Reader’s Guide
The Compliance Scheme is approved by the Minister under s 54 (2) of the Sydney Airport Demand Management Act 1997 (the Demand Management Act).
This Guide is for general information only and is not part of the Scheme. It is not intended to take the place of the Scheme, the Demand Management Act, any regulations under that Act, or any other applicable legislation or international convention.
The Demand Management Act sets up a system of management for aircraft arrival and departure at Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport. The system is based on the concept of a slot, which is defined in s 34 of the Demand Management Act as follows:
“(1) A permission for an aircraft movement is known as a slot. A slot allocated under the Slot Management Scheme will permit a specified aircraft movement at a specified time on a specified day.”.
Under the Demand Management Act, slots are to be allocated and administered by the Slot Manager. Allocation and administration are dealt with in the Slot Management Scheme, approved by the Minister under s 40 (2) of the Demand Management Act. This Scheme sets out how compliance with the slot management arrangements under the Demand Management Act are enforced.
The Demand Management Act sets up a system of civil penalties for unauthorised aircraft movements. Breach of a civil penalty provision of the Demand Management Act can result in the issue of either an infringement notice, or proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia against the operator of the offending aircraft to recover a civil penalty. If the contravention is proven (on the balance of probabilities), the Federal Court is authorised to make an order that the operator pay a civil penalty to the Slot Manager.
The Demand Management Act also requires there to be a Compliance Committee that plays a role in the operation of the compliance provisions of the Demand Management Act. The Committee’s membership and operations are set up in the Sydney Airport Demand Management Regulations (not summarised in this Guide).
This Scheme makes provision for various matters regarding the enforcement of the civil penalty provisions.
This Scheme and the Slot Management Scheme do not displace other legislation that affects aircraft operation at Sydney Airport. In particular, see the following Acts and Regulations:
Air Navigation Act 1920 and Air Navigation Regulations
Air Services Act 1995 and Air Services Regulations
Civil Aviation Act 1988 and Civil Aviation Regulations
Sydney Airport Curfew Act 1995 and Sydney Airport Curfew Regulations.
Those Acts and Regulations are not summarised in this Guide.
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Citation
This Scheme is the Sydney Airport Compliance Scheme 1998.
2 Definitions for Scheme generally
In this Scheme:
block time, for a flight, means the time elapsed between the flight’s scheduled departure time and its scheduled arrival time.
Slot Management Scheme means the Sydney Airport Slot Management Scheme 1998, as in force at the commencement of this Scheme.
slot group has the same meaning as in the Slot Management Scheme.
slot series has the same meaning as in the Slot Management Scheme.
Part 2 Aircraft movements subject to civil penalty provisions
Division 1 Off-slot movements
3 What off-slot movement means
(1) For subsections 11 (2) and 49 (1) of the Demand Management Act, an aircraft movement is an off-slot movement if:
(a) the slot allocated for the flight concerned is not part of a slot series or slot group, and:
(i) if the flight has a block time of less than 3 hours — the movement occurs more than 30 minutes before or after the slot; and
(ii) if the flight has a block time of 3 hours or more — the movement occurs more than 45 minutes before or after the slot; or
(b) the slot allocated for the flight concerned is part of a slot series or slot group, and subsection (2), (3), (4) or (5) applies to the movement.
Note If the movement is off-slot because of circumstances beyond the operator’s control, the Compliance Committee can declare that the movement is taken not to have been off-slot — see section 4.
(2) This subsection applies to a movement if it is the first movement that will result in more than 20%, but less than 30%, of the movements that use the series or group:
(a) if the flight has a block time of less than 3 hours — occurring more than 15 minutes before or after the slot; or
(b) if the flight has a block time of 3 hours or more — occurring more than 30 minutes before or after the slot.
(3) This subsection applies to a movement if it is the first movement that will result in 30% or more, but less than 40%, of movements that use the series or group:
(a) if the flight has a block time of less than 3 hours — occurring more than 15 minutes before or after the slot; or
(b) if the flight has a block time of 3 hours or more — occurring more than 30 minutes before or after the slot.
(4) This subsection applies to a movement if it is the first movement that will result in 40% or more, but less than 50%, of movements that use the series or group:
(a) if the flight has a block time of less than 3 hours — occurring more than 15 minutes before or after the slot; or
(b) if the flight has a block time of 3 hours or more — occurring more than 30 minutes before or after the slot.
(5) This subsection applies to a movement if it is the first movement that will result in 50% or more of movements that use the series or group:
(a) if the flight has a block time of less than 3 hours — occurring more than 15 minutes before or after the slot; or
(b) if the flight has a block time of 3 hours or more — occurring more than 30 minutes before or after the slot.
