EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
CIVIL AVIATION ACT 1988
CIVIL AVIATION SAFETY REGULATIONS 1998
MANUAL OF STANDARDS (MOS) - PART 143
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.
Part 143 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (CASR 1998) established the regulatory requirements for air traffic service training providers.
Under paragraph 9 (1) (c) of the Act, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has the function of developing and promulgating appropriate, clear and concise standards for civil aviation activities. Civil aviation is a technical field which requires the setting of standards on a wide range of matters with an adequate degree of precision. The level of detail required, the volume of the standards, and the need to amend the standards quickly due to rapidly changing technologies, means that it is not appropriate to set many of these standards in regulation. To date, setting of standards on matters of technical detail has largely been accomplished by way of Civil Aviation Orders or in a variety of advisory publications issued by CASA. However, now and into the future, CASA will be promulgating standards on matters of technical detail in Manuals of Standards (MOSs).
CASR 1998 is divided into various Parts, with each Part dealing with a particular subject of civil aviation regulation. The Part numbers are not be sequential, but are aligned with similar numbering used by other countries for their civil aviation laws, in particular, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and the Joint Aviation Authorities of the European Union. Where CASA determines that CASR 1998 needs to be supported by detailed technical specifications or standards, it will develop and promulgate a MOS which is related only to the Part of CASR 1998 which needs that support. Thus, there are and will be separate MOSs relating to different Parts of CASR 1998.
A MOS prescribes the detailed technical material (specifications and standards) determined by CASA to be necessary to ensure the safety of air navigation. However, a MOS does not prescribe mandatory standards in and of itself. Rather, a specification or standard in a MOS is referred to in a regulation, and it is compliance with the regulation which is mandatory. Thus, for example, a regulation may require that a certain piece of equipment meet the standards prescribed in the relevant MOS, or that an applicant for a particular licence undertake training specified in the relevant MOS.
The Manual of Standards – Part 143 (Part 143 MOS) was developed in conjunction with the development of new Part 143 of CASR 1998. The MOS contains the standards relating to the provision of training for air traffic service personnel.
Part 143 of CASR 1998 was made on 26 June 2002 (Statutory Rules 2002 No. 167) and commenced on 1 May 2003. On 24 September 2002, the Opposition gave notice of a disallowance motion against these regulations and communicated its concerns with certain aspects of the regulations to the Government. In response, the Government gave an undertaking to the Opposition to make regulatory amendments addressing the Opposition’s concerns.
As a result of this undertaking, Part 143 of CASR 1998 was amended on 1 May 2003 (Statutory Rules 2003 No.75) to provide specifically for the making of the Part 143 MOS, including introduction of mandatory notice and consultation requirements.
Subregulation 143.010 of Part 143 provides that, for the Part, Manual of Standards means “the document called ‘Manual of Standards (MOS) – Part 65’ issued by CASA under regulation 143.017, as in force from time to time”. Regulation 143.017 provides that CASA may issue a Manual of Standards for Part 143 that provides for the following matters:
(a) standards, including procedures, plans, systems and documentation, for the provision of air traffic services training;
(b) standards for facilities and equipment used to provide air traffic services training;
(c) standards, including competency standards and minimum qualifications, for instructors engaged in air traffic services training;
(e) any matter required or permitted by the regulations to be provided for by the Manual of Standards;
(f) any matter necessary or convenient to be provided for the effective operation of this Part.
The inclusion in Part 143 of an express power to make the MOS a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, per subsections 98 (5A) and (5B) of the Civil Aviation Act 1988.
Regulations 143.017A to 143.017F inclusive provide for the notification of the intention to issue or amend the Part 143 MOS and the consultation procedures required before the issue or amendment of the Part 143 MOS.
A document entitled ‘Manual of Standards (MOS) – Part 143’ was issued by CASA’s Head of Airspace, Air Traffic and Aerodrome Standards, Aviation Safety Standards Division, on behalf of CASA, on 19 March 2003. By operation of regulation 202.760 of CASR 1998, that document is taken to be the Part 143 MOS, and the consultation procedures set out in regulations 143.017A, 143.017B and 143.017C are taken to have been complied with in relation to that MOS. It should be noted that in the preparation of the Part 143 MOS, CASA had fully consulted with existing stakeholders and the public, and took into account issues arising out of the comments, in accordance with its normal consultative arrangements for the development of regulatory material.
The Part 143 MOS commenced on notification in a Special Gazette of 1 May 2003.