EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1988 NO. 373
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND AVIATION SUPPORT
CIVIL AVIATION ACT 1988
Civil Aviation Regulations (Amendment)
Section 98 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters which are required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Formerly regulation 114 of the Civil Aviation Regulations (CARs) specified the criteria a person had to meet prior to that person being granted a flight service officer licence. Regulation 117 further provided that the Civil Aviation Authority (the Authority) could, in the interests of safety of air navigation, require the holder of a flight service officer licence to demonstrate his or continued fitness where it seemed necessary to do so.
Following negotiations with the Professional Radio and Electronics Institute of Australasia (the association which represents flight service officers) CARs 114 and 117 were amended to place an obligation on a person and his or her
medical practitioner(s) or other relevant person to disclose to the Authority information that may have a bearing on whether the person should be granted or continue to hold a flight service officer licence or rating.
Regulation 1 of these regulations amended regulation 114 of the CARs by substitution of a new paragraph (b) and adding at the end 2 new subregulations.
New paragraph (b) provides that the relevant medical standards a person must meet prior to being granted a flight service officer licence are those specified by the Authority in Civil Aviation Orders.
New subregulation 114(2) specifies certain circumstances where a person does not meet the relevant medical standards. These circumstances include: failure to submit to any relevant examination, failure to inform the approved person conducting the examination if the person has undergone the same kind of examination for this purpose, failure to produce the results of such an examination, failure to answer questions necessary for determining whether the person meets the relevant medical standards or failure to authorise disclosure of information concerning the person that is within the knowledge of any hospital or other medical organisation, medical practitioner or a person other than a medical practitioner.
New subregulation 114(3) defines the term “relevant examination” for the purposes of the section.
Regulation 2 of the regulations repeals and substitutes regulation 117 of the CARs.
New subregulation 117(1) provides that the Authority may, in the interests of safety, require the holder of a flight service officer licence or rating to prove his or her continued fitness or proficiency. In this respect the Authority may require the holder of such a licence to do one or more of the following: undergo a relevant or other examination relating to fitness or proficiency, authorise disclosure of information within the knowledge of any medical practitioner or any person who has carried out an examination of a kind considered to be a relevant examination or disclosure of any information held by a hospital or other medical organisation pertaining to whether the person meets the relevant medical standards.
New subregulation 117(2) defines the term “relevant examination” for the purposes of subregulation(1).
Regulation 3 of the regulations amends regulation 265 of the CARs. This amendment is consequential upon the amendments made to regulations 114 and 117.
These Regulations commenced on the date of notification in the gazette.