EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULE NO. 213 ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS
Section 93 of the Radiocommunications Act 1983 (‘the Act’) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Sub-section 9(1) of the Act provides that, subject to section 9, the Minister may, by instrument in writing, make standards for specified devices or devices included in a specified class of devices.
Sub-sections 9(5), (6), (7) and (8) specify the kinds of requirements that may be contained in standards relating to radiocommunications transmitters, transmitters other than radiocommunications transmitters, receivers and radiosensitive equipment.
Sub-section 9(11) provides that standards may make provision for or in relation to a matter referred to in sub-section (5), (6), (7) or (8) by applying, adopting or incorporating, with or without modification, any matter contained in a standard proposed or approved by the Standards Association of Australia, or by a prescribed association or body, as in force or existing at a particular time.
The regulation prescribes the Australian Telecommunications Commission and the International Maritime Satellite Organization as associations or bodies for the purposes of sub-section 9(11). These two bodies have made or approved standards relating to radiocommunications equipment which are internationally recognised and which relate to matters which may be dealt with by standards made by the Minister under section 9 of the Act.