Executive Manager Stakeholder Engagement Rob Walker is set to take over the Regulatory Oversight Division in a new CASA structure that has also seen Group Executive Manager – Aviation Graeme Crawford leave the regulator after his position was abolished.
Walker has run the Stakeholder Engagement division since March 2016 and has been instrumental in reforming consultation processes and establishing the Aviation Safety Advisory Panel and Technical Working Groups.
The new structure has been put in place by Director of Aviation and CEO Pip Spence in order to flatten the management structure and focus all divisions of CASA on aviation safety.
All executive managers will now report directly to Spence with the Regulatory Oversight Division (ROD), National Operations and Standards, and Group Transformations and Safety Systems joining the CASA executive committee.
In a statement handed to all CASA staff on 5 October, Spence explained the reasoning behind the changes.
"An 'aviation group' with its own executive team implies a split from the rest of the organisation and doesn't properly acknowledge that was are all here to work together in the interest of aviation safety.
"At times, this has impeded organisational efficiency and made it more difficult for our whole executive to achieve alignment on important issues."
Spence acknowledged the work of Crawford pointing our his contribution to regulatory reform and his tenure as Acting Director of Aviation Safety following the retirement of Shane Carmody late last year.
Sources within CASA have said that previous ROD Executive Manager Craig Martin is due to leave the regulator by the end of October.