Sabcha Pty Ltd (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review by Sabcha Pty Ltd of decisions to refuse business nomination applications. The dispute centred on whether Sabcha Pty Ltd met the general requirements for approval of a nomination under regulation 5.19(4) of the Migration Regulations 1994, specifically concerning the presence of adverse information. The review was heard by SM Michael Cooke.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if Sabcha Pty Ltd satisfied regulation 5.19(4)(b), which stipulates that there must be no adverse information known to Immigration about the nominator or an associated person, or that any such information must be reasonable to disregard. The Tribunal also considered the definition of "adverse information" under regulation 1.13A and the broad definition of "associated with" under regulation 1.13B.

The Tribunal reasoned that adverse information, as defined by the regulations, includes contraventions of Commonwealth law, investigations into such contraventions, or administrative actions taken by regulatory bodies. In this instance, the Tribunal had become aware of an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman into Sabcha Pty Ltd and its related companies concerning breaches of Commonwealth labour law. The Tribunal concluded that this information was significant and that it was not reasonable to disregard it, as it indicated potential contraventions of law relevant to Sabcha Pty Ltd's suitability as a nominator.

Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that Sabcha Pty Ltd met the requirements of regulation 5.19. As regulation 5.19(3)(b) mandates refusal of the nomination if these requirements are not met, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review to refuse the nomination.