News bulletins
2008
9 January
All submissions to the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) have been considered. Responses to the submissions will be published, along with the new regulations, in a Notice of Final Rule Making (NFRM) in the second quarter of this year.
A comprehensive education and awareness program will be delivered leading up to the commencement of the CASA Random Testing, planned to commence before the middle of the year.
Organisations will have a six month transition period, and detailed guidance material is being prepared to assist organisations to develop and implement their Drug and Alcohol Management Plans.
2007
17 August
The Bill to amend the Civil Aviation Act to make provision for the AOD programme passed through parliament yesterday.
The Notice of Proposed Rule Making is available on the CASA website.
The closing date for comment on the NPRM is 27 August. Comments will be summarised and will guide the shaping of the regulations.
Expressions of interest for testing providers has closed. A request for tender may be published after the making of the regulations.
30 July
The Draft Bill to amend the Civil Aviation Act went before the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport on Monday 16 July. Public submissions were received and considered. The Bill be will further considered when Parliament sits next.
The Office of Legislative Drafting and Publications are working through the drafting instructions for the regulations.
A draft Notice of Proposed Rule Making has now been published and is available on the CASA website.
The closing date for responses to the NPRM is 27 August.
Expressions of Interest for testing providers for the proposed CASA random testing regime have been called for via Austender and close on 13 August.
13 July
The Draft Bill to amend the Civil Aviation Act, to provide for the necessary AOD regulations, is planned to go before the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport on Monday 16 July. Public submissions will be considered.
The Office of Legislative Drafting and Publications have begun working through the drafting instructions for the regulations.
A draft Notice of Proposed Rule Making will be considered by the Project Team, prior to publication later this month.
Expressions of Interest for testing providers for the proposed CASA random testing regime have been called for.
15 June
The Draft Bill to amend the Civil Aviation Act, to provide for the necessary AOD regulations, is planned to go before Parliament next week.
The AOD Project Team meets again next week to finalise the 'Policy Outline' document. This document will form the basis of the Drafting Instructions for the
regulations.
28 May
The second AOD Project Team meeting was held on 17 May in Canberra. Further progress was made in:
- developing the NPRM
- developing the guidance material for industry to assist in the development of AOD programmes
- further work on practical implementation issues of programmes, testing and contractors
The supporting documentation required for the first stage of the Civil Aviation Act amendment process has been completed.
The next AOD Project Team meeting is scheduled for 21 June in Canberra.
Further information about the project history and progress is available.
7 May
The first AOD Project Team meeting was held last Thursday in Sydney. Significant progress was
made in:
- clarifying the content of the new NPRM,
- developing the draft alcohol and other drug testing programme for industry, and
- identifying implementation issues around the 17 recommendations in the 2006 DOTARS report.
Supporting documentation - required to amend the Civil Aviation Act to give effect to the AOD Project - is in its final stages.
20 April
The main body of work begins on 3 May with the first meeting to begin preparing a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM). In the meantime, there are a number of ancillary documents to support future AOD legislation which CASA staff are preparing initial drafts of now.
Next fortnight's bulletin will contain a report on the 3 May meeting.
12 April
As a result of the SCC's additional input, I'm pleased to confirm the Drug and Alcohol Project Team now comprises the following members:
- Mike Higgins - CASA Project Director and Team Leader
- Ken Keech - Australian Airports Association
- Terry Wesley-Smith - Regional Aviation Association of Australia
- Paul Mayes - Cobham Flight Operations & Services
- Captain Geoff Sartori - Qantas
- Dr Graeme Peel - Qantas
- Sue Davis - Aerospace Aviation
- Vincent Chong - Flight Training Adelaide
- Chris Howell - Airservices Australia
- Guy Maclean - Flight Attendants' Association of Australia
- Peter McCormack - Virgin Blue
- Andrew Kerans - Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
- Terry O'Connell - Australian Federation of Air Pilots
- Dr Ian Hosegood - CASA
The team will meet on 3 May for the first round of deliberations to begin preparing the Notice of Proposed Rule Making on AOD.
27 March
Last week we were manning the CASA display at the Avalon air show. It was an interesting couple of days, meeting with many of you face-to-face for the first time and making a presentation on AOD to a meeting of the CASA/Industry Standards Consultative Committee.
The Drug and Alcohol Project Team, made up of CASA and Industry subject matter experts, will meet for the first time in a few weeks to begin drafting the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) for the Drug and Alcohol legislation. The NPRM will then be published for two months during which the community is invited to provide written comment on the proposal for consideration by the project team.
