all though we love Aussie and will never return to NZ. We will bring our son up like the old days in our home. The benefits for the whole family outweigh the personal cost and lack of resourses available for our son.

NB: In London there is a place called Conductive Education which in Govt funded there I understand, worth a visit.