1508969 (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application by a business sponsor seeking approval for the nomination of Shiyu Qu for the occupation of Real Estate Agent. The core dispute revolved around whether the applicant had met the mandatory labour market testing requirements stipulated by migration regulations.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant had satisfied the labour market testing condition under section 140GBA of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). This involved assessing whether the applicant had demonstrated that no suitably qualified and experienced Australian citizen or permanent resident was readily available to fill the nominated position, and whether the evidence provided met the prescribed requirements for advertising and recruitment attempts.

The Tribunal found that the applicant's evidence of labour market testing was insufficient. While the applicant claimed to have advertised the position continuously on social media since September 2014, the Tribunal was not satisfied that this constituted adequate testing of the Australian labour market. The nature of the platforms used and the lack of detail regarding the recruitment process led the Tribunal to conclude that the applicant had not discharged the onus of proving that a suitable Australian candidate was unavailable. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to refuse the nomination.