Pigco Pty Ltd (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered a nomination refusal concerning Pigco Pty Ltd, the applicant, and a proposed employee for the occupation of Pig Farmer. The dispute centred on whether Pigco Pty Ltd met the requirements for approving a nomination under the Direct Entry stream of the Migration Regulations 1994.

The Tribunal was required to determine if Pigco Pty Ltd satisfied all the criteria stipulated in regulation 5.19(4) of the Migration Regulations 1994. These included demonstrating a genuine need for a paid employee under its direct control, actively and lawfully operating a business in Australia, and that the nominated position was not part of a labour-hire arrangement. Further, the Tribunal had to assess whether the terms and conditions of employment met specific duration and equivalence requirements, that no adverse information was known to Immigration, and that there was a satisfactory record of compliance with workplace relations laws. Finally, the Tribunal needed to consider the requirements relating to the genuineness of the position's tasks and the need for the position, particularly in regional Australia.

The Tribunal found that Pigco Pty Ltd had met the requirements of regulation 5.19(4). It was satisfied that the application was compliant, the business was actively and lawfully operating as a pig farm, and the position was not a labour-hire arrangement. Crucially, regarding the genuine need for the position in regional Australia, the Tribunal accepted the applicant's evidence of the difficulty in finding qualified Australian workers for the nominated role, concluding that the position could not be filled by an Australian citizen or permanent resident. The Tribunal also found no adverse information and inferred satisfactory compliance with workplace relations laws in the absence of contrary evidence.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the original decision to refuse the nomination and substituted a decision approving the nomination.