EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1983 NO 196
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR DEFENCE
AIR FORCE REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Parts III, X and XV and section 116 of the Statute Law Revision Act 1981 make various changes to the titles and structures of the Reserve Forces in the Air Force, the Army and the Navy. These changes, which stem from recommendations of the 1974 Millar Committee Report on the Citizen Military Forces, come into operation from the date of proclamation (on 30 September 1983). Part III amends the Air Force Act 1923 (“the Act”) to make the necessary changes in relation to Air Force Reserve Forces.
Under these amendments, the Citizen Air Force is renamed as the Australian Air Force Reserve, the Active Citizen Air Force as the Air Force Active Reserve, and the Air Force Reserve as the Air Force General Reserve. An additional element, the Air Force Specialist Reserve is created. Members of the General Reserve and Specialist Reserve will not normally have peace time training obligations.
The Air Force Regulations, made under the Act, prescribe conditions of service for members of the Air Force, including provisions relating to the Reserve Forces.
This Statutory Rule makes amendments to the Air Force Regulations consequential on those made by Part III of the Statute Law Revision Act 1981. The effect of these amendments is set out below.
Regulation 2 of the Statutory Rule amends regulation 92 to prescribe 2 years as the period of enlistment for the Air Force Active Reserve and 5 years as the period of enlistment for the Air Force General Reserve and the Air Force Specialist Reserve.
Regulation 3 of the Statutory Rule substitutes a new regulation 92A which enables a person who, in time of war, has enlisted in the Air Force Active Reserve to be required to engage in service during and for 12 months after the war.
Regulations 4 and 5 of the Statutory Rule amend regulations 93A and 97A to substitute ‘Air Force Reserve’ for ‘Citizen Air Force’.
Regulation 6 of the Statutory Rule amends regulation 106 to prescribe 2 years as the period of re-engagement for an airman in the Air Force Active Reserve and 4 years as the period of re-engagement for an airman in the Air Force General Reserve or Air Force Specialist Reserve.
Regulation 7 of the Statutory Rule repeals regulations 443 and 444, which prescribe the Chief of the Air Staff as an authority for determining periods of service which members are required to render and provide for leave of absence, and substitutes new regulations 443, 443A, 443B, 443C, 443D, 443E and 444, which provide for the rendering of Reserve Service in accordance with a revised section 4J of the Act.
The new regulation 443 requires the Chief of the Air Staff to determine training periods in respect of the Air Force Active Reserve and the Air Force Specialist Reserve generally, or in respect of different parts or classes of members of those Reserves.
The new regulation 443A enables the Chief of the Air Staff to fix periods of air-force service to be rendered by members in each training period. There is provision for different periods of air-force service to be fixed for different parts or different classes of members of the Air Force Active Reserve and the Air Force Specialist Reserve. There is also provision for the Chief of the Air Staff to exempt particular members or particular classes of members from the obligation to render air-force service.
The new regulation 443B prescribes the Chief of Air Force Personnel as the authority to specify a period of service that a member of the Australian Air Force Reserve is bound to render within a period for which he has voluntarily undertaken to render service.
The new regulations 443C and 443D prescribe the Chief of the Air Staff as the authority to fix periods of training and kinds of air-force service which may be rendered by members of the Air Force Active Reserve or Air Force Specialist Reserve who voluntarily undertake to render service in addition to the service they are bound to render.
The new regulation 443E prescribes the Chief of the Air Staff as an authority to determine periods of service for members of the Air Force Active Reserve and the Air Force Specialist Reserve who have been called out under section 50B of the Defence Act.
The new regulation 444 prescribes a method for calculating the credit to be obtained where a period of service rendered has been less than one day.
Regulations 8 and 9 of the Statutory Rule amend regulations 444A and 447 respectively to substitute ‘Air Force Active Reserve’ and ‘Air Force Reserve’ for ‘Active Citizen Air Force’ and ‘Citizen Air Force’.
Regulations 10, 11, 13, 16 and 17 of the Statutory Rule repeal the following regulations made redundant by the new scheme: 448, 458, 464, 470 and 473.
Regulation 12 of the Statutory Rule amends regulation 462 to enable the Chief of the Air Staff to recommend the termination of the appointment of an officer of the Reserve, or to discharge an airman of the Reserve, who takes up permanent or protracted residence abroad.
Regulation 14 of the Statutory Rule amends regulation 466 to provide for the seniority of an officer of the Air Force General Reserve who is rendering continuous full time air-force service.
Regulation 15 of the Statutory Rule amends regulation 468, which provides for the termination of Reserve officer appointments, by substituting ‘Air Force Reserve’ for ‘Reserve’.
Regulation 18 of the Statutory Rule amends regulation 474, which provides for the discharge of a Reserve airman prior to the expiration of his period of service, by substituting ‘Air Force General Reserve or the Air Force Specialist Reserve’ for ‘Reserve’. A further amendment provides for an airman who claims his discharge to be discharged as soon as possible thereafter but to remain an airman until he is discharged.
Regulation 19 of the Statutory Rule makes the amendments set out in the Schedule to the Statutory Rule, which are title changes corresponding to those made by Part III of the Statute Law Revision Act 1981.
Commencement
The Statutory Rule comes into operation on 30 September 1983, the date from which Parts III, X and XV and section 116 of the Statute Law Revision Act 1981 are proclaimed to commence.