{"id":"F2024L00937","name":"CASA EX48/24 — DAMP Organisations (Collecting and Screening of Oral Fluid and Urine Body Samples Outside Capital City Areas) Exemption 2024","slug":"casa-ex48-24-damp-organisations-collecting-and-screening-of-oral-fluid-and-urine-body-samples-outsid","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":105308,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2024L00937-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"CASA EX48/24 — DAMP Organisations (Collecting and Screening of Oral Fluid and Urine Body Samples Outside Capital City Areas) Exemption 2024","content":"Instrument number CASA EX48/24\n\nI, DANIEL BERNARD O’HAGAN, Manager, Legislative Drafting, Legal, International & Regulatory Affairs Division, a delegate of CASA, make this instrument under regulations 11.160 and 11.205 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998.\n\n\\[Signed D.B. O’Hagan\\]\n\nDanny O’Hagan  \nManager, Legislative Drafting  \nLegal, International & Regulatory Affairs Division\n\n29 July 2024\n\nCASA EX48/24 — DAMP Organisations (Collecting and Screening of Oral Fluid and Urine Body Samples Outside Capital City Areas) Exemption 2024\n\n1 Name\n\nThis instrument is CASA EX48/24 — DAMP Organisations (Collecting and Screening of Oral Fluid and Urine Body Samples Outside Capital City Areas) Exemption 2024.\n\n2 Duration\n\nThis instrument:\n\n(a) commences on 1 August 2024; and\n\n(b) is repealed at the end of 31 July 2027.\n\n3 Definitions\n\nIn this instrument:\n\n> ASGS means the Australian Statistical Geography Standard – Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, as it exists from time to time.\n\n> capable person means a person who, before collecting oral fluid or urine body samples or conducting on-site screening of urine body samples:\n\n(a) affirms in writing to CASA that the person:\n\n(i) has successfully completed training in the collecting or screening previously mentioned, as the case requires (the training); and\n\n(ii) has demonstrable competency in such collecting or screening; and\n\n(b) includes in the affirmation:\n\n(i) the name, address and qualifications of the person who gave the training; and\n\n(ii) a description of the training.\n\n> collecting agency means an organisation assuming professional, organisational, educational and administrative responsibility for collection, on-site screening, storage and despatch of urine or oral body samples.\n\n> collection means on-site collection, storage, handling and, if necessary, despatch, of oral fluid or urine body samples.\n\n> course of instruction means a course of instruction, in compliance with the oral fluid standard or the urine standard, that:\n\n(a) is for specimen collection, on-site screening (urine only), handling, storage and despatch of specimens; and\n\n(b) results in the issue of a statement of attainment for the course in accordance with the Australian Quality Training Framework or the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.\n\n> DAMP-like program has the meaning given by instrument CASA EX93/23 — Implementation of DAMPs (Provision of Safety-Sensitive Aviation Activities by Non-DAMP Organisations) Instrument 2023.\n\n> doctor means a person:\n\n(a) who is registered as a medical practitioner with the Medical Board of Australia; and\n\n(b) who has medical duties at a hospital, general practice or pathology practice; and\n\n(c) whose medical duties at a place mentioned in paragraph (b) include the collection, storage, handling and despatch of biological specimens; and\n\n(d) who has successfully completed a course of instruction in the oral fluid standard or the urine standard, as the case requires.\n\n> Greater Capital City Statistical Area means the geographical area of the following places as depicted by the ASGS:\n\n(a) Australian Capital Territory;\n\n(b) Greater Adelaide;\n\n(c) Greater Brisbane;\n\n(d) Greater Darwin;\n\n(e) Greater Hobart;\n\n(f) Greater Melbourne;\n\n(g) Greater Perth;\n\n(h) Greater Sydney.\n\n> non‑DAMP organisation has the meaning given by instrument CASA EX93/23 — Implementation of DAMPs (Provision of Safety-Sensitive Aviation Activities by Non-DAMP Organisations) Instrument 2023.\n\n> nurse means a person:\n\n(a) who is registered as a nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia; and\n\n(b) who has nursing duties at a hospital, general practice or pathology practice; and\n\n(c) whose nursing duties at a place mentioned in paragraph (b) include the collection, storage, handling and despatch of biological specimens; and\n\n(d) who has successfully completed a course of instruction in the oral fluid standard or the urine standard, as the case requires.