Air Transport Amendment Bill 2006

Explanatory note
This explanatory note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament.

Overview of Bill

The object of this Bill is to amend the Air Transport Act 1964 (the principal Act) so
as:

(a) to provide for the deregulation of certain air transport service routes, and

(b) to abolish certain fees with respect to licences, and

(c) to enable the Administrative Decisions Tribunal to review certain decisions
with respect to licensing, and

(d) to abolish the Air Transport Council, and

(e) to establish the State Aviation Working Group, and

(f) to clarify the circumstances in which a person is taken to be operating or
providing a regular air transport service (relevant to determining whether or
not the person is required to hold a licence), and

(g) to make the Director-General of the Ministry of Transport (the
Director-General), rather than the Minister for Transport (the Minister), the
licensing authority under the principal Act, and

(h) to enable regulations under the principal Act to make provision with respect to
the furnishing of statistical information by persons who operate or provide air
transport services, and
        (i) to enact savings and transitional provisions consequent on the enactment of the
proposed Act.

Outline of provisions

Clause 1 sets out the name (also called the short title) of the proposed Act.

Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the proposed Act on a day or days to be
appointed by proclamation.

Clause 3 is a formal provision that gives effect to the amendments to the Air
Transport Act 1964 set out in Schedule 1.

Clause 4 repeals the Air Transport Regulation 2000 (which deals solely with fees)
as a consequence of the proposed omission from the principal Act of the provisions
that deal with fees.

Schedule 1 Amendments
Deregulation of air transport service routes
Schedule 1 [7] inserts a new section 4A into the principal Act. The proposed section
will allow the Minister to “deregulate” air transport routes, thereby permitting
persons to operate or provide air transport services along those routes without the
need for a licence under the principal Act (see proposed section 3 (3) (b)).

Schedule 1 [5] inserts a new subsection (3) into section 3 of the principal Act. The
proposed subsection provides that the licensing requirements of the Act do not apply
to charter services or to services over a deregulated air transport route.

Abolition of fees
Schedule 1 [8], [10], [11] and [15] amend or repeal existing sections 5, 7, 10 and 13
of the principal Act so as to omit provisions that impose fees or provide for the
calculation or payment of fees.

Review by Administrative Decisions Tribunal
Schedule 1 [12] inserts a new section 10A into the principal Act. The proposed
section provides that an applicant for a licence under the principal Act, or the holder
of a licence under the principal Act, may apply to the Administrative Decisions
Tribunal for a review of any decision of the Director-General with respect to the
application or licence.

Abolition of Air Transport Council
Schedule 1 [2] omits sections 2A, 2B and 2C of the principal Act. These sections
provide for the constitution and functions of the Air Transport Council.

Establishment of State Aviation Working Group
Schedule 1 [14] inserts new sections 12A and 12B into the principal Act. The
proposed sections provide for the establishment and functions of a State Aviation
Working Group. The Working Group will comprise 7 members, of whom 4 will be
officers of various Government Departments and 3 will be nominees of various
private associations. The functions of the Working Group are to provide advice to the
Director-General on matters relating to the regulation of air transport services, to
provide information to interested persons concerning the regulation of those services
and to seek the views of interested persons in relation to the regulation of those
services. Schedule 1 [17] inserts a new Schedule 1 into the principal Act. The
proposed Schedule contains further provisions with respect to the constitution and
procedure of the proposed Working Group.

Circumstances in which person taken to operate or provide regular air
transport service
Schedule 1 [3] amends section 3 of the principal Act so as to make it clear that a
person may be taken to be operating or providing an air transport service over a
particular route in circumstances in which that and another person do so together by
means of aircraft operated by both of them.

Licensing authority
Schedule 1 [4] amends sections 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the principal Act so as to replace
references to the Minister with references to the Director-General. The proposed
amendments will have the effect of making the Director-General, rather than the
Minister, the licensing authority under the principal Act.

Furnishing of statistical information
Schedule 1 [15] inserts a new paragraph (a) into section 13 (1) of the principal Act.

The proposed paragraph will enable regulations to be made with respect to the
furnishing of statistical information by persons who operate or provide air transport
services within New South Wales.

Savings and transitional provisions
Schedule 1 [17] inserts a new Schedule 2 into the principal Act. The proposed
Schedule contains savings and transitional provisions consequent on the enactment
of the proposed Act, and a provision that empowers the regulations under the
principal Act to make further provision in that regard. Schedule 1 [16] is a
consequential amendment.

Miscellaneous
Schedule 1 [1] amends section 2 (Definitions) of the principal Act so as to omit a
number of obsolete definitions and add new definitions of deregulated route,
Director-General and Working Group.

Schedule 1 [6] omits an obsolete section of the principal Act.

Schedule 1 [9] makes a consequential amendment to the heading to section 6 of the
principal Act.

Schedule 1 [13] substitutes section 11A of the principal Act so that the provisions
with respect to the delegation of functions reflect the other changes to be made by the
proposed Act.

Note: If this Bill is not modified, these Explanatory Notes would reflect the Bill as passed in the House. If the Bill has been amended by Committee, these Explanatory Notes may not necessarily reflect the Bill as passed.

 

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