Estate Agents Pty Ltd v Minister for Immigration

Estate Agents Pty Ltd sought judicial review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) which affirmed a delegate of the Minister's refusal to approve the company's nomination of a candidate for the role of customer service manager. The nomination was made under section 140GB of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and Regulation 2.72 of the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth). The core of the dispute concerned whether the nominated position met the criteria for a "customer service manager" as defined by the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Tribunal had erred in its interpretation of the ANZSCO definition of "customer service manager" and, consequently, in its assessment of whether the nominated position was genuine and involved a significant majority of the tasks associated with that occupation. Specifically, the court had to determine if the Tribunal's distinction between managing employees and managing independent contractors was a relevant or logical factor in assessing the genuineness of the managerial role. The applicant also argued that the Tribunal failed to properly consider evidence presented at the hearing regarding the tasks performed by the nominee.

Judge Egan found that the Tribunal's distinction between managing employees and managing independent contractors was illogical and not supported by the ANZSCO definition of a customer service manager. The court reasoned that the critical aspect of the role was the management of functions and responsibilities, regardless of whether those performing the tasks were employees or contractors. The Tribunal's focus on this distinction led it to misinterpret the requirements of the nominated occupation and to fail to properly consider the evidence of the nominee's actual duties.

The court granted the application for review and quashed the decision of the Tribunal.