\n\n> on-site means the place at which an oral fluid or urine body sample is collected.\n\n> oral fluid standard means the standard AS/NZS 4760, Procedure for specimen collection and the detection and quantification of drugs in oral fluid, as the standard exists from time to time.\n\n> Note AS/NZS 4760 is a “relevant Standard” within the meaning of that term in subregulation 99.010(1) of CASR. A previous version of the standard was titled AS 4760 Procedures for specimen collection and the detection and quantitation of drugs in oral fluid and, as at commencement of this instrument, that is how the standard is referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of relevant Standard in subregulation 99.010(1) of CASR.\n\n> screening means testing of a body sample to exclude the presence of testable drugs.\n\n> trained collector means a person who has successfully completed a course of instruction in the oral fluid standard or the urine standard, as the case requires.\n\n> training, for a capable person, means training by a person who is:\n\n(a) a doctor or a nurse; or\n\n(b) a trained collector under the oral fluid standard or the urine standard, as the case requires; or\n\n(c) another person who has successfully completed formal training, acceptable to CASA, in the collection, on-site screening, storage, handling and despatch of biological specimens.\n\n> Note Formal training acceptable to CASA includes training given by a university, an institute of technology, a technical and further education college or a similar State or Territory institution as part of an accredited training course.\n\n> urine standard means the Standards Australia standard AS/NZS 4308, Procedures for specimen collection and the detection and quantitation of drugs of abuse in urine, as the standard exists from time to time.\n\n> Note AS/NZS 4308 is a “relevant Standard” within the meaning of that term in subregulation 99.010(1) of CASR.\n\n4 Application\n\nThis instrument applies in relation to the collection and screening of a body sample for the purpose of screening, if the collection of the body sample occurs outside the Greater Capital City Statistical Area:\n\n(a) under the drug and alcohol management plan (DAMP) of a DAMP organisation; or\n\n(b) under a DAMP-like program of a non-DAMP organisation.\n\n5 Exemption — oral fluid or urine sample collection and screening for drugs\n\n(1) To the extent mentioned in section 6, a DAMP organisation is exempt from the requirement to have a DAMP that includes an alcohol and drug testing program that meets the requirements mentioned in subparagraphs 99.050(1)(a)(ii) and (iii) of CASR in relation to:\n\n(a) the collection of body samples for the purpose of screening; and\n\n(b) screening.\n\n> Note Subparagraphs 99.050(1)(a)(ii) and (iii) impose requirements for oral fluid testing and urine testing to be in accordance with their respective “relevant Standards”, as defined in subregulation 99.010(1) of CASR.\n\n(2) To the extent mentioned in section 6, a non-DAMP organisation is exempt from the requirement to have a DAMP-like program that includes an alcohol and drug testing program that meets the requirements mentioned in subparagraphs 99.050(1)(a)(ii) and (iii) of CASR in relation to:\n\n(a) the collection of body samples for the purpose of screening; and\n\n(b) screening.\n\n(3) The exemptions in subsections (1) and (2) are subject to the conditions mentioned in section 7.\n\n6 Extent of exemption — collecting agency and course of instruction\n\nFor subsections 5(1) and (2), the exemption is limited to allow the DAMP organisation or non-DAMP organisation (as the case may be) to use a trained collector, doctor, nurse or capable person to perform the role or tasks of a collecting agency in accordance with the requirements for the role or tasks expressly or impliedly specified in the oral fluid standard or the urine standard, as the case requires.\n\n7 Conditions\n\n(1) A capable person may perform the role or tasks mentioned in section 6 only if a trained collector, a doctor or a nurse is not reasonably available to perform the role or tasks because of the remoteness of the location at which the role or tasks are performed.\n\n(2) A trained collector, a doctor, a nurse or a capable person is not permitted to conduct on-site screening of an oral fluid body sample.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument appears tightly scoped to its original purpose: providing a practical exemption for remote area drug and alcohol testing. The geographic limitation to outside capital city areas, the sunset clause (3-year duration), and the strict hierarchy of personnel qualifications (with capable persons as last resort) all indicate the scope remains focused on solving the specific logistical problem of remote testing without expanding into broader regulatory relief."