The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has started giving effect to the decision in SZOXP where the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia held that, “there is no requirement that the couple previously live together in the definition of a “de facto relationship” or in the requirement that the couple “do not live separately and apart on a permanent basis” prior to lodging an application for a Partner Visa.

In what looks to be the first AAT case on the matter, the Tribunal reviewed a decision by the delegate to refuse the grant of a partner visa to a Sri Lankan applicant on the basis that the delegate was not satisfied that there was sufficient evidence that the parties had been living together.

The case involved a same-sex couple who admitted that they had not set up a household together as such and had not lived together as de facto partners.

In its decision to remit the application to the delegate for reconsideration, the Tribunal first observed that given societal attitudes and the laws criminalising same sex unions in Sri Lanka, the 12-month de facto requirement ought to have been waived in any case on the basis of ‘compelling and compassionate reasons’.

The Tribunal then went on to give effect to the Full Federal Court’s decision in SZOXP v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection FCAFC 69 (11 June 2015) which held that:

At least 3 unions who represent some of Australia’s lowest-paid workers are relying on foreign talent to promote their cause.

United Voice employ nine people on 457 visas while two other unions — the Australian Education Union and the Shop Distributive and Allied Employee's Association - have also hired staff on the temporary skilled work visas, according to a report in The Australian.

 “The revelation that multiple unions have employed subclass 457 visa holders is an act of incredible hypocrisy and duplicity given the long-term campaign the union movement has waged against the 457 program,"Assistant Minister for Immig¬ration and Border Protection Michaelia Cash told The Australian.

The Immigration Department has revealed that “workplace relations adviser is the most frequently sponsored occupation’’ among unions, “with the other sponsored occupations being copywriter, organisation and methods analyst, database administrator, and training and development professional’’.

Most of those on union-sponsored 457 visas are from Britain and the US, with workers also coming from India, The Netherlands, Canada and Singapore, answers¬ to a Senate inquiry into Australia’s temporary work visa programs revealed.

The Fairwork ombudsman is trying to make ‘inroads’ into migrant communities through its newly appointed team of Community Engagement Officers, whose aim is to protect foreign workers on the one hand and help deport illegal workers they find along the way, on the other.

The FWO says its recently launched program aims to “foster new relationships with international student bodies and multicultural communities…to ensure migrant workers, overseas workers, international students and employers are aware of their workplace rights and responsibilities,” declared the statement from the FWO.

The program will also be used to uncover illegal workers. In June, the Fair Work Ombudsman joined with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) to form Taskforce Cadena to jointly combat the incidence of fraud and exploitation involving foreign workers in Australia. One of the stated aims of Taskforce Cadena is to utilise intelligence from a range of sources to identify and investigate major targets of interest.

The FWO statement noted that visa-holders now account for 11 per cent of all requests for assistance received by the Fair Work Ombudsman. Last financial year, the Fair Work Ombudsman recovered $1.6 million in underpaid wages and entitlements for visa-holders – up from $1.1 million in 2013-14.

FWO Ombudsman, Ms Natalie James said that the Fair Work Ombudsman has been active in this area for many years and understands that visa holders can face a number of barriers to understanding and enforcing their workplace rights.  “Youth, language and cultural differences, concerns about their visa status all contribute to these barriers and can also make them more vulnerable to exploitation,” she said.

The school which generated about $1million in revenue per year from students was found to have had extensive breaches of regulations governing overseas students, according to a report on the ABC.

It remains unclear what will happen to the visas of 70 students of the school - some who reportedly paid $18,600 per year in tuition fees.

According to the ABC, documents filed with Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), indicated the failure of some students to sign in for classes for weeks at a time was not investigated by the school, despite visa requirements that stipulate they must sign in twice a day. It said that the teaching of English language was also a particular concern, with audits from 2010 to 2014 revealing the school failing to comply with VCAA standards.

The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) ordered the Melbourne Senior Secondary College (MSSC) to shut down because it failed to comply with a number of matters in the Education Services for Overseas Students Act which included the following:

•Inadequate records on working with children checks for adults overseeing, living with up to 14 students under 18

The peak body of the restaurant and catering industry says it has struck a special deal with the government to make it easier to bring in overseas workers through the 457 skilled migration visa program.

The sector is currently experiencing a shortfall of 56,000 workers with Chefs, cooks and restaurant managers among the most difficult vacancies to fill, according to statement released by Restaurant & Catering Australia (R&CA). The R&CA is the industry’s peak body that representing some 35,000 restaurants and catering businesses across Australia.

The statement says that employment growth in the cafe, restaurant and takeaway food services sector will require an additional 43,700 jobs by November 2018. The rate of employment growth in this sector is expected to be higher than any other sector in the Australian economy, growing at around 8.5 per cent.

To deal with the ‘chronic labour shortage’ the labour agreement will lower the temporary skilled migration income threshold (TSMIT) by 10 per cent for restaurants that meet specific criteria.