Newsletter 130

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Delivering a permanent pathway for Temporary Protection Visa holders

For the past ten years, refugees on TPVs and SHEVs have been maintained in a limbo situation. The current government promised to offer these visa holders a permanent route, and as of right now, it is following through on that promise.

The Albanese Government has pledged $9.4 million over two years for visa application assistance through specialized legal service providers all around Australia to help TPV and SHEV holders with the visa application procedure.

Australia’s Operation Sovereign Borders policy architecture remains unchanged. Anyone who attempts an unauthorised boat voyage to Australia will be turned back to their point of departure, returned to their home country or transferred to another country.

All non-citizens who are found to not engage Australia’s protection obligations and have exhausted all avenues to remain in Australia are expected to depart as soon as possible.

Arrangements for Protection, Refugee and Humanitarian Visas

An applicant who does not hold, and has not held, a Temporary Protection visa or a Safe Haven Enterprise visa must be made:

(a) using form 866 (internet) or form 866; and

(b) either:

(i) as an internet application; or

(ii) if it cannot be made as an Internet application— using form 866 and posted with sufficient prepaid postage to:

Protection Visas

Department of Home Affairs

GPO Box 9984

SYDNEY NSW 2001.

This will commence on 14 February 2023.

Vetassess processing time

Vetassess is currently dealing with an unprecedented number of trade applications, which has extended their processing times. They are working to reduce our assessment times.

Permanent residence pathway for sc482 visa holders with an occupation on the Regional Occupation List (ROL)

According to a news report from the website dated 13 February 2023, subclass 482 visa holders with occupations on the ROL can now use the pathway that enables them to apply for a subclass 186 TRT if they have been in Australia for at least one year between 1 February 2020 and 14 December 2021 and are at the time of application lawfully employed.

SC 186 Provisional or Limited registration can now be accepted for all AHPRA regulated occupations

Provisional or Limited registration can be accepted for all AHPRA-regulated occupations. Under policy additional information may be required to confirm that they have a sufficient level of registration and a decision maker can request a statement from the nominator stating:

• their awareness of the applicant’s ‘type’ of registration and

• they agree that the type of licensing and/or registration the applicant holds or is eligible to hold will allow them to effectively perform the duties of the occupation in which they have been nominated.

The Department has advised that the new policy will be applied to applications already lodged, as well as newly lodged applications.

Further information ROL PR pathway 186 TRT

The Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) subclass 186 visa in the TRT stream is available to people having a Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) subclass 482 visa who worked in Australia during the pandemic and who have an occupation on the ROL, according to additional confirmation from the Department.

Order for considering and disposing of Family visa applications

Removing the deprioritization of applications whose sponsor (or intended sponsor) is an individual with a permanent visa who arrived in Australia illegally through the maritime route.

This cohort was previously assigned the lowest priority under Direction 80 and was marked as an exception for other cases with higher priorities.

As this cohort is not included and the exception is abolished under Direction 102, they should be subject to the regular priority.

‘Divergent’ decisions on CFOs contributing to ‘ongoing uncertainty’ for class actions

A recent judgment handed down in the Federal Court has furthered the division in view over whether the court has power to make common fund orders (CFO) in class action cases.

The judgment in Davaria Pty Limited v 7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd was handed down on Tuesday (14 February). The judge presiding over the case, the Honorable David John O’Callaghan, concluded that the court did not hold power to make a CFO in relation to entitlements owed to a litigation funder.

2 more class actions launched against Hyundai, Kia

Two more class actions have been launched against Hyundai and Kia, after allegations that the motor companies sold vehicles that they knew were defective.

Use of ChatGPT in courts should be ‘approached with great caution’

ChatGPT was recently used as part of a judgment in Colombia, sparking a global debate on how artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can and should be used.

“Programs can be developed to do analyses of particular fact situations as well, and to set out the laws on any particular point. Anything that requires interpretation, or the use of judicial discretion should, in my view, be approached with great caution.”

Robot lawyer triggers ‘noisy’ legal debate

After the world’s first robot lawyer was blocked from appearing in a US court, many have questioned whether artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can aid in legal proceedings or whether it’s “worse than nothing”.

DoNotPay is a legal services chatbot described as “the world’s first robot lawyer”.

Potential clients can download the DoNotPay app for assistance with a number of minor legal issues, such as parking tickets, legal fees, airline compensation, contract breaches, tax rebates, victim compensation payouts and much, much more.

“However, AI legal services will inevitably become more sophisticated and will start to climb the value chain, infiltrating commoditized legal services first. In the long term, the extensive use of AI in legal practice is inevitable, although it remains unclear whether users of legal services will be granted direct access or whether access to AI legal services will require the engagement of legal professionals as quality assurance layer.”

GSM skills assessment obtained within 60 day invitation period will be accepted