Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

[Index] [Search] [Download] [Related Items] [Help]

AIR NAVIGATION (AERODROME CURFEW) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1991 NO. 408

Statutory Rules 1991 No. 408

Issued by Authority of the Minister for Shipping and Aviation Support

Air Navigation Act 1920

Air Navigation (Aerodrome Curfew) Regulations (Amendment)

Subsection 26(1) of the Air Navigation Act 1920 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.

Paragraph 26(2)(e) of the Act provides that the power to make regulations includes the power to make regulations for or in relation to the establishment, maintenance and operation of aerodromes.

The Air Navigation (Aerodrome Curfew) Regulations (the Regulations) provide for curfew arrangements at Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (the Aerodrome), to apply between 11pm each night and 11am the following morning. The arrangements are intended to reduce night-time noise over suburbs on the approaches to, and surrounding, the Aerodrome. The Regulations, which have been in operation since December 1989, give legislative effect to administrative arrangements that had been in place since October 1988.

The amending Regulations amend the Regulations to remedy some deficiencies that have become apparent since the Regulations came into operation. In particular, the amending Regulations:

•       prohibit the operation during the curfew period of some older aircraft which are currently able to land and take off during the curfew period where those aircraft do not meet the intended noise standards;

•       provide that aircraft in respect of which a push back has been approved just before the beginning of a curfew period must take off within a reasonable time after the beginning of the curfew period;

•       replace the requirement for monthly reverse thrust reports with a requirement for a report only when reverse thrust is used during the curfew period;

•       fulfil commitments given to the Senate Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances in July 1990 to:

(i)       provide a right of review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of a decision by the Minister to refuse to grant an application that an aircraft may land at, or take off from, the Aerodrome during the curfew period; and

(ii)       provide a defence of reasonable excuse where a person has apparently committed an offence by not providing information relating to the classification of an aircraft where that information has been requested by the Secretary or by an authorised person; and

•       correct a number of minor drafting errors.

The amending Regulations came into operation on the date of their notification in the Gazette.