Heliringer..
http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_asset...s/ops/92_2.pdf
scroll down and read page 5,6 and 7.
in a nutshell, there's two types of helicopter landing sites;
- Basic HLS
- Standard HLS
Basic HLS's cannot be used for night operations.
Standard HLS has a host of req's for night operations, the thing that stares me in the face with regard to this accident is did the area VH-NTV was departing from at night conform to the requirements of a standard HLS (read; lighting).
There are dispensations given to operators operate outside the bounds of the caap, usually EMS/SAR. But even then, the aircraft is equipped accordingly as well as other fuel/lighting requirements regarding to the destination etc (standard alternate minima).
I couldn't see the ABC ops manual having these dispensations, nor would the VH-NTV be fitted with the equipment required to depart from a basic HLS at night. Feel free to correct me here someone that has flown for ABC before.