Senator O'Brien asked the Minister representing the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, upon notice, 11 November 1998:

(1) Do air traffic controllers (ATCs) require medical certificates in order to take paid sick leave; if so, how many sick days are they entitled to annually; if not, how many sick days are they entitled to annually; if not, how many sick days without a certificate and how many days with a certificate are they entitled to each year.

(2) Do Civil Aviation Regulations state that an ATC is not permitted to work in a licensed ATC position if he or she is suffering from a minor ailment that might impair the officer's performance; if so, how is the impact of an illness on an ATC's ability to work assessed and by whom.

(3) What arrangements are in place to deal with a situation where an ATC falls ill just prior to commencing a shift or during a shift.

(4) Were the rostering principles enshrined in the ATC enterprise-based agreement that allow for up to 10 days straight to be worked, including emergency duty and overtime, designed to ensure an adequate pool of officers is available at all times.

(5) Under the `10 day rule', on how many occasions were operations at Sydney airport suspended due to a shortage of ATC's.

Senator Ian Macdonald (Regional Services, Territories and Local Government) —The Minister for Transport and Regional Services has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

The following answer is based on Airservices Australia advice:

(1) The Airservices Enterprise Bargaining Agreement provides that air traffic controllers shall have access to sick leave as required and all sick leave in excess of single day absences shall require a medical certificate. There is normally no upper limit on the number of days sick leave which an ATC can take with or without a certificate, although employees with high sick leave absences may be required to produce medical certificates for any absences.

(2) Yes. The licensed employee is responsible for assessing his or her own fitness for duty. However, sick leave is subject to monitoring and a counselling process.

(3) The shift supervisor decides whether replacement is required and makes arrangements as appropriate for replacement staff. Replacement could include extension of shift on overtime or call out of off-duty staff on emergency duty.

(4) The ten day rule is a maximum and is subject to variation based on local circumstances. It was designed to balance operational needs with employee health and safety considerations

(5) Once. The closure of Sydney Airport in July was due partially as a consequence of the terms of the 10 day rule.