Bray Brothers P/L ATF Bray Family Trust trading as Bray Management and Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered a dispute between Bray Brothers P/L ATF Bray Family Trust trading as Bray Management and the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) regarding eligibility for an Export Market Development Grant. Bray sought to obtain a grant under the Export Market Development Grants Act 1997 (Cth) for its activities marketing luxury yachts for charter in Australia to overseas clients.

The Tribunal was required to determine three key issues: first, the nature of the service provided by Bray; second, whether this service constituted an eligible service under the Act; and third, if it was an eligible service, whether the promotional activities undertaken by Bray were for an approved promotional purpose, specifically, whether Bray intended to sell that service to persons not resident in Australia.

The Tribunal heard evidence that Bray acted as a charter manager for luxury yachts, marketing them to overseas brokers with the aim of attracting high-net-worth tourists to charter these yachts in Australia. Bray entered into Central Agency Agreements with yacht owners, managing the charter process and providing marketing materials to other brokers. The Tribunal noted that Bray's role appeared to be that of an agent for the yacht owner, rather than a principal, as it marketed and negotiated charters on behalf of the owner. The Tribunal found that Bray's service did not meet the requirements of section 25 of the Act, as it was neither an eligible tourism service nor an eligible non-tourism service.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed Austrade's decision dated 19 September 2018, concluding that Bray had not supplied eligible services pursuant to section 25 of the EMDG Act for the grant year 2015/16, and therefore its application for an export market development grant must fail.