Federal Circuit Court. Cl 485.222: "Each degree, diploma or trade qualification used to satisfy the Australian study requirement is closely related to the applicant’s nominated skilled occupation". This decision concerned cl 485.213(b), which was drafted in identical terms. Is it "necessary that the [completion of the course used to satisfy the Australian study requirement] be a prerequisite to a person’s being qualified to conduct the nominated skilled occupation"? Does the fact that the course used to satisfy the Australian study requirement provided generic skills that do not directly relate to the nominated occupation mean that the course is not closely related to that occupation?
The Applicant had applied for a subclass 485 visa and claimed that a Diploma of Human Resources Management was closely related to the nominated occupation of Civil Engineer.
The Federal Circuit Court (FCC) said as follows:
33. The first reason the Tribunal gave for concluding the Diploma was not closely related to the applicant’s nominated skilled occupation of “civil engineer” was that the courses the applicant completed for the Diploma provided “generic skills in business, team leadership and management”, and that none of the units appeared to “directly relate to the management of a civil engineering project”. By “generic” it appears the Tribunal meant skills that are capable of being used in connection with a number of skilled occupations, including the nominated skilled occupation. This implies that the Tribunal construed cl.485.213(b) as requiring that the skills, or at least a substantial proportion of the skills for which a diploma is awarded are skills that can only be used in the nominated skilled occupation.
The questions to the FCC were as follows:
Question 1: Is it "necessary that the [completion of the course used to satisfy the Australian study requirement] be a prerequisite to a person’s being qualified to conduct the nominated skilled occupation"?
Question 2: Does the fact that the course used to satisfy the Australian study requirement provided generic skills that do not directly relate to the nominated occupation mean that the course is not closely related to that occupation?
The FCA answered those questions as follows: