Greenwood Manor Pty Ltd (Migration)

This matter concerned an application by Greenwood Manor Pty Ltd for approval of a nominated position under the Temporary Residence Transition stream. The primary dispute revolved around whether the Department of Home Affairs had unreasonably disregarded adverse information concerning the applicant's prior breach of sponsorship obligations, which had resulted in a three-month bar on applying for approval as a Standard Business Sponsor.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the general requirements for approval of a nomination under regulation 5.19(4) of the Migration Regulations 1994, specifically focusing on regulation 5.19(4)(a) concerning application requirements and regulation 5.19(4)(b) regarding adverse information. The latter required the Tribunal to consider whether there was no adverse information known to the Department about the nominator, or if it was reasonable to disregard any such information.

The Tribunal found that the application itself met the formal requirements of regulation 5.19(2). However, the delegate had refused the nomination based on adverse information, namely a breach of sponsorship obligations leading to a three-month bar. The Tribunal reasoned that while the breach constituted adverse information, it was reasonable to disregard it in this instance. The Tribunal considered mitigating factors, including the applicant's consistent cooperation with Department monitoring, the unintentional nature of the breach, its short duration, and its classification as a low-end contravention.

Consequently, the Tribunal decided to set aside the delegate's decision and substitute it with a decision approving the nomination.