},"complexity_factors":["17 defined terms in section 3, several with nested sub-paragraphs (e.g., 'capable person' has 4 sub-clauses, 'doctor' has 4, 'nurse' has 4)","Cross-references to external instruments: CASA EX93/23, Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (specifically regs 11.160, 11.205, and 99.050), and Australian/New Zealand Standards AS/NZS 4760 and AS/NZS 4308","Geographic definition relies on external ABS publication (ASGS) that changes 'from time to time'","Conditional logic: 'capable persons' can only be used if trained collectors/doctors/nurses are 'not reasonably available because of remoteness'","Distinguishes between collection/screening of urine vs oral fluid with different rules (oral fluid on-site screening prohibited entirely)","Hierarchy of personnel qualifications creates a cascading fallback system (doctor/nurse → trained collector → capable person)"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument grants aviation operators a time-limited exemption (1 Aug 2024–31 Jul 2027) from strict accredited drug-and-alcohol sample‑collection rules when operating outside Greater Capital City areas. It lets organisations use trained collectors, doctors, nurses or, as a last resort, demonstrated “capable persons” to collect samples, while prohibiting on‑site oral‑fluid screening (only urine may be screened on site). It affects DAMP and similar smaller operators, easing testing in remote aviation without abandoning safety."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument narrows applicability to collections occurring outside Greater Capital City Statistical Areas and limits exemptions to specified personnel acting as the collecting agency; it does not itself expand or revoke other CASR requirements beyond the specific, temporary exemptions set out. The instrument contains no express provision amending the original CASR scope outside these specified, time‑limited exemptions."},"complexity_factors":["Cross‑references to CASR subparagraphs 99.050(1)(a)(ii)–(iii) and to external instruments (CASA EX93/23) increase interpretive load","Dependence on technical standards AS/NZS 4760 and AS/NZS 4308 whose content is incorporated by reference","Multiple defined roles (trained collector, capable person, doctor, nurse, collecting agency) with differing eligibility and proof requirements","Geographic limitation tied to ABS Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (requires map/ASGS knowledge to apply)","Condition requiring 'not reasonably available' trained staff introduces a fact‑sensitive availability test","Temporal limitation (commences 1 Aug 2024, repeals 31 Jul 2027) creates sunset timing for compliance planning","Operational constraints such as prohibition on on‑site oral fluid screening and written affirmation obligations create compliance and recordkeeping burdens"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument lets DAMP organisations and non‑DAMP organisations running DAMP‑like programs collect and screen oral fluid and urine samples outside Greater Capital City Statistical Areas without fully meeting the usual CASR testing‑standard requirements, provided a trained collector, doctor, nurse or a 'capable person' (who affirms training and competency in writing) acts as the collecting agency. The exemption is limited to remote locations where qualified staff are not reasonably available and forbids on‑site screening of oral fluid — shifting who may perform collections and reducing some compliance steps in remote areas."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/casa-ex48-24-damp-organisations-collecting-and-screening-of-oral-fluid-and-urine-body-samples-outsid","history":"/api/acts/casa-ex48-24-damp-organisations-collecting-and-screening-of-oral-fluid-and-urine-body-samples-outsid/history","analysis":"/api/acts/casa-ex48-24-damp-organisations-collecting-and-screening-of-oral-fluid-and-urine-body-samples-outsid/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/casa-ex48-24-damp-organisations-collecting-and-screening-of-oral-fluid-and-urine-body-samples-outsid/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/casa-ex48-24-damp-organisations-collecting-and-screening-of-oral-fluid-and-urine-body-samples-outsid/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/casa-ex48-24-damp-organisations-collecting-and-screening-of-oral-fluid-and-urine-body-samples-outsid/documents"}}