Sponsor Sanctions for 482 Sponsors: When a Sponsorship Is Cancelled or Barred

Sponsor sanctions are the actions Home Affairs can take against a 482 sponsor that breaches its obligations: a bar on sponsoring more workers, cancellation of the sponsorship, a compliance notice, an enforceable undertaking, an infringement notice or a court civil penalty of up to 240 penalty units for each failure, five times that for a body corporate (Migration Act 1958, sections 140K and 140Q). One penalty unit is $364 from 1 July 2026, more than one sanction can apply to the same breach, and sanctioned sponsors can be named on the Australian Border Force’s public register of sanctioned sponsors. The first step on receiving any notice is to find its deadline: a decision to bar or cancel a sponsorship can be taken to the Administrative Review Tribunal only within 28 days of notification.

How are sponsors monitored?

The Home Affairs sponsor obligations page describes five ways Home Affairs checks compliance:

1. Written requests for records and information.
2. Site visits, usually to the business premises, with or without notice.
3. Information exchange with the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Australian Taxation Office and other agencies.
4. Immigration inspectors, Fair Work inspectors and Fair Work Building Industry inspectors, who have investigative powers under the Migration Act 1958.
5. Monitoring during the sponsorship and for up to 5 years after it ends.

Failing to cooperate with inspectors is itself a breach. Anyone can report a suspected breach to Border Watch without giving a name. The duties being monitored are set out under sponsorship obligations.

Which sanctions can be imposed?

Section 140K of the Migration Act 1958 lists the actions, and more than one can apply to the same breach.

Bar and cancellation

Home Affairs can bar a sponsor from sponsoring additional visa holders for a specified time set in the decision, or cancel all its sponsorship approvals (section 140M(1)). A former sponsor can be barred from applying to sponsor again (section 140M(2)). All three decisions are reviewable at the ART.

Civil penalties and infringement notices

A court can order a civil penalty of up to 240 penalty units for each failure by an approved work sponsor (section 140Q(1)); Home Affairs’ own examples put the body corporate maximum at five times the individual figure. An infringement notice can be issued instead of court proceedings. Dollar figures on the Home Affairs sponsor pages were worked out at the penalty unit in force before 1 July 2026; at the current value of $364 a unit, this guide states the penalties in units.

Compliance notices and enforceable undertakings

A compliance notice under section 140RB tells the sponsor what to do, or stop doing, within a reasonable time stated in the notice; failing to comply carries a civil penalty of 48 penalty units. Complying is not an admission of the breach (section 140RB(6)), and a sponsor that complies cannot then be taken to court for a civil penalty over the same contravention (section 140RB(8)). An enforceable undertaking is a written promise to fix the breach and prevent it recurring.

Prohibited employers

Under section 245AYK, inserted by the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act 2024, the Minister can declare an employer that is subject to a migrant worker sanction a prohibited employer. A prohibited employer cannot allow new temporary visa holders to begin work, for up to 5 years, up to 10 years after another criminal offence, or with no maximum for trafficking or slavery offences. Existing temporary visa workers may keep working, and the employer’s name is published (Home Affairs migrant worker protections page).

Other grounds for action

The Home Affairs sponsor obligations page lists four more grounds for sanctions:

1. Giving false or misleading information to Home Affairs or the Administrative Review Tribunal.
2. No longer meeting the criteria for approval as a sponsor.
3. A court or competent authority finding a breach of a Commonwealth, state or territory law.
4. The sponsored worker breaking a licensing, registration or membership law needed for the job.

Public naming

Section 140K(4) requires the Minister to publish prescribed information about a sponsor sanctioned for failing an obligation. The Australian Border Force publishes it as the register of sanctioned sponsors. That register is different from the power in section 140GD, inserted by the Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Act 2026, to publish information about approved sponsors that regulations prescribe: that Act was awaiting commencement when this guide was checked, and it commences on a day fixed by Proclamation or at the latest after six months from its assent on 8 April 2026.

How do you respond to a notice?

Each notice type has its own time limit:

• Request for records or information: in the manner and time Home Affairs sets (regulation 2.83).
• Notice proposing a bar or cancellation: the response period is stated in the notice; the Home Affairs sponsor pages do not publish a standard period.
• Compliance notice: the reasonable time stated in it; not complying carries 48 penalty units.
• Infringement notice: pay it, or have the matter decided by a court.
• Proposed prohibited-employer declaration: a written submission within at least 28 days of the notice, or any longer period it states; the Minister must consider the submission (section 245AYK(4) and (5)).

In practice, the written response to a proposed bar or cancellation is where the sponsor explains what happened, what it has fixed and what records show it, before the decision is made.

An immigration lawyer makes a better outcome more likely here because the sponsor’s written response to a notice is often its only chance to put mitigating facts before the decision is made, and the 28 days review deadline that follows cannot be extended. No adviser can promise an outcome.

Can a sanction be reviewed?

Yes, for bars, cancellations and refusals to approve a sponsor, which are reviewable decisions under regulation 4.02(4). The rules:

• apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal within 28 days of notification, with no extension (section 347(3) and (5));
• pay the $3,727 fee; the ART fees page allows a 50% reduction for financial hardship and refunds 50% if the decision is set aside;
• a prohibited-employer declaration is reviewable by the Tribunal under section 245AYK(9);
• civil penalties and infringement matters are decided by a court, not the Tribunal.

The Tribunal’s process is covered under 482 visa review at the ART.

What happens to the sponsored workers?

A sanction is action against the business, not the worker, and the effects on the worker follow from it:

• Only Home Affairs can cancel a worker’s visa; an employer cannot (Fair Work Ombudsman visa holders page).
• A nomination approval ends if the sponsor’s approval is cancelled (regulation 2.75(2)(f)).
• A worker who stops working for the sponsor can be without a sponsor for up to 180 days in a row and 365 days in total, and can work for other employers meanwhile (condition 8607; Home Affairs news item 1213).
• Under a prohibited-employer declaration, existing temporary visa workers may keep working for the employer.
• Workers can report exploitation to Border Watch or the Fair Work Ombudsman, and the Strengthening Reporting Protections Pilot and the Workplace Justice Visa Pilot exist for workers who report (Fair Work Ombudsman).

The worker’s options when a job ends are set out under the 180-day rule.

When to get help

Sanction decisions turn on what the sponsor says in response to a notice and on review deadlines that cannot be extended. This guide’s page on whether you need a migration lawyer for 482 visa applications sets out what a lawyer does and when it matters most.