The Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport (RRAT) Legislative Committee last week published their interim report on the senate inquiry into Australia's general aviation industry.
The 150-page report covers the findings of the committee drawn from industry submissions and public hearings since the inquiry was announced in 2019, as well as previous inquiries such as the Aviation Safety Regulation Review of 2014 and the General Aviation Advisory Network (GAAN) strategy paper published last year.
Signed by committee chair Senator Susan McDonald, the interim report contains 12 recommendations.
- CASA review cost recovery and consider caps for people and companies in financial hardship
- CASA consider a range of improvements to regulation including simplification of CASR Part 61 and combining Parts 141 and 142.
- CASA streamline licensing requirements to avoid duplication and the need for multiple licences
- The government amend the Civil Aviation Act 1988 to include the obligation to support and develop aviation
- CASA audit the regulatory framework to align with FAA and NZCAA
- CASA explore opportunites for mutual international recognition of licences and maintenance qualifications
- the minister conduct a review into the culture at CASA by 31 December 2022
- a new Industry Complaints Commission (ICC) be estabished outside and independent of CASA
- the government instigate a holistic review of aviation training pathways
- the government ensure measure to promote aviation careers include general aviation
- the government establish a regional airport infrastructure fund
- the government ensure GA representatives are included in modernising the Airports Act 1996.
"GA ... contributes to the connectivity and sustainability of Australian life, especially in regional and remote areas," the report states in its Background section.
"It delivers education and health services, provides regional freight and transport, community safety, tourism, recreation, executive and specialist mobility for primary and secondary industries, while playing a major role in firefighting and search and rescue activities.
"GA is also an important element of flying training, with many flight crews progressing from flight training institutions to GA before working for airlines."
The interim report presents findings in six chapters covering:
- overview and background
- GA safety and relative risks
- issues with the legislation and regulation
- CASA culture including the ICC
- education, training and skills
- airport management.
After many submissions and witnesses focused on the high cost of regulatory compliance, the RRAT committee homed in on CASA's cost recovery program, recommending a review of the regulator's charging regime.
"The cost of aviation safety is high, but the committee recognises that the economic burden is becoming too much for many individuals and businesses involved in the GA industry," the RRAT committee believes.
"Many of the costs are not under the control of CASA but, for those that are, consideration should be given to capping the amount that CASA charges for their services for those undergoing financial hardship.
"Whether this occurs on a case-by-case basis or as a maximum amount per financial year for an individual or organisation would need to be determined. Nonetheless, the committee recommends that this area of expenditure needs to be reviewed by CASA."
The committee reached a similar conclusion about the culture within CASA and how it related to stakeholders, recommending a review targetting how CASA did business and the level of industry expertise it retained.
"Over many years, GA industry stakeholders have identified, commented on and suggested solutions to some of the systemic and structural problems that continue to plague CASA," the report states.
"These have included the organisation’s inefficiencies, the slow pace of regulatory reform, the lack of consistency in the interpretation of regulations, and the difficult relationships which exist between CASA and the GA industry.
"The committee is of the view that CASA’s lack of consistency and poor interpretation of legislative policies and frameworks is, at least in part, due to a lack of adequate resourcing and an inadequate level of priority placed on the retention of staff and of corporate knowledge within the organisation.
"It is also clear that despite the positive views put forward about individual CASA staff, the culture at the organisation as a whole needs to be addressed.
"As noted by Professional Australia, a full, independent and systemic review of CASA’s organisational culture is needed."
The inquiry committee also addressed weaknesses in the training system for both pilots and maintenance engineers, noting the problems caused by duplication and poor outcomes, noting in the process the work done by the GAAN strategy paper in identifying potential solutions.
"It is critically important that consistent and streamlined training pathways are in place," the report states. "The committee is concerned by reports of students having to undertake multiple examinations for different institutions and authorities—an indicator that the education system is not appropriately aligned between training and regulatory bodies.
"The committee agrees with the recommendation made by GAAN that a holistic training review is needed to remedy and revitalise the GA sector, in order to strengthen the aviation ecosystem as a whole."
The senate inquiry is still taking submissions from the public, although at the time of writing there are no public hearings scheduled before the final report is due on 22 October 2022.
The full interim report is on the RRAT senate inquiry homepage.