Your legal options after a 408 Workplace Justice visa refusal in Australia in 2026: AAT and review rights
What your 408 Workplace Justice refusal letter must tell you, when you can seek AAT review, and why the fee is not refunded.
If your Temporary Activity visa (subclass 408) in the Australian Government Endorsed Events (Workplace Justice Pilot) stream is refused, the Department of Home Affairs must give you two things in writing: the reasons for the refusal, and a statement of whether you have a right to have that decision reviewed. That is what the Department's official Australian Government Endorsed Events (Workplace Justice Pilot) page sets out, current as at July 2026, and it is the hinge that every other option turns on — a refusal does not by itself open an appeal just because you disagree with it.
The rest of this article explains what those rights look like in practice. It is general information about how the process works, not advice about your own case; the decision record you receive and the rules currently published are what actually govern your situation. Read the letter the day it arrives, because both the answer to "can I challenge this?" and the deadline for doing it are printed on it.
Does every 408 Workplace Justice refusal come with review rights?
No. The right is not automatic, and it is not the same for every applicant or every ground of refusal. The Department's own page describes the refusal notice as the document that tells you whether a review right exists, which means the letter is the authority — not a general assumption that all visa refusals can be appealed.
The Migration Regulations 1994 note that some refusals sit outside the review system, and point in particular to public interest criteria problems such as false or misleading information as an area where review rights may be unavailable. Treat that as a warning to read carefully rather than as a rule you can apply to yourself: if your letter says you have no review right, the practical options left are much narrower and turn on correcting the record or dealing with your circumstances, not on re-arguing the same case.
What your decision letter must tell you
If the visa is refused
The Department states that a refusal notice will tell you why the visa was refused and whether you have a right to a review of the decision. It also advises you to keep a copy of the decision. That matters more than it sounds: the reasons given are the boundaries of any review, and a review is generally not the place to raise a completely new case that was never put to the original decision-maker.
If the visa is granted
A grant notice tells you your visa grant number, your visa stay period, the date the visa starts, and any visa conditions that apply. This is worth knowing even in a refusal article, because the two outcomes interact with any other visa you hold — see the withdrawal section below.
How long do you have to apply for a review?
The deadline is the one written in your refusal notice, and it is short. The Migration Regulations 1994 and departmental policy guidance commonly describe the review window as 21 days from when you receive the refusal, and describe applying to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) — but the binding figure is the one on your own letter, and you should confirm the current published position before acting, since tribunal arrangements and time limits can change.
Late applications are the most common way a review right is lost. Note the date you actually received the notice, keep the envelope or email record, and treat the deadline as fixed rather than negotiable.
Who is allowed to help you with a review?
Only some people can lawfully give you immigration assistance. According to the Department's page, anyone you appoint to give immigration assistance must be a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. You can appoint anyone at all to receive documents on your behalf relating to your application.
The Department's listed mechanisms are Form 956 (appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person) and Form 956A (appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient), uploaded through ImmiAccount. You are not required to appoint anyone — self-representation is allowed — but unregistered paid assistance is not.
Is Form 1023 an alternative to a review?
No, and confusing the two can cost you the deadline. Form 1023, Notification of incorrect answers, is the mechanism the Department provides for telling it that you made a mistake on your application; you complete it and attach it in ImmiAccount. It corrects the record. It does not overturn a decision that has already been made.
When correcting the record is the right move
Use it when something in the application was simply wrong or has changed — a date, a name, a detail that no longer matches reality — and the Department has not yet decided. The page asks you to let it know as soon as you can. Early correction is cheap; correction after a refusal rarely rescues the decision on its own.
When false information becomes the bigger problem
Where the concern is not a slip but bogus documents or false or misleading information, the Migration Regulations 1994 describe Public Interest Criterion 4020 as a basis for refusal that can also carry a ban period — commonly described as three years. Confirm the current published rules before relying on any specific ban length. A genuine clerical error that you fix yourself is a different situation from an adverse finding about your credibility, and the two should not be handled the same way.
