When a business becomes a Standard Business Sponsor in Australia, it enters into a formal agreement with the Department of Home Affairs. That agreement isn’t just a pathway to hiring international workers. It creates legal responsibilities that carry real risk if ignored.
Too many businesses treat sponsorship like a set-and-forget process. In reality, it's an ongoing compliance obligation. Failing to meet your duties as a sponsor can lead to fines, reputational damage, and losing your right to sponsor in the future.
Here are five legal obligations that every sponsoring business must actively manage.
You must give your sponsored worker the same pay and conditions that an Australian employee would receive for the same role in the same location.
This includes base salary, overtime, allowances, and any benefits or entitlements. These terms must match what was promised in the nomination. If the employee’s duties change or they are moved into a different role, you may need to lodge a new nomination.
If a visa holder is underpaid or placed in a different role than was approved, the sponsor can be penalised. The Department also expects that these arrangements are clearly documented and that records are kept.
Sponsors must notify the Department of Home Affairs within 28 calendar days when certain events occur. Common examples include:
These notifications are not optional. Failing to report them is one of the most common breaches. Even if it feels minor, a missed notification can count as a separate compliance failure.
If a sponsored worker asks in writing, you must pay for their travel home if they leave your employment. This also applies to any family members sponsored on their visa.
Travel costs must include a one-way economy ticket to the worker’s home country and any required domestic travel to get to the departure airport. This applies even if the worker resigns or is dismissed.
It’s not a common request, but when it happens, it must be handled properly. Ignoring it or refusing payment puts the business in breach.
You must keep records that show you’re meeting your sponsorship obligations. These records must be kept for at least five years and made available if requested by an inspector.
These include:
Without records, you can’t prove compliance. And if your records are incomplete or inconsistent, that can count as a breach on its own.
The Department of Home Affairs and the Fair Work Ombudsman both have power to inspect your business. If they ask for information, you must provide it.
Inspectors can arrive without warning. They can request documents, ask staff questions, and inspect records. You must not delay, mislead, or obstruct them.
Poor cooperation or incomplete responses can quickly escalate. Some sponsors lose their ability to nominate workers not because of what they did, but because they failed to respond properly during an investigation.
These five obligations are just the start. There are over a dozen enforceable sponsorship duties, but these five carry the most common and costly risks.
Many breaches happen because no one realised something needed to be reported or documented. It’s not always about bad intentions. It’s about poor systems.
Recent changes to the law mean the stakes are higher. Sponsors can now be banned from hiring temporary visa holders for up to five years. Executive officers can also be held personally responsible for serious breaches.
Complize is an immigration compliance platform that tracks your obligations and flags issues before they become violations.
It automates:
If your business sponsors visa holders, Complize helps you stay compliant, reduce admin time, and avoid costly surprises.
Ready to improve how you manage sponsorship risk? Contact us to learn more.