Carmel & Co Gymnastics Pty Ltd (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) reviewed a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration not to approve Carmel & Co Gymnastics Pty Ltd as a standard business sponsor. The core of the dispute concerned whether the applicant met the specific training requirements mandated by the Migration Regulations 1994 for such sponsorship.

The Tribunal was required to determine if Carmel & Co Gymnastics Pty Ltd satisfied the criteria for approval as a standard business sponsor, specifically focusing on the training benchmarks outlined in regulation 2.59(d) of the Migration Regulations 1994. This involved assessing whether the applicant, having lawfully operated a business in Australia for 12 months or more, had met either training benchmark A (expenditure of at least 2% of payroll on industry training funds) or training benchmark B (expenditure of at least 1% of payroll on training employees).

The Tribunal found that the applicant had provided evidence of operating a business in Australia since 2007 and had a payroll of $298,827 for the financial year ending 30 June 2015. While the applicant submitted invoices totalling $6,750 from Gymnastics Australia and a Certificate III in Sport for an employee, these did not satisfy the requirements of either benchmark. Benchmark A required payments to an industry training fund, and the invoices, while from Gymnastics Australia, were not demonstrated to be for such a fund. Benchmark B required expenditure on training employees, and the submitted Certificate III was dated 2010 and not clearly linked to recent expenditure or the training of Australian employees as required. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant had not provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate satisfaction of the training benchmarks.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision not to approve Carmel & Co Gymnastics Pty Ltd as a standard business sponsor, as the applicant failed to meet the mandatory training criteria prescribed by the Regulations.