WEN (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) – Graduate Work Stream, made by the applicant, WEN. The delegate had refused the visa, partly on the basis that the applicant did not satisfy the ‘Australian study requirements’ due to the Graduate Diploma of Marketing not being an eligible qualification. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the Australian study requirement and, if so, whether this requirement was satisfied in the six months immediately preceding the visa application.

The Tribunal first considered whether the applicant’s Graduate Diploma of Marketing constituted an eligible qualification for the purpose of meeting the Australian study requirement. This involved determining whether the qualification was a postgraduate diploma and whether its entry requirement was satisfactory completion of a bachelor’s degree or diploma, or an equivalent award. The Tribunal noted that neither ‘postgraduate’ nor ‘postgraduate diploma’ is defined in the Regulations.

In its reasoning, the Tribunal examined dictionary definitions of ‘postgraduate’ and the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), which lists graduate diplomas at AQF Level 8. The Tribunal made inquiries of the educational institution and was advised that the prerequisite for the Graduate Diploma of Marketing was an Australian bachelor’s degree or a previous diploma from that institution. Crucially, the Tribunal found that the applicant’s Master’s degree, which was accepted as satisfying the prerequisite, was at least an ‘equivalent award’ for the purposes of the regulations, given it was an AQF Level 9 qualification.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the visa application to the Minister for reconsideration, with the direction that the applicant met the criterion relating to Australian study requirements for a Subclass 485 visa.