The Civil Aviation Safety Authority will set up a new branch next year that will specialise in regulation and safety for the GA, sport and recreational aviation sectors.
Called the General, Recreational and Sport branch, the new group will be the key contact point between CASA and the sectors, and will also be charged with CASR Part 149 oversight of Approved Self-administering Aviation Organisations (ASAO).
"CASA acknowledges that general aviation has specialist safety requirements and issues that should be matched by a specialist unit within CASA," a CASA spokesperson told Australian Flying yesterday.
"The branch will be staffed by experienced CASA officers with appropriate skills and expertise to match the responsibilities of the new branch."
As well as Part 149 oversight, the new branch will also be responsible for entry control, surveillance and regulatory services for the GA sector.
According to the regulator, the new branch will be more effective will have greater responsibility than the GA Task Force (GATF) set up several years ago, but which failed to produce much effective change.
The new branch is part of a restructure within the regulator that is expected to be announced in the New Year, once details of the new arrangements are known internally.