EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
CIVIL AVIATION ACT 1988
CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS 1988
REGULATION 99A
DESIGNATION OF AIRSPACE — BIRDSVILLE RACE MEETING
DIRECTIONS — BROADCAST REQUIREMENTS AND RADIO FREQUENCY
Section 98 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act and in relation to the safety of air navigation.
Under paragraph 99A (1) (b) of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR 1988) CASA may designate airspace within defined horizontal and vertical limits as an area in which broadcast requirements apply (designated area). Having so designated, under paragraphs 99A (3) (a) and (b) of CAR 1988, CASA may then give directions specifying the broadcast requirements that apply in the designated area, and the radio frequency on which those broadcasts must be made. Under subregulation 99A (4) details of directions must be published in AIP or NOTAMS. Under subregulation 99A (5) it is an offence for a pilot in command to contravene a direction.
The Birdsville races (the races) will be held from 2 to 4 September 2005. Under instrument CASA 203/05, the Birdsville Aerodrome is situated in a common traffic advisory frequency zone (CTAF) in which only radio-equipped aircraft are obliged to broadcast. However, because of the expected volume of air traffic arriving and departing during the period of the races, as in previous years it is considered necessary to designate Birdsville Aerodrome and the airspace around it a mandatory broadcast zone (MBZ).
The instrument, therefore, designates the airspace up to 5 000 feet within a 15 nautical mile radius of Birdsville Aerodrome to be a designated area in which broadcast requirements apply on frequency 126.7MHz. The broadcast requirements are set out in Schedule 2 of the instrument and include the use of certain expressions in landing, take-off, emergency and other manoeuvres. As required by subregulation 99A (4) of CAR 1988, details of these broadcast requirements are published in AIP Supplement H40/05.
Legislative Instruments Act
The instrument is similar to instrument CASA 398/04 issued by CASA for the Birdsville races in 2004. That instrument and its predecessors were not subject to tabling and disallowance in the Parliament. However, under section 5 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (the LIA), the instrument is a legislative instrument and is subject to tabling and disallowance under sections 38 and 42 of the LIA.
Consultation under section 17 of the LIA has not been undertaken in this case. The instrument is necessary to ensure safety at the Birdsville races in September 2005 and the procedures it mandates are minor or machinery in nature.
The instrument commences at 0800 hours Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 2 September 2005 and stops having effect at 1900 hours EST on 4 September 2005. The instrument has been registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments. The exemption has been made by the Manager, Airways and Aerodromes, a delegate of CASA under subregulation 7 (1) of CAR 1988.
[Instrument number CASA 292/05]