Following on from Wirraway's thread about
Pilots being subjected to ASIO checks , I am not so relaxed about the new checks -- I reckon we will be required to pay the $200 for a new licence.
The January/February 2004 editions of Australian Aviation (p28) and Flight Safety Australia (p59) both mention the requirement for
pilots to bear the cost of new photographic licences.
The Australian Aviation article correctly quotes
DOTARS Fact Sheet 6 saying that Pilots will bear the $200 cost of security checking and licence issue.
The ASIC re-issue program is a
separate DOTARS initiative and is described separately in
Fact Sheet 4.
These are two separate programs. One (ASIC) is a requirement by virtue of your employer wanting you to work airside, the other (licencing) is a right granted to an individual to commit aviation in any capacity, not necessarily employment related. The separate programs are probably administered by two different teams, and I for one am not so relaxed that I expect commonsense to prevail.
I fully expect that, unless someone makes a fuss, we will all get a bill for a nice shiny photo licence around June this year.
Given the time it takes for governments to set these things up (like, September 11 was how many years ago..?!)
now is the time for us to ask the question. The enabling regulations would need to be in place through CASA as the licence issuer, not DOTARS as the airport security regulator.
I'll bet a month's overnight allowances that the regulations
are in the pipeline right now, and I'll bet a further two month's overnight expenses that my employer won't pay for it when it comes!
And if its one thing I hate, is paying for the same job to be done twice!