9 Jun 20
Sport Aviation Operations Officer
General, Recreational and Sport Aviation Branch
CASA\Stakeholder Engagement Group
OFFICIAL
Hi Kurt,
A review of the communications that you have Cc’d to CASA Sport has been undertaken.
It has been noted that a significant proportion of the email content appears to be related to an ongoing dispute between yourself and other SAFA members and/or SAFA staff. Please note that CASA’s functions as defined in Section 9 the
Civil Aviation Act 1988 relate to the safety of air navigation, they do not however extend to dispute resolution.
For clarity regarding the current structure of the civil aviation legislation relating to sport aviation; the only lawful manner of operating a paraglider or hang glider within Australian territory is by adherence to all requirements contained in Civil Aviation Order (CAO) 95.8. The effect and purpose of CAO 95.8 is to grant particular exemptions (in defined instances) from the legal requirements as specified in the
Civil Aviation Act (CAA) 1988, the
Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR) 1988 and the
Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASR) 1998.
For example, the CAA requires that all civil aircraft hold registration (CAA 20AA refers) and all pilots of aircraft be licenced (a licence issued under CASR Part 61 or foreign equivalent) (CAA 20AB refers). The operation of an aircraft outside of these requirements is an offence against the Act which bears serious penalties, including possible imprisonment. CAO 95.8 affords the only means of enabling compliant participation in paragliding and hang gliding in Australia.
For the avoidance of doubt; any person wishing to operate a paraglider or hang glider in Australia lawfully must operate in accordance with the requirements of CAO 95.8. Relevant provisions from CAO 95.8 are provided for information;
4 Licence not required
4.1 For section 20AB of the Act, a person is authorised to perform a duty essential to the operation of an aircraft to which this Order applies without holding a flight crew licence if he or she complies with the conditions set out in subsections 6 and 7.
5 Aircraft not required to be registered
For paragraph 20AA (1) (b) of the Act, an aircraft, to which this Order applies, is not required to be registered under CAR 1988 when it is flown in accordance with the conditions set out in subsections 6 and 7.
6 General conditions
6.6 An aircraft to which this Order applies must be operated in accordance with the rules, regulations and directions made by the HGFA for the operation of such aircraft and specified in the HGFA Operations Manual or in any other manual or document of the HGFA.
(Note: SAFA and HGFA are one and the same entity for the purpose of the civil aviation legislation.)
CASA’s current regulatory relationship with SAFA members is by means of the approved SAFA Operations Manual (current CASA Approved version is V20180427) which contains the operational aviation requirements including SAFA’s oversight of an approved system of training and certification (not licencing) of paraglider and hang glider pilots. The scope of the Operations Manual does not include member complaints, behavioural misconduct of members, disciplinary procedures of the organisation, etc. These matters are therefore outside of CASA’s remit and there is no regulatory means currently for CASA to review disciplinary decisions made by SAFA.
CASA Sport Aviation understands that you are a current financial SAFA member. Therefore:
- For a current SAFA member whose flight privileges have been suspended, SAFA’s disciplinary procedures apply. Noting that - Should a person undertake to operate a paraglider or hang glider while not holding SAFA membership, (i.e. no regulatory relationship existing between the person and SAFA), the situation would fall under the remit of CASA. Should this situation occur, it would be managed in accordance with the CASA Coordinated Enforcement Process as outlined in the Coordinated Enforcement Manual (casa.gov.au/publications-and-resources/publication/enforcement-manual).
- For a current SAFA member involved in a dispute with the SAFA organisation, CASA has no civil aviation legislative or regulatory ability to interfere or interject. Other avenues which may be more appropriate to explore are dispute resolution services.
I trust this explains the current regulatory sport aviation scheme.
Please refrain from forwarding emails to CASA that relate to membership issues/disputes or disciplinary matters currently being undertaken by SAFA. Should you identify specific regulatory issues in the future that are within CASA remit please make email contact via (sport email).