ANECDOTE INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD ATF ANECDOTE INTERNATIONAL UNIT TRUST (Migration)

This matter concerned an application by Anecdote International Pty Ltd ATF Anecdote International Unit Trust for approval as a standard business sponsor. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for approval under regulation 2.59 and additional criteria under regulation 2.60S of the Migration Regulations 1994.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant satisfied the various criteria for standard business sponsorship, including having lawfully operated a business, providing necessary attestations and declarations, and the absence of adverse information. A key issue was the applicability of training benchmarks, which had been omitted from the regulations prior to the application's final determination, and whether the applicant had taken any action to transfer or recover sponsorship-related costs.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant met the procedural requirements of regulation 2.59(a) and was not an existing sponsor as per regulation 2.59(b). It found that the applicant was lawfully operating a business in Australia, satisfying regulation 2.59(c), and had provided the required written attestations and declarations under regulation 2.59(f). Furthermore, no adverse information was known to Immigration, fulfilling regulation 2.59(g). Crucially, the Tribunal determined that the training benchmarks previously contained in regulations 2.59(d) and (e) were no longer applicable due to transitional provisions. The Tribunal also found that the applicant met the additional criteria under regulation 2.60S, as there was no evidence of the applicant seeking to transfer or recover costs associated with sponsorship or recruitment.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision not to approve the application and substituted a decision approving the applicant as a standard business sponsor for a term of three years.