Section 36 - Airports (Control of On-Airport Activities) Regulations 2026 - Drivers of taxis, hire vehicles and public buses to show authority cards | Zoe
36 Drivers of taxis, hire vehicles and public buses to show authority cards
A person commits an offence of strict liability if:
(a) the person is driving a taxi, hire vehicle or public bus on the landside of an airport; and
(b) the operation of such a vehicle is regulated in the State where the airport is located; and
(c) an authorised person for the airport asks the driver to show the authorised person evidence of the driver’s authority to operate the taxi, hire vehicle or public bus; and
(d) the authorised person has shown the driver evidence of the authorised person’s identity; and
(e) the driver does not produce evidence of the driver’s authority to operate the taxi, hire vehicle or public bus.
Penalty: 3 penalty units.
37 Authorised person may direct that vehicle be moved
(1) An authorised person for an airport may direct a driver who contravenes a parking control provision on the landside of the airport to move the driver’s vehicle.
(2) If a taxi, or the driver of a taxi, is causing interference with the operation of a taxi zone on the landside of an airport, an authorised person for the airport may direct the driver of the taxi to move the taxi.
(3) A person commits an offence of strict liability if:
(a) the person is driving a vehicle on the landside of an airport; and
(b) an authorised person for the airport gives the person a direction under subsection (1) or (2); and
(c) the person does not comply with the direction.
Penalty: 3 units.
(4) Subsection (3) does not apply if the vehicle is an emergency or police vehicle.
Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in this subsection: see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code.
38 Authorised person may move vehicle
Circumstances in which vehicle may be moved
(1) An authorised person for an airport may, with whatever assistance is reasonably necessary, move a vehicle on the landside of the airport to a place within the airport designated for the purpose by an airport‑operator company for the airport if:
(a) either:
(i) the vehicle is used in contravention of a parking control provision and the driver of the vehicle cannot be found within a reasonable time; or
(ii) the driver of the vehicle fails to comply with a direction under subsection 37(1) or (2); and
(b) the authorised person considers that the vehicle is causing interference with the normal flow of traffic, a permit zone on the landside of the airport or the operation of the airport.
(2) An authorised person for an airport may also move a vehicle to the place designated for the purpose if the vehicle appears to be abandoned on the landside of the airport.
Notice that vehicle has been moved
(3) If an authorised person for an airport moves a vehicle under subsection (1) on the basis that the driver of the vehicle cannot be found, or moves a vehicle under subsection (2), the authorised person must, as soon as practicable after moving the vehicle:
(a) give the vehicle registration authority for the State in which the vehicle is registered (if known) a notice in writing that:
(i) identifies the vehicle; and
(ii) states that the vehicle has been moved, and how it can be retrieved; and
(b) take other reasonable steps to find the driver or registered owner of the vehicle and tell the driver or owner:
(i) that the vehicle has been moved, and how it can be retrieved; and
(ii) that the vehicle may only be retrieved by the owner or a person acting for the owner.
(4) A vehicle registration authority for a State that receives a notice under paragraph (3)(a) may, in accordance with the laws of the State, inform the registered owner of the vehicle of the matters set out in the notice.
No liability for loss or damage
(5) An authorised person for an airport who moves a vehicle under this section, any person who assists the authorised person to do so, and an airport‑operator company for the airport, are not liable for any loss of, or damage to, the vehicle that occurs:
(a) while it is being moved; or
(b) after it is moved and before it is retrieved by or for its owner.
39 Owner of vehicle must pay costs of storage etc.
(1) If a vehicle on the landside of an airport is moved under section 38, an airport‑operator company for the airport may recover from the owner of the vehicle costs reasonably incurred in moving and storing the vehicle.
(2) The costs may be recovered by action in a court of competent jurisdiction.
(3) The airport‑operator company is not required to return the vehicle to the owner, or a person acting for the owner, if the costs have not been paid.
40 Airport‑operator company may dispose of vehicle
Authority to dispose of vehicle
(1) This section applies if:
(a) a vehicle on the landside of an airport is moved under section 38; and
(b) the vehicle has not been retrieved by or for the owner within 3 months after the day on which the vehicle was moved.
(2) An airport‑operator company for the airport must publish a notice, in a newspaper circulating generally in the State in which the airport is located, that the company intends to sell or otherwise dispose of the vehicle.
(3) The airport‑operator company may sell or otherwise dispose of the vehicle if the vehicle has not been retrieved by or for its owner within 14 days after the notice is published.
Consequences if vehicle is sold
(4) If the airport‑operator company sells the vehicle, the airport‑operator company must, as soon as practicable after the end of the financial year in which the sale occurs, give the Commonwealth the proceeds of the sale less the costs reasonably incurred in moving, storing and selling the vehicle.
(5) If the airport‑operator company sells the vehicle, and the person who was the owner of the vehicle immediately before the sale makes a claim in relation to the vehicle to the airport‑operator company, the airport‑operator company must pay to the person an amount equal to the proceeds of the sale less the costs reasonably incurred in moving, storing and selling the vehicle.
(6) If the airport‑operator company pays an amount in relation to a claim under subsection (5) and provides evidence of the claim to the Commonwealth, then:
(a) if the airport‑operator company has not yet given the proceeds of the sale of the vehicle to the Commonwealth under subsection (4)—the airport‑operator company is not required to give the proceeds; and
(b) if the airport‑operator company has given the proceeds of the sale of the vehicle to the Commonwealth under subsection (4)—the Commonwealth must pay to the airport‑operator company an amount equal to the amount that was given under subsection (4).
(7) Any other right in relation to the vehicle that was vested in a person before the sale ceases to exist at the time of the sale.
41 Who can be appointed as authorised person
The Secretary may appoint any of the following as an authorised person for an airport for the purposes of a provision in this Division:
(a) an employee of the Department;
(b) a member, special member, protective service officer or special protective service officer of the Australian Federal Police;
(c) a person authorised under the law of a State to prosecute offences related to the parking of vehicles;
(d) an employee of an airport‑operator company, or of a contractor or subcontractor of an airport‑operator company;
(e) an individual engaged by an airport‑operator company as a contractor, or who is a subcontractor of a contractor of an airport‑operator company;
(f) any other individual the Secretary considers to be appropriately qualified or experienced to exercise powers under the provision.