Flight crew licensing miscellaneous amendments - (CD 2516FS)

Overview

We want your feedback on proposed amendments that aim to improve consistency for flight review and proficiency check validity periods and provide greater flexibility in achieving these requirements.

The amendments would also incorporate longstanding exemptions which support the flight crew licensing (FCL) regulations, and correct minor errors.

Legislation

The amendments apply to Parts 61 and 141 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (CASR) and Part 5 of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR).

Since the FCL regulations came into force in 2014, CASA has been working to improve them so they work as intended. Many of these improvements were included in CASA EX32/24.

The proposed amendments would incorporate the effect of several Parts of CASA EX32/24 (specifically Parts 4, 5, 15 and 17) and CASA EX76/24 into the FCL regulations, and correct other identified errors and unintended consequences.

Summary of proposed amendments

As an overview, the amendments relate to:

• Flight reviews: provide circumstances in which the holder of an aircraft class or type rating is taken to have a valid flight review for the relevant rating
• Proficiency checks: provide circumstances in which the holder of a pilot type rating is taken to have a valid instrument proficiency check for the aircraft type covered by the rating
• Low-level rating updates:
  • remove the recent experience rule for the low-level rating
  • extend the low-level rating flight review validity period from 12 months to 24 months
  • add a condition on the exercise of the privileges of the aerial mustering endorsement
• Remove outdated definitions: delete the definition of published lowest safe altitude and the related note
• Recreational pilot licence: clarify what recreational pilots can do, matching longstanding policy
• Instructor and operator offences: correct some offence rules so instructors and Part 141 operators are not penalised when pilots don’t meet certain aeronautical experience requirements
• Balloon licensing: update references to private pilot (balloon) permits issued by CASA, to ensure that pilots can continue to apply for and be qualified for a commercial pilot (balloon) licence
• Fix errors and remove incorrect references.

For more detail on the proposed amendments, see the Summary of proposed change and the accompanying explanation document linked below.

Previous consultations

Most of the amendments incorporate the effect of longstanding exemption instruments into the CASR. These were previously subject to consultation with industry including the FCL technical working group (TWG).

Amendments to correct minor errors such as typographical errors have not been subject to previous consultation.

Why your views matter

Your feedback will help ensure that the proposed amendments are suitable and will work as intended. It will also help us to target our development of guidance material and implementation activities. We will make sure that the changes are clearly explained, and that adequate guidance is provided to industry and CASA staff.

Please submit your comments using the survey link on this page.

If you are unable to provide feedback via the survey link, please email regulatoryconsultation@casa.gov.au for advice.

Documents for review

All documents related to this consultation are attached in the ‘Related’ section at the bottom of the overview page. They are:

• Summary of proposed change on CD 2516FS, which provides background on the proposed amendments
• Explanation document – Civil Aviation Safety Amendment (Minor Changes) Regulations 2025, which includes the proposed amendments and a side-by-side explanation of the intent of each amendment, and how they will work
• Exposure draft – Civil Aviation Safety Amendment (Minor Changes) Regulations 2025, which includes the proposed amendments
• MS Word copy of online consultation for ease of distribution and feedback within your organisation.

What happens next

At the end of the response period, we will:

• review all comments received
• make responses publicly available on the consultation hub (unless you request your submission remain confidential)
• publish a Summary of Consultation which summarises the feedback received and outlines any intended changes and next steps.

All comments received on the proposed amendments will be considered. Relevant feedback that improves upon the proposed amendments will be incorporated into the final instrument.