The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communication and the Arts this week released a draft of the 2025 Australian Airspace Policy Statement (AAPS) for public comment.
The AAPS is a legislative instrument made by the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King that outlines the Federal Government’s strategic airspace policy objectives and priorities and provides guidance on the administration of Australian airspace.
"As part of the Australian Government's Aviation White Paper, the government has committed to reforming the administration and management of Australia's airspace by 2030 through a 4-stage process," a departmental statement reads.
"These new arrangements will facilitate the increased use of drones and other new aviation technologies without compromising air safety. Under the second stage of reforms, the government has committed to producing a new AAPS to replace the current statement that came into effect in 2021."
The draft document contains directions on airspace classification, use and change procedures, but also outlines the current government's airspace policy objectives, which are:
- safety
- Australian Future Airspace Framework
- regulatory certainty for new aviation technologies
- enabling flight testing
- airspace review
- international consistency
- regional aerodromes
- future-focused collaboration to support national security.
The policy objectives direct CASA to develop Australia's Future Airspace Framework (AFAF), which is a long-term strategic plan for the country's airspace. The AFAF strategy includes:
- collaboration with industry to establish stakeholder needs
- ensuring the AFAF is based on evidence and risk analysis to determine airspace needs
- supporting the requirements of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and uncrewed traffic management (UTM) technology
- ensuring airspace classification results in the safest and most efficient outcomes
- justifying any deviation from International Civil Aviation Organisations Standards and Recommended Procedures (ICAO SARPs)
- ensuring that the AFAF and supporting material is maintained and available to airspace change proponents.
The department published the draft AAPS on 25 November and is keeping it open for comments until 20 December. Feedback will be collected through the Department of Infrastructure website or via e-mail to airspacepolicy@infrastructure.gov.au.