AVID: What's the point?

[PyroTek]

Probably asked before, or 'too simple to be asked', But what is the point of an AVID exactly?
I see how an ASIC gets you into security controlled aerodromes, whereas an AVID doesn't, What exactly does an AVID do at all?
anything?
Or is it there to look pretty?

(Sorry If this has been asked before)

[Islander Jock]

Pyro,
I can't be sure but I think the AVID came about as need to have some sort of photographic ID attached to your licence. Now that more and more airports are being snared under the "security controlled" banner and therefore require an ASIC it would certainly make sense to do away with it. Unfortunately I can't see any sort of sense being applied to this whole mess.:ugh:

[bentleg]

Yes, AVID came in to satisy a requirement for PhotoID with the licence. Then some brightspark in another bureacracy thought up ASIC for access to RPT airports. Could one replace the other - of course not - the security checks for ASIC are slightly more searching.

To answer the question What exactly does an AVID do?
It provides a photo-id to go with the licence. Could the ASIC do the same job? Of course it could..... Do we need an AISC? That has been done to death in other threads.

[Jabawocky]

Just apply for the ASIC...........and I won't tell the feds about you :mad:

J:E

[Flying Binghi]

Quiet night, nothing better to do eh :E....

...never heard of one of them AVID things before, sort of rhymes with AVIOD :ooh:

[PyroTek]

Jaba, I already got my ASIC, thanks :D

Yeah Binghi, meaning to ask it for a while. I found the time to!
So the black and white photo on your license isn't 'proper photo ID' eh?
What does an AVID look like anyway?

[Deaf]

"What does an AVID look like anyway?"

Like someone gave their 8yo the contract to produce them (of course money was intercepted before the kid got it)

Basically the same as the license ie no watermark on the copier paper etc but:

- 1/4 A4 (poor guillotine cut from cheap officeworks guillotine)
- Bad colour laser job
- (mostly) covered in Contac again a poor guillotine job with the size not matching the paper
- The 5 peso rubber stamp security featue of the license is not present

When I got it I first thought that someone had made it up and sent it as a joke but checking at the CASA office no it was real. Showing it to friends who have relevant backgrounds they said it looks fake but even the dumbest bad guy would dream up something more convincing.

[Lasiorhinus]

AVIDs are printed by Note Printing Australia, the mob responsible for printing banknotes and passports.

Yet, the only security feature in the document is the layer of passport-grade contact over the front.

If you have an ASIC, AVIDs are completely useless.

The only people who would prefer an AVID are those who never need to access a security controlled airport.

Dont forget the hidden feature of ASICs, that AVIDs just don't have a hope of living up to... you get the staff discount on food products at any airport terminal in Australia, whether you're working there or not, and commission-free currency exchange at the Bureauex de Change at most airports in Australia and New Zealand.

[kookabat]

Dont forget the hidden feature of ASICs, that AVIDs just don't have a hope of living up to... you get the staff discount on food products at any airport terminal in Australia,

And that's about all they're good for!!

[CASR139]

My understanding is that the AVID satisfies the requirement for all pilots to be background checked. Its not about the photo but being subjected to a quick "frisk" by the spooks.

One of the scary things at the start of this mess was that pilots were looking at needed both the AVID and the ASIC.

Since I'm too lazy to look into it maybe someone else could confirm if the AVID has a longer validity period. This would make it useful to a pilot that wants to fly but not into a security controlled aerodrome (I think there may to one or two of them still around).

[PyroTek]

Dont forget the hidden feature of ASICs, that AVIDs just don't have a hope of living up to... you get the staff discount on food products at any airport terminal in Australia,

awesome! Next time i go to the airport, I'm taking my ASIC and wearing it with pride!

Is that seriously true?
airport food is so expensive

[Led Zep]

Yep, and at least was the case a few years ago at PH, you could get discount CDs, books and booze over at the international if you showed your ASIC. :ok:

[Walrus 7]

It's not the AVID that should be scrapped, it's the ASIC (for air crew). Yes, I understand that ASIC checks are more stringent, but it wouldn't take much to extend the checks on the AVID so both are the same.

Remember, an ASIC is not a pass to airside, it is just an indication to security staff that the holder has been checked. The person still needs permission and reasonable excuse to be airside. In other words, you can have an ASIC and be frog-marched off the airport anyway.

If that is the case, we may as well have AVIDs and be done with it. My opinion is that the AVID is for aircrew and the ASIC is for ground crew, and the checks should be the same for both.

Walrus

[djpil]

I must be one of the few with just an AVID. According to the CASA website you do not require frequent access to a secure area of a security controlled airport that has RPT operations, you must apply for a background security check and you will be issued with an AVID. I only need infrequent access to one of those airports so I put up with the pain of getting a visitors pass and wonder at how I'm to get to my aeroplane and depart after handing in the visitors pass beforehand.

[Islander Jock]

djpil,
that very information is being reviewed as we speak.
Basically you need an ASIC for unescorted access airside to any Security Controlled Airport.
Some of the information presented on the CASA FAQ page is very poorly worded, contradictory and not in accordance with the security regs.

There is a lot more to section 3.15 of the Aviation Transport Security Regulations but ATSR 3.15 (3) states:

The responsible aviation industry participant for the airside area of the airport must ensure that the area can be entered only by:
(a) a person authorised to do so who:
(i) properly displays a valid ASIC; or
(ii) properly displays a valid VIC and is supervised by someone authorised to enter the area who properly displays a valid ASIC;

etc etc

You can't really be escorted once you get inside your aircraft and close the door.

Walrus,
Pretty good idea and makes a lot of sense. Dept of Infrastructure therefore will never go for it.:D

[jbr76]

Since I'm too lazy to look into it maybe someone else could confirm if the AVID has a longer validity period.

An AVID is vaild for 5 years from date of issue :rolleyes:

[djpil]

That's right, Islander Jock, I can't see how it can work for someone like me at all. The infrastructure.gov.au website also states that I need frequent access to justify applying for an ASIC so I'm not eligible for one.

Even if I had an ASIC I'd need authorisation from the airport operator to go there. My friends with ASICs don't get authorisation, they just roll up.

Doesn't worry me that the CASA website has had misleading information for the last couple of years. What concerns me is that "they" have a system for airport security which cannot work for people operating aeroplanes.

Hope you don't think I'm whinging as I'm quite happy staying away from those airports (except for that one time each year).

[Walrus 7]

Dave,

The use of the word "frequent" in the regs has caused some confusion in the past, as some people took it to mean that an ASIC was not needed to be airside at an RPT airport, provided you didn't do it frequently. Whoever wrote the reg unfortunately used the word like a limiting factor.

My next point of attack on this lunacy will be a submission to Tony Albanese's white paper. If more people did the same my one voice wouldn't be a cry in the wilderness.

Walrus

[Lasiorhinus]

It depends on your definition of "frequent", too.

Halleys Comet makes frequent visits to the inner solar system - once every 75 years. If your visits to the airside of a security controlled airport are more frequent than this, you're certainly being honest when claiming you have need for frequent access.

[Islander Jock]

I would not pay much attention to the word "frequent" and no issuing body would or should refuse to issue you with an ASIC if you hold a pilot licence. Proof of this point is in the fact that CASA will not issue a student pilot licence without an accompanying ASIC application or proof that you already have one.