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Legislative Framework and Procedures

Overview | IASC Act | IASC Regulations | Minister's Policy Statement | Commission Procedures

Overview

The Commission was established and operates pursuant to the International Air Services Commission Act 1992, the International Air Services Commission Regulations1992, and the policy statement issued by the Minister about the way in which the Commission is to perform its functions.

On 27 November 2003, the Commission delegated powers [PDF: 21 KB] and functions to its Executive Director or Senior Adviser (officers of the Department), as intended by the Government. On 16 December 2003, the Commission and its Executive Director signed a protocol [PDF: 31 KB] setting out how applications would be handled under the delegated arrangements.

In essence, the new arrangements enable the delegate to make a range of determinations and decisions previously made by the Commission. Generally, these relate to cases that are straightforward. More complex matters will continue to be dealt with by the Commission. There is a range of scenarios under which a matter would be dealt with by the Commission or by the delegate. It is cumbersome to describe this in prose. For this reason, the Commission has developed a flow chart [PDF: 16 KB] showing how decisions are reached about whether a case will be handled by the Commission or by its delegate.

Summary information about the Act, regulations and Minister's policy statement follows, with links to each document. Copies may be requested from the secretariat if preferred (see contact details).

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IASC Act

The Commission was established under the International Air Services Commission Act 1992. The object of the Act is to enhance the welfare of Australians by promoting economic efficiency through competition in the provision of international air services, resulting in:

• increased responsiveness by airlines to the needs of consumers, including an increased range of choices and benefits; and
• growth in Australian tourism and trade; and
• the maintenance of Australian carriers capable of competing effectively with airlines of foreign countries

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IASC Regulations

The International Air Services Regulations 1992 prescribes the circumstances in which the Secretary of the Department can make an operational decision relating to capacity when no determination of the Commission is in force relating to the allocation of that capacity. The regulations also prescribe the circumstances when the Commission has to invite submissions before making a determination allocating available capacity.

Click on the links above to download a copy of the Regulations.

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Minister's Policy Statement

In allocating capacity, the Commission assesses the merits of claims by applicants under specified public benefit criteria. These criteria are detailed in Policy Statements issued, from time to time, by the Minister.

The Minister’s Policy Statement (No.5) of 19 May 2004 came into effect on 26 May 2004, the date of gazettal.

The Explanatory Memorandum [PDF: 338 KB] is also available for downloading.

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Commission Procedures

The Commission has published procedures for making determinations allocating available capacity and for reviewing existing determinations. The procedures are designed to be consistent with the requirements of the legislation and with the principles of natural justice. They are intended to give applicants and other interested parties procedural fairness, ensure that the Commission's processes are as open as possible, and provide guidance to anyone wishing to apply for, or make submissions about, an allocation of air route capacity.

• Applications for an allocation of capacity in the start-up phase (updated March 2009) [PDF: 104 KB]
• Applications for an allocation of capacity after the start-up phase (updated March 2009)  [PDF: 96 KB]
• Review of a determination initiated by the carrier or by the Commission (updated March 2009) [PDF: 38 KB]
• Renewal of a determination (updated March 2009) [PDF: 55 KB]
• Guidelines for making a submission to the Commission [PDF: 14 KB]

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Guidelines for considering Subject To Finance Applications

On 21 July 2005, the Commission issued final guidelines for considering applications from prospective new airlines on a subject to finance basis [PDF: 88 KB].

This followed the Commission issuing draft guidelines on 8 June 2005 for comment - Draft Guidelines and Comment [PDF: 199 KB].