McGuinness (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant for a Working Holiday (Temporary) (Class TZ) visa, Subclass 417. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had met the requirements for specified work in regional Australia, specifically concerning remuneration in accordance with relevant legislation and awards.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if the applicant satisfied the criteria in cl.417.211(5) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations at the time of the visa application. This involved ascertaining whether the applicant had undertaken the requisite specified work in regional Australia for a period equivalent to at least three months of full-time work, and crucially, whether they had been remunerated in accordance with Australian legislation and awards for that work.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant had provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the work undertaken, dairy farming in postcode 2805, constituted "specified work" in a "regional Australia" area as defined by the relevant instrument. While a delegate had previously been unable to be satisfied due to a lack of corroborating third-party information, the Tribunal had before it additional evidence, including pay slips, a PAYG summary, and an employment offer letter. Based on this evidence, the Tribunal accepted that the applicant had met the criteria related to specified work and remuneration.

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