CASA Director of Aviation Safety John McCormick has gone in front of a video camera to explain regulatory reform to the industry.
In the video, available on You Tube here, McCormick details the concepts behind the changes and reasons for the slow rate of reform. The process began in 1988.
The transition from Civil Aviation Regulations (CARs) to Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASRs) is being driven by the need for the rules to reflect reality and align Australia with ICAO standards.
"Our system at the moment, we've relied heavily on exemptions and permissions," McCormick says in the video. "There's in excess of 1700 of those documents out there, and that becomes a case of almost ruling by exemption."
According to McCormick, that system can make the original rule "a nonsense."
Other issues effecting the reform process that are detailed in the video include:
- The need for industry to be involved, including the traveling public
- Regulations need to be no more onerous than they are in other countries that CASA benchmarks itself against
- Maintenance regulations will take three to four years to roll out
- Part 141 is designed to demystify training regulations, particularly for small or one-person training operations
- Training and education are the cornerstones of what CASA does.
CASA has come under fire the for slow pace of reform over the past 25 years, and the video comes only a week after a Senate committee recommended an inquiry into CASA's handling of the process.