Sponsor Obligations

Sanctions

Sanctions can be imposed on the sponsor if there is evidence that:

• a sponsor has not met their obligations
• a sponsor provided false or misleading information to the Department or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal
• a sponsor no longer meets the criteria for approval as a sponsor or for sponsorship renewal
• a sponsor has been found by a court or competent authority to have contravened a Commonwealth, state or territory law or
• a sponsored visa holder breaks a law relating to the licensing, registration or membership needed to work in the nominated position.

The Department will consider a range of information and circumstances when determining what action (if any) to take regarding obligation non-compliance.

One or more of the following actions can be taken against the sponsor, depending the scale and severity of the breach(es):

• impose an ‘enforceable undertaking’ requiring the signatory to promise, in writing, to undertake specific actions to rectify failures that led to the breach(es) and that non-compliance will not happen again
• publish information, including personal information, identifying the sponsor who has not complied with the sponsorship obligations, including past breaches, and any action taken against the sponsor
• impose bars preventing further visa sponsorships for a specific period of time
• refuse sponsorship applications
• cancel all of the sponsor’s existing sponsorship approvals
• issue an infringement notice of up to AUD 12,600 for a body corporate and AUD 2,520 for an individual for each failure
• apply to a court for a civil penalty order of up to AUD 63,000 for a corporation and AUD 12,600 for an individual for each failure.