Khan Group (Aust.) Pty Ltd (Migration)

This matter concerned a review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of a decision to cancel the sponsorship of Khan Group (Aust.) Pty Ltd. The dispute arose from the company's failure to satisfy certain sponsorship obligations under the Migration Regulations 1994, specifically relating to record-keeping, providing information to the Department of Immigration, and ensuring a sponsored person worked in their nominated occupation.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether a circumstance existed for taking action under section 140M of the Migration Act 1958, and if so, what that action should be. The delegate had found that the company breached regulations concerning record-keeping, failure to inform of changes, and ensuring the sponsored employee performed tasks consistent with their nominated occupation. The Tribunal also considered the validity of a section 375A certificate issued by the Department, which would ordinarily prevent disclosure of certain information.

In its reasoning, the Tribunal found the section 375A certificate to be invalid in relation to the information it purported to cover, as the documents were either already in the company's possession or not internal operating procedures. The company's representative acknowledged a single instance of incorrect weekly salary payments, attributed to a manual data entry error in QuickBooks, which had since been rectified by engaging an external accountant for payroll. The Tribunal noted the company had implemented new processes to ensure future compliance. Despite the company's efforts to rectify the failures and implement new processes, the Tribunal concluded that no action under section 140M was inappropriate.

Consequently, the Tribunal varied the delegate's decision by barring Khan Group (Aust.) Pty Ltd from making further applications for approval as a standard business sponsor for the period from the date of the delegate's decision until the date of the Tribunal's decision.