My take on the wording is that they are using HANS device as a generic term.  My DefNder  has never been queried at the events I've run in - and this includes a full-on scrutineering session for Rally Australia where others were being pinged for labels not being fully sewn on their socks!
 
I would expect that any device that has FIA homologation would be a "suitable neck restraint".

The best way to know for sure, is to ring up and they can tell you, what you can and cant have so you can buy somthing else and not get turned away, aswell as you may inturpret the rules different from them??

I agree with Dennis and Dom (who is Dom by the way? bit of a stranger around these parts).
 
It seems to me that if you are seriously into real competition then you have sold your children to pay for all the proper safety gear and had it fitted, you have done the relevant training or been mentored by someone who knows what they are doing, the car has been scrutineered, plus the events you go in are properly organised and there is medical support readily available.
 
Conversely you have suddenly realised how much real competition costs after burning through a couple of credit cards and having a car (or cars) that you never get the pleasure of driving because they are always in bits, and then decided that maybe being poor and on foot for the rest of your life isn't worth it.
 
Making these sorts of decisions can loosely fit under the overall subject of risk management which is not a complicated process, and I hope the various organisations involved in the "HANS" decision have conducted a full and thorough risk assessment, and this is not just a knee-jerk reaction to some recent fatal events.
 
Safety in motor sport competitions is not something you should pick and choose with, although, as a survivability analogy, when you see people riding motorbikes anywhere with a $400.00 helmet, but wearing shorts, singlet and thongs, you have to wonder if they have really thought about what might happen to them if they did come off.
 
The same goes for cars doing track work, just having a fire extinguisher and wearing long sleeved shirts and long pants plus a helmet, and then in situations as described by Knightrous getting out amongst 40 or so other cars with drivers who have similar competitive intentions seem to me about as useful in helping you to survive a crash as a pocket in a singlet.
 
As Dennis and Dom-who  have said its horses for courses, and just wearing a HANS-type device won't help if the other risk treatments like car crashworthiness, driver training, proper safety briefings, and event supervision are also not in place.
 
My challenge to anyone is how much do they really think about safety before going on track for any reason? Its not just about wearing a HANS device.
 
Walter

I don't think it's a knee-jerk reaction to the recent fatalities, more the result of long term vision and planning on the part of the Motorsport organisers.  It is more than likely that in the very near future Octagon tarmac rallies will move to compulsory HANS-type devices, and also wrap around seats.  As Walter said, it's about risk management.

Crysis adverted, Queensland Raceways have confirmed this is only for Racing events.

Ah thats good news :) hopfuly lakeside will follow suite.. but would also be interested to know what the other devices are other than the HANS...

Here's one alternative that's a little cheaper.
 
http://necksgen.com/necksgenproducts.html

necksgen, hybrid (think simpson make them) are a couple of alternatives.

Good little video /documentary on a bit of the history http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wt3b34BDR8