Castorina (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Working Holiday (Temporary) (Class TZ) visa, Subclass 417, where the applicant sought to have their case reconsidered. The core dispute revolved around whether the applicant had performed the "specified work" in regional Australia as required by the visa subclass. The decision was made by David Crawshay, a Member of the Tribunal.

The legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had satisfied the requirements of cl.417.211(5) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, specifically concerning the performance of "specified work" in regional Australia for a period equivalent to at least three months of full-time work, and whether remuneration was in accordance with Australian legislation and awards. The delegate's initial decision had found that the applicant's described duties of "PACKING FIREWOOD BAGS – BRINGING WOOD BLOCKS TO THE FARM" did not constitute specified work.

The Tribunal considered updated evidence, including a revised Form 1263 and a letter from the applicant, which clarified the applicant's duties as "TRANSPORTING PLANTATION WOOD TO THE MILL, PROCESSING AND PACKING OF PLANTATION WOOD". The Tribunal accepted this updated information as credible, noting that it aligned with the business name associated with the employer. The Tribunal found that this work met the definition of specified work, which included transporting trees or parts of trees felled in a plantation or forest to the place where they are first milled or processed.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for reconsideration by the Minister, with a direction that the applicant satisfied the criteria under cl.417.211(5) and cl.417.211(5) for the purposes of cl.417.221(2)(a) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.