1600006 (Migration)

This matter concerned an application by a business for approval as a standard business sponsor, which was affirmed by the Tribunal not to be approved. The applicant sought to challenge the decision of the delegate not to approve the application.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant met the requirements for approval as a standard business sponsor under regulation 2.59 of the Migration Regulations 1994, specifically concerning the lawful operation of a business and the satisfaction of training benchmarks. The Tribunal also considered the additional criteria under regulation 2.60S regarding the transfer, recovery, and payment of costs associated with becoming an approved sponsor.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had satisfied the requirement of lawfully operating a business in Australia, having provided sufficient documentation, including BAS and financial statements, after an extended period. However, the applicant failed to meet the training benchmark requirements. Despite the Tribunal providing clear explanations and examples of the required calculations for Training Benchmark A or B, the applicant did not provide the necessary payroll figures and corresponding expenditure on training or industry-training funds to enable the Tribunal to assess compliance. Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that the applicant met the applicable criteria for approval as a standard business sponsor.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review not to approve the applicant as a standard business sponsor.