The Trustee for Rai Family Trust (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an appeal by The Trustee for Rai Family Trust (Migration) concerning alleged contraventions of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The dispute centred on whether the Trustee, acting as an employer, had allowed an individual, Mr Manjot Singh Rai, to work in circumstances that contravened specific provisions of the Act. The Tribunal accepted the oral evidence of Mr Manjot Singh Rai, which was consistent with admissions he had made to the Australian Border Force.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the Trustee had contravened section 245AB of the *Migration Act*, which prohibits allowing an unlawful non-citizen to work, and section 245AC of the *Migration Act*, which prohibits allowing a lawful non-citizen to work in breach of a visa condition. The Tribunal was required to determine if the Trustee had taken reasonable steps to verify that Mr Manjot Singh Rai was not an unlawful non-citizen or was not working in breach of his visa conditions, as contemplated by subsections 245AB(2) and 245AC(2) respectively.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the definition of an "Illegal Worker" within the relevant contract and the statutory defences available under sections 245AB(2) and 245AC(2). These subsections require the employer to take reasonable steps to verify the worker's immigration status or compliance with visa conditions. The Tribunal noted that the prescribed steps under the regulations, such as entering into a contract for verification services, were relevant to this assessment. However, the provided text does not detail the Tribunal's ultimate findings on whether these steps were taken or were sufficient to meet the statutory defences.