AVIATION TRANSPORT SECURITY ACT 2004 - SECT 44 Requirements for screening and clearing

AVIATION TRANSPORT SECURITY ACT 2004 - SECT 44

  (1)   The regulations may, for the purposes of safeguarding against unlawful interference with aviation, prescribe requirements in relation to one or more of the following:

  (a)   screening;

  (b)   receiving clearance;

  (c)   the circumstances in which persons, goods (other than cargo) or vehicles are required to be cleared .

  (2)   Without limiting the matters that may be dealt with by regulations made under subsection   ( 1), the regulations may deal with the following :

  (a)   the persons who are authorised or required to conduct screening;

  (aaa)   requirements in relation to the form or issue of identity cards for screening officers;

  (aa)   the persons or things that must not pass through a screening point;

  (b)   the things to be detected by screening;

  (c)   the procedures for dealing with things detected by screening;

  (d)   the circumstances in which persons must be cleared in order to:

  (i)   board an aircraft; or

  (ii)   enter a landside security zone, a landside event zone, an airside area, an airside security zone or an airside event zone;

  (e)   the circumstances in which goods, other than baggage and cargo, must be cleared in order to be taken:

  (i)   onto an aircraft; or

  (ii)   into a landside security zone, a landside event zone, an airside area, an airside security zone or an airside event zone;

  (f)   the circumstances in which baggage must be cleared in order to be taken:

  (i)   onto an aircraft; or

  (ii)   into a landside security zone, a landside event zone, an airside area, an airside security zone or an airside event zone;

  (h)   the circumstances in which vehicles must be cleared in order to be taken;

  (i)   onto an aircraft; or

  (ii)   into a landside security zone, a landside event zone, an airside area, an airside security zone or an airside event zone;

  (i)   the places where screening is to be conducted;

  (j)   the methods, techniques and equipment to be used for screening;

  (k)   the notices that are to be displayed in places where screening is to be conducted;

  (l)   the supervision and control measures for ensuring that persons, goods (other than cargo) and vehicles that have received clearance remain cleared in areas or zones that are not cleared areas or cleared zones;

Note:   Requirements for screening officers may be determined by the Secretary including in relation to training and qualifications, uniforms and the use of identity cards (see section   94A).

  (3)   Regulations made under paragraph   ( 2)(a) , (2)(aaa), (2)(aa) , (2)(i) or (2)(j) may provide that some or all of the matters set out in that paragraph are to be specified in written notices made by the Secretary. Such a notice may provide that the notice is only to be given to the persons, or classes of persons, specified in the notice.

  (3A)   Without limiting paragraph   ( 2)(j), the equipment to be used for screening may include the following:

  (a)   metal detection equipment;

  (b)   explosive trace detection equipment;

  (c)   body scanning equipment such as an active millimetre wave body scanner.

  (3B)   If:

  (a)   body scanning equipment is to be used for the screening of a person; and

  (b)   the equipment produces an image of the person;

the image must only be a generic body image that is gender - neutral and from which the person cannot be identified.

  (3C)   If body scanning equipment is to be used for the screening of a person, the equipment must not store or transmit:

  (a)   an image of the person that is produced by the equipment; or

  (b)   personal information (within the meaning of the Privacy Act 1988 ) about the person.

  (4)   Regulations made under this section may prescribe penalties for offences against those regulations. The penalties must not exceed:

  (a)   for an offence committed by an airport operator or an aircraft operator--200 penalty units; or

  (b)   for an offence committed by an aviation industry participant, other than an accredited air cargo agent or a participant covered by paragraph   ( a)--100 penalty units; or

  (c)   for an offence committed by an accredited air cargo agent or any other person--50 penalty units.

Note:   If a body corporate is convicted of an offence against regulations made under this section, subsection   4B(3) of the Crimes Act 1914 allows a court to impose fines of up to 5 times the penalties stated above.