9 March
As mentioned in previous newsletters, a joint CASA/Industry AOD project team has been formally
established. Under the auspices of the Standards Consultative Committee (SCC), team members include subject matter experts covering various representative bodies, international and domestic pilots, medical practitioners, aircraft owners and employers. Subject to the SCC's consideration of additional nominees, the current team is:
- Mike Higgins – CASA Project Director and Team Leader
- Ken Keech – Australian Airports Association
- Terry Wesley-Smith – Regional Aviation Association of Australasia
- Paul Mayes – Cobham Flight Operations & Services
- Captain Geoff Sartori – Qantas
- Dr Graeme Peel – Qantas
- Sue Davis – Aerospace Aviation
- Robert Aked – Department of Transport & Regional Services
- Vincent Chong – Flight Training Adelaide
- Chris Howell – Airservices Australia
- Dr Ian Hosegood – CASA
- FAAA – Guy Maclean
- Peter McCormack – Virgin Blue
- AOPA – Andrew Kerans
Have you seen our latest flyer on AOD? It shows the steps involved in making AOD legislation and, as you'll see, there's plenty of work ahead of us yet.
And don't forget: CASA staff will be on-hand at this month's Avalon air show to field any questions that you couldn't find the answers to on our website.
26 February
At this stage, the Government has not made any decisions regarding the Alcohol and Other Drug testing programme beyond the 2006 statement by Minister Truss. We expect to hear more next month.
Also next month, CASA staff will be on-hand at the Avalon Air Show to field any questions you couldn't find answers to on our website, and to allay any concerns you may have regarding the proposed Alcohol and Other Drug testing regime.
16 February
In our previous news bulletin we listed the representatives who make up the AOD project team. To bring further consistency to CASA's regulatory development processes, we are expanding the team and adding clear consultation linkages to the Standards Consultative Committee (SCC). We have yet to decide whether the team will work under an SCC subcommittee or more directly to the SCC. As you are aware, the project has the potential to affect many industry sectors and it may be more appropriate to consult directly through the SCC as a whole rather than through one or several subcommittees. We will discuss this matter with the SCC Chair.
We aim to keep the AOD project team as small as reasonably practical to facilita te its effective
functioning, but at the same time we need to ensure it is staffed with subject matter experts who are broadly representative of those who will be affected by the project's outcomes.
We are now aiming for NPRM publication in April, and I'll have another AOD news update for you next week.
25 January
Since our last newsletter, CASA has drafted a brief to the Minister on a way ahead for the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) testing program. The brief has been based on the public forums, consultation and feedback we've received over the past six months.
The final version of the brief is currently with the Department of Transport & Regional Services (DOTARS) for their comments. As the portfolio department, they process all briefs to the Minister and will provide him with CASA's submission.
When we have the Minister's response, the CASA/Industry project team will be reconvened as soon as practicable to progress the drafting of the NPRM on AOD testing. The project team, formed in June last year, comprises a wide range of industry and Government agency representatives:
- Aerospace Aviation
- Airservices Australia
- Australian Airports Association
- CASA
- Cobham Flight Operations & Services
- DOTARS
- Flight Training Adelaide
- Pearl Aviation
- Qantas
- Regional Airlines Association of Australia.
If there are any questions you would like added to our Questions and Answers page, please e-mail them to AODforums2006@casa.gov.au.
12 January
As mentioned in the previous bulletin, we have consolidated onto our website all the questions from last year's nationwide forums and provided detailed answers wherever possible. This is the latest information available on the proposed AOD testing regime and I encourage you to read each section to gain a full appreciation of what is proposed.
Preparation of the NPRM continues and I hope to be able to give you an update on progress in the next news bulletin.
2006
22 December
Welcome to the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) e-mail subscription list. This is the first fortnightly news bulletin to this list.
One of my tasks at CASA is to direct the AOD Project which CASA and DOTARS have been asked to
implement. The project began in June this year and is in response to a direction from Minister Truss in May.
You would be aware - through the advertising in various aviation magazines, broadcast e-mails and faxes, and the CASA and Aeroclub.com.au websites - that a series of nationwide public information forums were held this year from the end of August to the beginning of November. These 2-3 hour sessions were very successful and highlighted the interest in this topic. I attended every forum and would like to acknowledge the calibre of the questions asked. We have been consolidating those questions onto our website and will publish them next month.
We also invited key industry organisations and representative bodies to respond to a brief questionnaire.
It asked how their organisations saw the scope of the testing, who they thought should do the random testing, and the development of an enforcement regime. It was a unified response by the respondents (27 of 28) and the results will form part of the decision-making process.
What's next? We are now at the stage where we are gearing up for the 'formal' consultation phase by way of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM). As you know, NPRMs are issued by CASA to invite the public and the aviation community to comment on new aviation rule proposals. The preparation of this document will involve industry and representative bodies, and publication is expected early next year.
We will have an update on the NPRM and other AOD issues in the next news bulletin.