Becoming a CASA DAME rests on three verifiable requirements: an acceptable aviation medicine qualification with demonstrated competence under CASR 67.045, the one-day CASA Regulatory Aviation Medicine course if the Principal Medical Officer requires it for your background, and continuing aviation medicine CPD backed by evidence at each renewal. Your re-appointment period runs one to three years depending on the CPD you complete, and the Examiner Handbook is your working reference for examination conduct, DAME2 delegation and medical tests.
What a DAME designation actually is
CASA appoints DAMEs under the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations Part 67 to perform the medical examinations that aviation medical certificate applications require. Your findings feed CASA's certification decision — the designation authorises you to examine and report, not to stand in for CASA.
Designation is CASA's formal recognition that you hold the qualifications needed to examine applicants against the medical standards. The Examiner Handbook explains that the information DAMEs and DAOs provide is used by CASA to decide whether an applicant meets the medical standard or, where the standard is not met, whether the shortfall presents a hazard to the safety of air navigation.
The handbook is incorporated by reference in Part 67 of the CASRs as an authoritative reference for aeromedical policies and procedures, but it guides rather than replaces judgement. CASA states that its decisions are made case by case on the individual applicant's circumstances, so treat the handbook and the Clinical Practice Guidelines as process and factors, not automatic outcomes.
CASA also retains flexibility: under CASR 67.055 and 67.075 it can declare appropriately qualified persons to be taken as DAMEs or DAOs without the usual eligibility requirements, supporting certification in exceptional circumstances where no appointed examiner is available.
Sources checked: CASA Aviation Medicine Examiner Handbook — V6.1, CASA-03-0172, December 2025
Eligibility requirements for DAMEs and DAOs
Under CASR 67.045 you need a post-graduate aviation medicine qualification, training acceptable to CASA, and demonstrated competence in aviation medicine. Ophthalmologists pursuing DAO designation additionally need fellowship of RANZCO or an equivalent.
CASA lists the aviation medicine qualifications it accepts for full DAME or DAO designation. Several are Australian or New Zealand postgraduate awards, while the ASAM DAME training program combined with the CASA Regulatory Aviation Medicine course is also on the accepted list.
Eligibility is an ongoing commitment rather than a one-off check: all DAME applicants must complete aviation medicine CPD to maintain their designation. DAOs must also hold fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists or an equivalent qualification.
- Australian Certificate of Civil Aviation Medicine
- RAAF AVMO Certificate
- PGCertAvMed (Otago University), Diploma of Aviation Medicine, Grad Dip AvMed or Master of AvMed
- ASAM designated aviation medical examiner (DAME) training program plus the CASA Regulatory Aviation Medicine course
Sources checked: Eligibility and training for DAMEs and DAOs | Civil Aviation Safety Authority — casa.gov.au eligibility and training page, last updated 23 July 2025
The CASA Regulatory Aviation Medicine course
The Principal Medical Officer requires some applicants to complete CASA's one-day Regulatory Aviation Medicine course. CASA conducts it when required, and you need to contact CASA about registration.
Three groups are named for the course: medical practitioners whose aviation medicine qualifications come from outside Australia and New Zealand, ophthalmologists who have not undertaken aviation medicine training, and other applicants as determined by the PMO. The PMO also determines who can register, so contact CASA for details rather than self-scheduling.
If you trained entirely within the Australian or New Zealand system with a listed qualification, the course may not apply to you — but the PMO's determination governs, and CASA is the source to confirm with before you apply.
Sources checked: Eligibility and training for DAMEs and DAOs | Civil Aviation Safety Authority — casa.gov.au eligibility and training page, last updated 23 July 2025
CPD rules and how long your designation lasts
Aviation medicine CPD is mandatory for every DAME, and you must provide evidence of it when applying to renew — otherwise your designation may not be renewed. The re-appointment period you earn depends on the activity, running from one to three years.
Designation re-appointment periods vary with the conferences and seminars you complete in the three years before your re-appointment application. Higher-intensity or longer activities earn longer designations, and the PMO may consider other options, such as courses through the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, at their discretion. DAOs renewing must supply a copy of their RANZCO certificate of CPD completion.
| CPD activity | Designation period it can earn |
|---|---|
| Medical Review Officer course, RDAQ course or RFDS STAR program | 1 year |
| One state-based conference, for example AMSVIC or an ASAM regional event | 2 years |
| Two or more state-based education sessions within two years, or one ASAM annual conference, IAASM conference or AsMA conference | 3 years |
| CASA AvMed eLearning (includes CASA update and Class 2 medical certification units; usable once) | 1 year |
Sources checked: Eligibility and training for DAMEs and DAOs | Civil Aviation Safety Authority — casa.gov.au eligibility and training page, last updated 23 July 2025
Conducting the examination: identity, ARN and your duties
Confirm the applicant's identity, check they hold an Aviation Reference Number, and perform the medical examination yourself. Aviation eye examinations are performed by a DAO or Credentialed Optometrist at the intervals the handbook specifies.
The handbook's first examination requirement is identification. As the examiner you certify that the person attending is the person the Medical Records System file belongs to, either because the person is known to you or after viewing photographic documentation. Accepted identifiers include full name, date of birth, gender, address and health record numbers; practice staff must ask the patient to state at least three identifiers rather than reading details out for confirmation, and a Medicare number is explicitly not an approved identifier.
Every applicant needs an Aviation Reference Number before the examination can proceed, because the ARN gives them access to myCASA and the applicant questionnaire. Including the ARN on letters, results and pathology reports helps documents reach the correct MRS file.
