Parker (Migration)

The Federal Court of Australia considered an appeal by Mr Parker against the decision of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to cancel his Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme) visa. The cancellation was based on allegations that Mr Parker had provided incorrect information or a bogus document in support of his visa application, contrary to section 109 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). This action followed an audit of the nominating employer and the imposition of a sponsorship bar on that employer.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the information provided by Mr Parker in his visa application, specifically concerning his nominated occupation as an Onsite Project Coordinator, was indeed incorrect, or whether any documents submitted were bogus. This required the Court to examine the definition of the nominated occupation as outlined in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) and to consider the relevance of the assessment criteria provided by VETASSESS, an assessing authority.

The Court found that the information provided by Mr Parker was not incorrect and that the documents submitted were not bogus. It reasoned that the duties and responsibilities described by Mr Parker in his application aligned with the ANZSCO definition of an Onsite Project Coordinator, and that the VETASSESS criteria, while informative, did not establish that Mr Parker's role deviated from the requirements of the occupation. Consequently, the Court concluded that the grounds for cancellation under section 109 of the *Migration Act 1958* had not been established, meaning the power to cancel the visa did not arise. The cancellation of Mr Parker's visa was therefore set aside.