Before ParliamentBusiness & Trade Introduced in the House of Representatives, 01 Apr 2026

Aircraft noise complaints would move to a new office

This is the tidy-up partner to the new law that protects airline passengers. It moves the open complaints and files of the aircraft noise complaints officer to a new office. It also keeps the new passenger rules apart from airline licences.

Official name: Aviation Consumer Protection (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• People living under flight paths: Noise complaints you have already made would not be lost when the office moves.
• Airlines and pilots flying into or out of Australia: The rules of their licences under the Air Navigation Act, an old law for international flights, would not include the new passenger rules.
• Airservices Australia (which runs air traffic control) and the Department of Defence: A new office in the transport department would check how they handle noise complaints.

Four bills for airline passengers

The government wants better protection for airline passengers. In 2024 it put out a big plan for flying, called the Aviation White Paper. A white paper is a government plan that sets out what it wants to do. It found the complaints body run by airlines did not work well and was not trusted.

Flights were often late too. In 2025, flights within Australia landed on time 76.9 per cent of the time. The long-term average is 80.5 per cent.

So the government brought in four bills together. The main one is the Aviation Consumer Protection Bill 2026. It creates a Charter, or set list, of basic service standards for airlines and airports. A new watchdog would make airlines follow it. A new complaints service would settle passenger complaints. Two more bills make the industry pay fees to cover the watchdog's costs.

The main bill also sets up a new aircraft noise complaints officer in law. This fourth bill is the tidy-up bill. It fixes one older law and handles the move to the new noise office.

Rules kept apart from licences

The Air Navigation Act 1920 sets rules for planes flying into and out of Australia. Under section 16, every licence or approval it gives comes with a condition. Owners, operators and pilots must follow all federal, state and territory laws that apply.

This bill changes section 16. That condition would no longer include the new passenger protection law, or the rules made under it. The government says following the new passenger standards is not meant to be tied to flying licences.

Say an airline breaks a Charter rule on how it treats passengers whose flights are late. It could face action under the new passenger law. But that rule break would not, on its own, put its flying licence at risk.

Moving the aircraft noise watchdog

The Aircraft Noise Ombudsman started in 2010. An ombudsman is an independent complaints officer. This one checks how two bodies handle noise complaints. One is Airservices Australia, which runs air traffic control. The other is the Department of Defence.

People must complain to those bodies first. If they are not happy with the answer, they can go to the noise complaints officer.

Right now the officer sits inside Airservices Australia and reports to its board. The White Paper said this could be a clash of interests. The main bill sets up a new noise complaints officer inside the federal transport department. A senior public servant, someone who works for the government, would fill the role.

This bill makes sure nothing falls through the cracks. Some noise complaints to the old officer will still be open on the start date. Each one becomes a complaint to the new office. The new officer can then choose to look into it. All papers and records held by the old officer must go to the new one.

Say you live near Sydney Airport. You complained about a new flight path months ago. If your complaint is still open when the change happens, it moves to the new office.

Start date

This bill would start at the same time as the key parts of the main passenger bill. That is a date the government sets, or 12 months after it becomes law at the latest. If the main bill never starts, this one will not either.

The House of Representatives passed the bill on 29 June 2026. That is the house of Parliament where the government is formed. It went to the Senate, Parliament's second house, on 30 June 2026. The debate on its main idea was opened that day. The Senate still has to pass it before it can become law.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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