Under CASR 67.180, each application — initial or renewal — requires a medical examination performed by a DAME, plus an aviation eye examination by a DAO or Credentialed Optometrist at the handbook's specified intervals. CASA may also require other examinations based on the individual applicant's circumstances.
Worked example
Your receptionist saves time by reading an applicant's name, date of birth and address aloud and asking the applicant to confirm each detail. The applicant also offers their Medicare card as identification. Identify the two problems with this process against the handbook's identification guidance.
Show answer
First, the confirmation direction is wrong: practice staff must ask the patient to state at least three approved identifiers, not read the details out for the patient to confirm. Second, the Medicare number is not an approved patient identifier, because some Australian residents and visitors have no Medicare number and family members can share one. Government-issued photographic documentation, such as a driver licence or passport, can be used to provide identifiers instead.
The handbook draws on the RACGP Standards for General Practice, which list approved identifiers — name, date of birth, gender, address and health record numbers — and expressly exclude Medicare numbers. The standards also require the practice to ask the patient for the information rather than provide it for confirmation. As the DAME you must then certify that you have formally identified the applicant under CASR 67.170, either by knowing the person or by viewing photographic documentation. Errors here undermine the identification statement that accompanies every examination report.
Sources checked: CASA Aviation Medicine Examiner Handbook — V6.1, CASA-03-0172, December 2025
The DAME2 delegation for Class 2 certificates
A 2018 CASA instrument delegates to all DAMEs the power to issue certain Class 2 medical certificates, conditional on requirements set out in the instrument itself. The conditions are detailed in Chapter 12 of the Examiner Handbook.
The delegation is conditional, not blanket. Instrument CASA 26/18 delegates the Class 2 issue power to DAMEs only where the instrument's requirements are met, and the handbook devotes a full chapter to what those delegations allow. Read that chapter against the current instrument text before relying on delegated authority.
Scope discipline matters in practice. The handbook's certificate administration chapter maps which authority — CASA or a DAME — may issue, renew, modify and manage each certificate class, and covers validity periods, extensions, conditional certificates and the reconsideration, review and appeal pathways available to applicants. Confirm there before acting on any case that seems to sit at the edge of your authority.
Sources checked: CASA Aviation Medicine Examiner Handbook — V6.1, CASA-03-0172, December 2025
How to prepare: study the handbook by function
Study the Examiner Handbook by function — legal duties, examination process, certificate administration, medical tests and delegation — and treat the Clinical Practice Guidelines as living clinical text you always check in its current version.
A practical reading order: start with the legal status, powers and duties of examiners, including how the handbook frames safety relevance and aeromedical risk assessment; move to the examination process chapter covering identification, the applicant questionnaire, findings and submission; then study certificate administration, from validity periods and extensions through suspensions, refusals and appeals.
The medical tests chapter is your procedural reference for examination frequency, required reports and report timing, plus Class 1 and 3 additional tests, ATPL requirements over age 60, Class 2 initial and renewal assessments, blood pressure, hearing, visual acuity, colour vision, urine analysis, ECGs and cardiovascular risk assessment. The revision history shows this material is updated regularly, so always work from the current handbook.
The Clinical Practice Guidelines are deliberately separate from the handbook so they can be revised as clinical and aeromedical practice change, and they inform what investigations or specialist reviews may help CASA or a DAME reach a medical decision. Because certification is decided case by case, your preparation goal is fluency in the process and the questions each condition raises — not memorised thresholds.
Sources checked: CASA Aviation Medicine Examiner Handbook — V6.1, CASA-03-0172, December 2025
Adjacent credentialed roles: CO and CAAC
CASA also credentials optometrists for aviation eye examinations and appoints CASA-Approved Aviation Consultants for specialist advice, each with its own training and CPD track.
Credentialed Optometrists are appointed on completing Optometry Australia's CASA-approved initial training course, maintained through unrestricted AHPRA registration, optometry CPD, annual CO-relevant CPD and a refresher course. Their curriculum spans the aviation medicine regulatory framework, aerospace physiology of the visual system, and clinical topics such as visual acuity, visual fields, colour vision, contrast sensitivity and binocular vision.
CAAC appointment is available to medical practitioners with AHPRA specialist registration who complete a CASA-approved aviation medicine course. The required curriculum includes the Australian aviation medicine regulatory framework, aerospace physiology and environment, human performance, and aeromedical risk assessment and decision-making. Graduates of the RAAF Institute of Aviation Medicine Health Specialist Officers course and Fellows or Associate Fellows of the Australasian College of Aerospace Medicine are also eligible. CAACs maintain two hours of relevant CPD per annum and apply through CASA form 755.
Sources checked: CASA Aviation Medicine Examiner Handbook — V6.1, CASA-03-0172, December 2025
Next steps before you apply
Confirm your qualification, contact CASA about the regulatory course, plan your CPD record, and download the current handbook before lodging anything.
Application details and course scheduling are maintained by CASA rather than in study notes, so the practical move is to confirm your own position directly with CASA while assembling the evidence your renewal will eventually need.
- Check your qualification against CASA's accepted aviation medicine list and raise any gap with CASA
- Contact CASA to confirm whether the PMO requires you to complete the Regulatory Aviation Medicine course and how to register
- Set up an aviation medicine CPD plan, because the evidence you gather over three years determines your re-appointment period
- Download the current Examiner Handbook and locate the chapters on examination conduct and, if relevant, DAME2 delegation
Sources checked: Eligibility and training for DAMEs and DAOs | Civil Aviation Safety Authority — casa.gov.au eligibility and training page, last updated 23 July 2025; CASA Aviation Medicine Examiner Handbook — V6.1, CASA-03-0172, December 2025
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