Home Affairs delegate redeclares Rockhampton Airport and sets new airside boundary

A delegate of the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs has revoked the notice that declared Rockhampton Airport a security controlled airport and has redeclared the airport, at the same time establishing a new airside area. The decision was signed by Jaran Blethyn (Position No: 48000469) on 23 October 2026 and published on 27 October 2026 in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette as notice NTC-31553, registered under reference C2026G00701. The notice commences upon publication in the Gazette.

Three operative decisions in one instrument

The declaration is made under subsection 28(2) of the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004, the Commonwealth statute that provides for security controlled airports and for the airside areas within them. In a single instrument, the delegate:

• Revokes notice NTC-30900, which had declared Rockhampton Airport a security controlled airport and was published in the Gazette on 22 July 2026 under reference C2026G00479.
• Declares that Rockhampton Airport is a security controlled airport, with the airport’s boundaries shown on the attached map that forms part of the notice.
• Establishes, in accordance with section 29 of the Act, an airside area for Rockhampton Airport, being the area indicated as the airside area on that same attached map.

The revocation and the new declaration operate together, so the airport’s status does not lapse between the two instruments: the July notice ceases to have effect and the October notice replaces it on the day of publication.

The map fixes the boundary, not the text

The notice itself sets no coordinates, measurements or written description of the perimeter. Both the airport boundary and the airside area are fixed by reference to the attached map, which the instrument states forms part of the notice. That makes the map the operative definition: access points, the terminal interface and any airside thresholds are determined by what is drawn there rather than by prose in the gazette text.

Beyond its three operative paragraphs, the notice carries only two notes. The first defines “Gazette” as the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. The second states that the notice remains in force until otherwise revoked in writing and subsequently published in the Gazette, meaning there is no expiry date and no sunset clause attached to the declaration.

One of a series of airport redeclarations

The Rockhampton Airport instrument follows a run of similar revoke-and-redeclare notices issued by delegates of the same department over the past two months, each renewing a security controlled airport declaration and restating its airside area:

• Emerald Airport, notice NTC-31139, signed 24 August 2026 and registered 26 August 2026, replacing NTC-30244.
• Dubbo Regional Airport, registered 27 August 2026, replacing NTC-30454.
• Sunshine Coast Airport, registered 8 September 2026, replacing NTC-30341.
• Coffs Harbour Airport and Perth Airport, both registered 14 September 2026, replacing NTC-25853 and an earlier Perth notice respectively.
• Canberra Airport, notice NTC-31317, and Moranbah Airport, notice NTC-31516, both signed 20 October 2026 and registered 22 October 2026.

The sequence shows a rolling program of housekeeping on airport security declarations rather than a single isolated decision about one regional airport. Different delegates sign the instruments — Jaran Blethyn and Gerome Balangue (Position No: 48000573) appear across the series — but the drafting formula and the statutory basis are identical throughout.

What it means for the airport and its users

For anyone flying into or out of Rockhampton Airport, the practical consequence is that the airside boundary now rests on a map attached to the October notice rather than the July one, and that the airport’s security controlled status is preserved without interruption. The airport operator, airlines and ground handlers working to the Act must apply access controls to the area marked on that map, and travellers will cross the airside threshold where the new delineation places it.

Because the notice has no end date and can only be displaced by a further written revocation published in the Gazette, the arrangement stands until the department issues the next instrument in the series — the pattern visible in every airport redeclaration since August.

Source: Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No. C2026G00701, 27 October 2026, Government Notices, Section I (official reference: NTC-31553).