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CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Endnotes
Contact Officer and Copyright Details
Civil Aviation Amendment Bill
1998
Date Introduced: 9 December 1998
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Transport and Regional Services
Commencement: On Royal Assent except for
amendments deleting the term 'commercial' from the Act, or
replacing the term 'domestic commercial flight' with 'regulated
domestic flight', which commence on a date to be fixed by
Proclamation or not longer than six months after the date of Royal
Assent. Similarly, the provisions which permit CASA to retain or
destroy seized property commence on a date to be fixed by
Proclamation or not later than six months after the date of Royal
Assent.
To amend the
Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Principal Act) to ensure that
it is consistent with a proposed new civil aviation regulatory
framework.
As a result of reviews of aviation regulation
between 1988 and 1991, the Civil Aviation Authority began, in 1993,
a program of redrafting the legislative structure of safety
regulations. Since its establishment in 1995, the Civil Aviation
Safety Authority (CASA) has continued the process of rewriting the
entire safety regulations and associated advisory documentation.
This process currently also reflects the Government's requirement,
expressed in its policy statement Soaring into
tomorrow,(1) that aviation regulations should be simple,
straightforward and internationally harmonised.
Within CASA, this project has been entitled the
Regulatory Framework Program. The present legislative framework is
being reviewed with the objective of replacing the current Civil
Aviation Regulations and Civil Aviation Orders with new Civil
Aviation Safety Regulations. The principles underlying the new
regulations require that they:
-
- are harmonised internationally with the US Federal Aviation
Regulations (FARs) and the European Joint Aviation Regulations
(JARs)
-
- are clear, concise and understandable
-
- have a safety outcome approach
-
- are enforceable
-
- avoid over-regulation, and
-
- are consistent with the role of CASA.
Various Technical Committees and Project Teams
have been tasked with identifying issues pertinent to civil
aviation safety, commenting upon working drafts of regulations
prepared by CASA and, in some instances, being involved with the
development of regulatory policy options. The operations of these
groups ensure that both CASA and the industry are involved in the
formulation of the regulations.
It is envisaged that the various Parts of the
new Civil Aviation Safety Regulations will be phased in over the
period 1999 to 2003. Each Part will initially be issued in the form
of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making to which interested parties may
respond. A Regulation Impact Statement will also be prepared prior
to the commencement of any Rule.
With the advent of these new regulations, the
Principal Act requires amendment to ensure it is consistent with
the new regulatory structure. A number of the provisions in the
Civil Aviation Amendment Bill 1998 are designed to give effect to
this. Other amendments deal with property which has been seized by
CASA investigators for the purpose of prosecuting alleged breaches
of the Civil Aviation Act or regulations. One amendment
(item 28) allows regulations to be made giving
CASA broad powers to issue instruments in relation to safe
navigation and the maintenance and airworthiness of aircraft.
Items 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 11 of
Schedule 1 replace the specific term 'Civil Aviation
Regulations' with the more general term 'regulations'. This change
will accommodate a proposal to replace the current Civil Aviation
Regulations with new regulations which may be called Civil Aviation
Safety Regulations.
Item 2 repeals the definition
of a 'domestic commercial flight' and substitutes at Item
6, a definition of a 'regulated domestic flight'. The two
definitions use the same words. Items 12, 13, 16, 17, 19,
20, 21 and 23 are consequential amendments which delete
the word 'commercial' or replace the term 'domestic commercial
flight' with the term 'regulated domestic flight'.
The effect of item 10 will be
to allow alternative terms to be used in the proposed new
regulations in order to describe a 'certificate of
airworthiness'.
Item 14 repeals the section
which requires all applicants for Air Operator Certificates (AOCs)
for aircraft to provide CASA with copies of flight manuals. In
future CASA will use section 27AC(1) of the Principal Act to
request flight manuals only where a new type of aircraft is being
introduced into Australia for the first time.
Item 18 expands the list of
'key personnel' in order to accommodate a proposal in the new
regulations that certain AOC holders be required to have a safety
manager with responsibility for monitoring and addressing safety
issues for the company.
Items 24 and 25 deal with
property seized by CASA investigators. CASA and its officers have
the power to monitor compliance with the Civil Aviation Act
1988 and the regulations and to investigate possible breaches
of the Act and regulations. Section 32AH of the Principal Act gives
a CASA investigator the power to seize property which may be used
as evidence in a prosecution. The property may be kept for 60 days
or, provided that the prosecution has commenced within 60 days,
until the completion of the proceedings.
Item 24 inserts a new provision
which enables an investigator to apply to a magistrate to allow
property seized during an investigation to be retained for a
further period (not exceeding 90 days) if proceedings have not be
commenced within the initial 60 day time limit.
Item 25 amends the Principal
Act by inserting a new provision which allows CASA to apply to a
court for an order giving authority to destroy seized goods where
CASA is unable to return the property or where the owner has
refused to accept the goods. Item 25 also inserts
a new section so as to ensure that CASA does not breach the
Constitutional prohibition on the Commonwealth acquiring property
on other than just terms.
The effect of item 26 is to
introduce requirements that fees prescribed by regulation are
payable to CASA. Proposed sub-sections 97AA(3) and
97AA(4) enable regulations to be made imposing a time
limit on the payment of fees and penalties for late payments.
Item 28 will enable CASA to
issue design rules for unusual or atypical aircraft for which
design standards are not in place. The powers are broad ranging but
instruments issued by CASA under the proposed sub-section
98(5A) may be disallowed by Parliament.
1. Soaring into tomorrow: the Coalition's
aviation policy, 13 February 1996, (Liberal Party of
Australia, National Party of Australia, 1996.)
Rosemary Bell and Denis James
4 February 1999
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1999
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