EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1990 NO. 215
CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
(ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR SHIPPING AND AVIATION SUPPORT)
Subsection 98 (1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) provides in part that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing matters necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act and, in relation to the safety of air navigation, being regulations with respect to any other matter with respect to which Parliament has power to make laws.
Regulation 157 of the Civil Aviation Regulations sets out the requirements relating to the minimum heights at which aircraft are permitted to fly. The purpose of the amendment to regulation 157 is to set out specific provisions with respect to helicopters in the Regulations and to remove the general prohibition on an aircraft flying over any city or town or other populous area except at such height that the aircraft could be landed outside the area in the event of engine failure.
It is not practicable for aircraft operating into and from major airports located within populous areas to act in accordance with this prohibition and it has been disregarded for many years.
The purpose of the amendment to regulation 268 and the repeal of regulations 142, 271 and 300 is to give effect to recommendations of the Air Safety Regulation Review Task Force (ASRRTF) Report.
Regulation 268 allows for the immediate suspension of a licence or certificate for the purpose of an investigation, for a period of not more than 28 days. Recommendation 30 of the ASRRTF Report recommended that “the power to suspend temporarily and immediately should only be exercised where the Authority considers there may be a serious risk to air safety if it were not exercised”. Regulation 268 is amended to make it clear that the power to suspend a licence or certificate for the purpose of an investigation may be exercised only if the Authority considers that there would be a serious risk to air safety if the licence or certificate were not suspended.
The repeal of regulation 271 gives effect to Recommendation 31 of the ASRRTF Report which recommended that “when a holder’s certificate or licence is restored, then the certificate or licence should not reflect past problems”.
The repeal of regulations 142 and 300 gives effect to Recommendation 4 of the ASRRTF Report which recommended that those “Regulations and Orders which have been identified as possibly invalid, should be validated by amendment or be deleted”. As neither of these provisions were connected with the safety of air navigation they were therefore considered to be outside the regulation-making power of section 98 of the Act.
The Regulations come into operation on the date of their notification in the Gazette. Details of the Regulations are provided in the Attachment.
ATTACHMENT
DETAILS OF THE CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Regulation 1: provides that for the purposes of the amending Regulations the term “Principal Regulations” means the Civil Aviation Regulations.
Regulation 2: repeals regulation 142.
Regulation 3;
paragraph 3(a) replaces subregulations 157(1) and (2) with a new subregulation 157(1) which provides for the minimum heights at which aircraft are permitted to fly;
paragraph 3(b) replaces subregulation 157(3) with a new subregulation which provides that a height specified in subregulation 157(1) is applicable within a radius of 600 metres, in the case of an aircraft other than a helicopter, or 300 metres, in the case of a helicopter.
paragraph 3(c) adds new subregulation 157(3A) which exempts a helicopter flying at a designated altitude within an access lane details of which have been published in the Aeronautical Information Publications or Notices to Airmen from the requirements set out in paragraph 157(1) (a);
paragraph 3(d) amends subregulation 157(4) by substituting a reference to subregulation (1) for the references to subregulations (1) and (2);
paragraph 3(e) replaces paragraph 157(4)(f) with new paragraphs 157(4)(f) and (g):
- paragraph 157(4)(f) exempts the pilot of an aircraft engaged in a search, a rescue, or dropping supplies, from the provisions of subregulation 157(1);
- paragraph 157(4)(g) exempts a helicopter engaged in law enforcement operations for the Australian Federal Police or the police force of a State or Territory from the provisions of subregulation 157(1).
Regulation 4: replaces subregulation 268(1) with a new subregulation which empowers the Authority to suspend a licence or certificate for a period of not more than 28 days, for the purpose of an investigation, if the Authority considers that there would be a serious risk to air safety if the licence or certificate were not suspended.
Regulation 5: repeals regulations 271 and 300.