4 Movements that are taken not to be off-slot
Despite section 3, an aircraft movement is taken not to be an off-slot movement if:
(a) the circumstances that caused the movement to take place at the time it did were beyond the operator’s control; and
(b) the Compliance Committee declares that the movement is taken not to have been off-slot.
Division 2 Rates of fine for civil penalty provisions
5 Rate of fine for off-slot movements
(1) For subsections 20 (2) and (3) of the Demand Management Act, the appropriate rate of fine to be specified in an infringement notice for a contravention of a civil penalty provision is as follows:
(a) for an operator’s first such contravention in a scheduling season:
(i) if the operator is a body corporate — 5 penalty units;
(ii) if the operator is an individual — 1 penalty unit;
(b) for an operator’s second such contravention in a scheduling season:
(i) if the operator is a body corporate — 10 penalty units;
(ii) if the operator is an individual — 2 penalty units;
(c) for an operator’s third such contravention in a scheduling season:
(i) if the operator is a body corporate — 15 penalty units;
(ii) if the operator is an individual — 3 penalty units;
(d) for an operator’s fourth such contravention in a scheduling season:
(i) if the operator is a body corporate — 25 penalty units;
(ii) if the operator is an individual — 5 penalty units;
(e) for an operator’s fifth such contravention in a scheduling season:
(i) if the operator is a body corporate — 40 penalty units;
(ii) if the operator is an individual — 8 penalty units;
(f) for an operator’s sixth such contravention in a scheduling season:
(i) if the operator is a body corporate — 60 penalty units;
(ii) if the operator is an individual — 12 penalty units;
(g) for an operator’s seventh such contravention in a scheduling season:
(i) if the operator is a body corporate — 100 penalty units;
(ii) if the operator is an individual — 20 penalty units;
(h) for an operator’s eighth such contravention, and any subsequent such contraventions, in a scheduling season:
(i) if the operator is a body corporate — 200 penalty units;
(ii) if the operator is an individual — 40 penalty units.
(2) In this section, the number of civil contraventions committed by an operator in a scheduling season:
(a) includes any civil contraventions committed by the operator in the scheduling season for which:
(i) a pecuniary penalty has been imposed by the Federal Court; or
(ii) an infringement notice has been issued and not withdrawn (whether or not the operator has paid the fine specified in the notice); and
(b) does not include any civil contraventions committed by the operator in the scheduling season for which an infringement notice was issued but withdrawn.
Division 3 Issue and withdrawal of infringement notices
6 Issue of infringement notice for civil contravention (Demand Management Act, s 19 (1) (b)) — no-slot movement
(1) It is appropriate to issue an infringement notice for a civil contravention if:
(a) the contravention was a no-slot movement; and
(b) the operator responsible has not previously committed a no-slot movement in the scheduling season; and
(c) Airservices Australia considers that safety at the airport was not compromised by the movement.
(2) However, it is not appropriate to issue an infringement notice for a civil contravention that was a no-slot movement if either:
(a) the operator responsible has previously committed a no-slot movement in the scheduling season; or
(b) Airservices Australia considers that safety at the airport was compromised by the movement.
7 Issue of infringement notice for civil contravention (Demand Management Act, s 19 (1) (b)) — off-slot movement
(1) It is appropriate to issue an infringement notice for a civil contravention if:
(a) the contravention is an off-slot movement; and
(b) the Committee thinks, taking into account the factors mentioned in paragraphs 14 (2) (a), (b) and (c) of the Demand Management Act, that the operator responsible did not commit the movement as a result of a deliberate intention to operate off-slot.
(2) It is also not appropriate to issue an infringement notice for a civil contravention if:
(a) the contravention was an off-slot movement; and
(b) the Committee thinks, after taking into account the matters set out in paragraphs 14 (2) (a), (b) and (c) of the Act, that the operator responsible committed the movement as a result of a deliberate intention to operate off-slot.
8 Withdrawal of infringement notice for civil contravention (Demand Management Act, s 25 (1))
It is appropriate to withdraw an infringement notice for a civil contravention if the contravention occurred because of circumstances outside the control of the operator concerned.
Part 3 The Compliance Committee
9 Committee’s additional functions (Demand Management Act, s 66 (2) (b))
The functions of the Compliance Committee include:
(a) assessing operators’ compliance with the “use-it-or-lose-it” rule set out in the Slot Management Scheme;
(b) making recommendations to the Slot Manager about action that should be taken against an operator that does not comply with that rule.
Part 4 Meaning of terms for the Demand Management Act
10 Meaning of take off and land
For subsection 49 (6) of the Demand Management Act:
(a) an aircraft takes off when it first moves after all its external doors have been closed in preparation for flight; and
(b) an aircraft lands when, after a flight, it comes to a standstill and the engines are turned off.