Should you withdraw the application instead?
Withdrawal is not a fallback that preserves your options, and it has one consequence people often miss. The Department states that if your circumstances have changed since you applied and you no longer need this visa, you must withdraw the application — and that if you do not withdraw, the visa may be granted and any other substantive visa you hold will cease at the moment this visa is granted.
So withdrawing protects a visa you already hold; letting an unwanted application run to grant can destroy it. If you are weighing withdrawal against pursuing a review, the timing matters, because withdrawal ends the application rather than continuing it.
Does a bridging visa keep you lawful while this plays out?
While the application is being processed, the Department says you may be granted a Bridging visa A (BVA) if you held a substantive visa when you applied, or a Bridging visa C (BVC) if you did not. Those bridging visas start if your current visa expires before a decision is made on your application, and both cease if you leave Australia — you cannot re-enter on them. If you plan to travel outside Australia while your application is being processed, you might need to apply for and be granted a Bridging visa B (BVB) before you leave Australia, and you must ensure you have a visa to return.
The page also carries a blunt warning: do not ask to have the visa you currently hold cancelled, because you would then be staying in Australia unlawfully and your bridging visa would cease. Check your conditions and expiry in VEVO rather than assuming.
Will the application fee be refunded after a refusal?
No. The Department states that it will not refund the application fee if it refuses your application. Plan on the basis that the fee is spent whether you seek a review, withdraw, or decide to lodge again later, and note that a fresh application would attract its own charge.
What does a review usually have to fix in this stream?
Reviews in the Workplace Justice stream tend to come back to the stream's own requirements. Applicants must have reported their workplace exploitation to a participating government agency or an accredited third party, and must attach certification of the exploitation claim — given by a participating government agency or an accredited third party — when they lodge. The instrument that specifies who can certify a claim is the reference point for whether a particular certification counts. Applications must also be made online, while the applicant is in Australia but not in immigration clearance.
The criteria that refusals most often turn on, according to the Migration Regulations 1994 and departmental policy guidance, include the genuine temporary stay requirement (408.213), adequate health insurance (408.212), adequate funds (408.215), not holding an excluded visa class (408.214), the public interest criteria (408.216), and not having contravened section 245AR(1) of the Migration Act in the previous three years (408.218). Suppose an applicant attached a certification from a body that is not a participating agency or accredited third party: the review would then turn almost entirely on whether that document satisfies the certification requirement, and evidence of the exploitation claim itself would not fix the gap.
Departmental policy guidance also describes decision-makers requesting further information under section 56 of the Migration Act and giving applicants a chance to respond to adverse information before a refusal is recorded. Where that opportunity should have been given and was not, procedural fairness is usually the point to raise.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the first thing I should do when a refusal arrives?
Read the section that states whether you have a right to a review, and note the deadline beside it. Keep a copy of the decision, since the reasons are the boundaries of anything you raise later.
How long do I have to apply for AAT review?
The deadline is printed in your refusal notice and is strict. The Migration Regulations 1994 and departmental policy guidance commonly refer to a 21-day window, but confirm the current published position and rely on your own letter.
Can I just correct a mistake instead of appealing?
Form 1023 lets you notify incorrect answers through ImmiAccount, but it corrects the record rather than overturning a decision already made. If a refusal has been issued, correcting the original answer will not substitute for a review application.
Do I get my application fee back if I am refused?
No. The Department states it will not refund the application fee when it refuses an application, and a new application would require a new payment.
Can I stay in Australia while the review is on?
Lawful status depends on the visa you hold, and the Department explains bridging visas for the processing period — a BVA or BVC depending on whether you held a substantive visa when you applied. Neither lets you re-enter Australia if you leave, so check VEVO and any travel plans carefully.
Do I need a migration agent to ask for a review?
No, you can act for yourself. If you do want immigration assistance, the Department requires that the person be a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person, appointed using Form 956.