Geof Custodio, 14, was selected as a finalist for the Buy Smart Competition, a Queensland school contest that showcases student knowledge of responsible spending and consumer rights.
His work was selected from more than 1000 entries from across the state in the running to win a major cash prize.
In the end, he didn’t win the major prize but went home with a ‘high commendation', and received a share of the $2500 prize money awarded to all finalists.
He told SBS Filipino that being selected as a finalist was a "surprise" and that the “wisest investment” for the money was to contribute to the legal costs attributed to family’s ongoing bid to remain in Australia.
The Custodios are facing deportation back to the Philippines after the Home Affairs Department denied their permanent residency application in 2018, due to costs attributed to the medical treatment of Geof’s brother Gain, who has autism.
Geof is the son of Geraldine and Geofrey Custodio who settled in the rural Queensland town of Bell in 2014.
The Custodio family Source: Geraldine Custodio
His mother Geraldine said she was initially unaware that her son had entered the state-wide competition and that his pledge to contribute to the legal bid made her proud.
“Yes, it worries me [that my sons think about the legal costs] but it also makes me proud because, at least, they are aware of the costs and that they are willing to contribute,” she said.
Custodios in Bell
Upon arriving in Bell in 2014, Geofrey Custodio secured a job providing technical services to a local piggery.
The family came to Australia under Mr Custodio’s 457 working visa, but their future became uncertain after their application for permanent residency was denied.
In a statement to SBS Filipino in May, a spokesperson from the Department of Home Affairs said: “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.”
In July, the Department adjusted the cost threshold for the hypothetical health care costs of an applicant with a disability from $40,000 to $49,000 and shortened the length by which the costs are calculated to 10 years instead of the entire life expectancy of an applicant.
Gain, who has autism, “does not satisfy the health requirements” of the Federal Government’s immigration policy. Source: Geraldine Custodio
The department had downplayed any speculation that it was relaxing its immigration policy following the changes to the cost threshold.
In July, the National Disability Insurance Scheme released changes to its price guide which included “the general and specific price increases for therapists, attendant care, and community participation”.
In an interview in May this year, Australian Greens Disability spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John criticised the federal government for rejecting the Custodio’s application for permanent residency and said that it infringed on their son’s basic human rights as a person with a disability.
Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John at Parliament House in Canberra. Source: AAP
“There is no place for ableism or for outdated thought of burden to the community in our immigration laws when it comes to disability,” he said.
