EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS 1988
EXEMPTION FROM HAVING TRAINING AND CHECKING ORGANISATION
Section 98 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) empowers the Governor-General to make regulations.
Under subregulation 308 (1) of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR 1988), CASA may, among other things, exempt an aircraft from compliance with specified provisions of the CAR 1988. Subregulation 308 (3) provides that the exemption is subject to the aircraft complying with any conditions specified by CASA as being necessary in the interests of safety. Under subregulation 308 (4) the exemption is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.
Subregulation 217 (1) of CAR 1988 requires that the operator of a regular public transport service, the operator of any aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of more than 5 700 kg, or any operator that CASA specifies, must provide a training and checking organisation.
A training and checking organisation is intended to ensure that operating crews employed by the operator maintain their competency. The training and checking organisation and the tests and checks for which it provides, are, under subregulation 217 (3), subject to approval by CASA.
As a result of increases in the size of aerial work aircraft, operators using large aerial work aircraft with a maximum take-off weight that exceeds 5 700 kilograms are subject to subregulation 217 (1) and are required to have training and checking organisations. Aerial work purposes are prescribed in subregulation 206 (1) of CAR 1988 and include aerial spotting, agricultural operations and flying training. For operations of that kind, CASA considers that a formal training and checking organisation is not appropriate and imposes an unnecessary burden on the operators. Therefore, the exemption exempts aerial work operators from compliance with subregulation 217 (1).
The exemption is subject to various conditions. It does not apply to the operator of aircraft engaged in ambulance operations or to an operator holding an Air Operator’s Certificate that permits the carriage of passengers. The aircraft must also be used exclusively in aerial work operations and the operations must be conducted in accordance with the relevant operations manual.
The exemption comes into effect on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments and stops having effect at the end of 30 September 2008.
Under subparagraph 6 (d) (i) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (the LIA), an instrument is a legislative instrument for section 5 of the LIA if it is declared to be a disallowable instrument under legislation in force before the commencement of the LIA. The exemption is, therefore, a legislative instrument and it is subject to tabling and disallowance in the Parliament under sections 38 and 42 of the LIA.
Consultation under section 17 of the LIA has not been undertaken in this case. The instrument replaces an existing instrument that expired on 30 September 2005. In the longer term, it is proposed to deal with these circumstances in the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998.
The exemption has been issued by the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer, a delegate of CASA, in accordance with subregulation 7 (1) of CAR 1988.
[Instrument number CASA EX44/05]