Law Will Not Go Into Effect Until March 25, 2021

New regulations have been put in place in Australia covering sport and recreational aviation, ballooning and parachuting. The regulations largely consolidate existing requirements and will affect all participants as well as the sport aviation bodies that administer these activities.

While the regulations have been signed into law, they do not commence immediately. The regulations are part of a suite of flight operations regulations that all commence on March 25, 2021 affecting every pilot and operator in Australia.

The legislation was subject to public consultation and revised as a result of feedback, including:

• removing the restriction on simulation of IMC in sport and recreational aircraft
• including drug and alcohol testing for parachutists and parachute maintainers
• removing proposals related to a safety management system and training and checking systems for commercial balloon operators to enable further discussion with industry.

The new regulations build on the general operating rules to accommodate the unique characteristics relevant to different activities. They will be supported by other detailed requirements in Manuals of Standards (MOSs).

In the first quarter of 2020, CASA will engage with sport aviation bodies and the ballooning industry to discuss the MOS related to their operations. Public consultation will follow.

(Source: CASA news release. Image from file)

FMI: Legislation