Westport Nominees Pty Ltd (Migration)

This case concerned a review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of a decision to refuse the approval of a nominated position for a Subclass 457 visa. The applicant, Westport Nominees Pty Ltd, sought approval for a nominated position of Customer Service Manager. The delegate had refused the nomination on the basis that the nominee appeared to be employed as a Laundry Manager, and that the operational duties of that role were inconsistent with the high-level tasks expected of a Customer Service Manager. The Tribunal was required to determine whether the nominated position was genuine, as required by Regulation 2.72(10)(f) of the Migration Regulations 1994.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to refuse the nomination. The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant had failed to provide updated information to demonstrate the genuineness of the nominated position, despite being invited to do so. The material before the Tribunal was largely outdated, having been provided to the Department over two and a half years prior. The Tribunal noted that the applicant had not provided recent information regarding the duties of the position, its fit within the business, or how the business would financially support it, particularly in light of the delegate's specific concerns about the nominee's role as a Laundry Manager performing high-level Customer Service Manager tasks. The Tribunal applied the principle that the requirements of Regulation 2.27 must be satisfied at the time of the decision, and that current information was necessary to assess the genuineness of the position.

Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that the applicant met the applicable criteria for the nomination to be approved. The decision under review was therefore affirmed.