Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave:

Progress with implementing the Australian Government ' s Response to the Aviation Safety Regulation Review Report

December 2015

In December last year I tabled the government's response to the independent review of Australia's aviation safety regulatory system in parliament. The government commissioned the Aviation Safety Regulation Review to examine our aviation safety regulatory system. The review was conducted by an independent panel of international aviation experts led by Mr David Forsyth, formerly a senior manager with Qantas and Chair of Airservices Australia.

The review report acknowledged Australia's excellent aviation safety record but found that there were opportunities for improvements to ensure Australia remains a leading aviation state. The report also made 37 recommendations, many relating to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), while others had implications for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), Airservices Australia (Airservices), my department and also the Department of Defence.

Australia has worked hard to develop one of the most respected aviation safety systems globally. However, given the speed with which the international and domestic aviation industry is changing, we need to look for continuous improvement in our aviation safety regulatory system to reflect the growing diversity of our aviation industry. The Australian government agreed to 32 of the report's recommendations and agreed to undertake further examination of four others. The recommendations cover a number of key areas including CASA's regulatory philosophy, processes and relationship with industry, and a future regulatory framework and reform program. Enhancements to governance arrangements, improvements to interactions between key agencies and a stronger policy role for my department were also recommended and agreed to by the government.

Earlier this year I issued Australia's three key aviation agencies—CASA, Airservices and the ATSB—with new statements of expectations. These statements outline in a clear and public way the government's expectations of these agencies, including the timely implementation of the government's response to the review report. I can advise the House that implementation of the government's response is well underway.

CASA and ATSB Governance

The government supported the ASRR report's recommendations regarding board members possessing a range of appropriate skills and backgrounds, to strengthen CASA's vital role as Australia's independent aviation safety regulator. Accordingly, the government has appointed a completely new CASA board. Mr Jeff Boyd has been appointed as the new Chairman, and new members Mr Ian Smith, Ms Anita Taylor, Mr Murray Warfield and Ms Philippa Stone bring a diversity of valuable knowledge, including experience gained in different parts of the Australian aviation industry. These appointments bring pertinent technical, operational and managerial experience to help the board play a more active role in setting and steering CASA's strategic direction. The government also welcomed the appointment of Air Vice Marshal (Retired) Mark Skidmore AM who commenced as director of aviation safety on 1 January 2015.

The report also recommended the appointment of an additional ATSB commissioner, with aviation experience. Mr Chris Manning, who commenced as commissioner in March 2015, has extensive aviation operational and safety management experience, particularly in his former positions as Qantas chief pilot and group general manager of flight operations. In its role as the aviation safety regulator, it is essential that CASA has effective and ongoing engagement and communication with the industry both at a strategic and working level.

The Aviation Safety Regulation Review recommended the creation of an 'effective collaborative relationship [between CASA and the industry] based on a foundation of mutual understanding and respect.' To assist with such a relationship, CASA has recently released its statement of regulatory philosophy, which sets out the principles that will guide and direct CASA's approach to the performance of its regulatory functions and exercise of its regulatory powers. It is expected that CASA's review of its capability framework and amendments to its enforcement manual to reflect this new regulatory philosophy and use of discretion procedure will also be finalised before the end of the financial year.

Whilst it is expected that most of the updated CASA documentation required to implement the government's response will be completed this financial year, the real test of the effectiveness of implementation will be the adoption of these approaches by CASA staff over the coming months and years. The CASA board has confirmed the adoption of the three-tier approach to the regulatory framework, and there has been significant progress with the outstanding parts of the regulatory reform program supported by industry

While the government is keen to see the completion of the drafting of the remaining parts of the program as soon as possible, the government recognises that the finalisation of the regulations is subject to ongoing consultation between CASA and industry. Therefore, the timing of the completion and implementation of specific regulatory changes will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Industry must also play its part by working cooperatively and constructively with government agencies to take forward regulatory reform. I welcome the initiative by CASA's Director of Aviation Safety, Mark Skidmore, to encourage industry to identify specific areas where current regulatory practices and procedures could be improved or replaced. In this regard, CASA has recently established a special task force that will work with an industry advisory panel made up of people representing a wide range of sectors across the aviation community to address outstanding issues with the flight crew licensing suite of regulations.

CASA has also reviewed and updated the terms of reference and reporting arrangements for its Industry Complaints Commissioner, including reporting arrangements to improve its independence and effectiveness.

Policy and coordination role of the department

The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development chairs the Aviation Policy Group (APG) and is leading work between agencies to ensure coordinated action on a number of key aviation safety policy issues, including the State Safety Program (SSP).My department will be releasing this week a draft revised State Safety Program for industry and public consultation.In addition, my department, in close consultation with other aviation agencies, will be releasing policy papers before the end of the year for public and industry comment. These papers will be on:

Conclusion

The Australian government is committed to ensuring that Australia continues to have one of the most respected aviation safety systems in the world. Whilst significant progress has been made in developing policies, procedures and systems to support aviation safety regulatory reform, it will take time for these to be implemented and it will take time for a change in the culture within the regulator and in the aviation industry more broadly to take effect.

The success of such reform will also depend on the active engagement and contribution of the aviation industry. I encourage industry to play a constructive role in the change process. The government will continue to work with our aviation agencies and industry to achieve continuous improvement in our aviation safety system. I present a copy of the statement to the House.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure for his update to the House on the government's response to the Aviation safety regulatory review report. The last ministerial statement on aviation safety was, of course, a year ago tomorrow. At that stage, the Deputy Prime Minister outlined the government's response to the regulatory review, led by David Forsythe, and the 37 recommendations that they made. At the time of the initial announcement of the review in November 2013, the release of the review report in June 2014 and the last parliamentary statement in December last year, I acknowledged that aviation safety should be subject to continuous review.

Aviation safety is not an issue of partisan debate in this parliament and nor should it be. I have taken the same constructive relationship to these issues that the now minister took when he was the shadow minister as well. We all have an interest in aviation safety—from an economic point of view because of the importance of aviation to our national economy and, primarily, because we are concerned about the safety of all those who fly, work and travel in aviation. It is a source of great national pride that Australia's aviation safety record is second to none anywhere in the world, and we need to make sure that that continues to be the case in the future.

Last December, Labor welcomed new CASA board appointments and, in particular, the appointment of former Air Vice Marshal Mark Skidmore as the Director of Aviation Safety. I took the opportunity then to express my view that CASA, as regulator, should be firm but fair, that tension was better than harmony for its own sake. This was in response to a focus in the Forsythe report that sought to foster closer relations between the regulator and the regulated. I said then, and reconfirm now, that we should never sacrifice rigour for harmony. I also referred to my concern that the quest for $12 million in savings to the aviation industry from the removal of so-called red tape should not sacrifice the core mission of our aviation regulators. These issues remain of concern to me.

The opposition welcomes the government's update to the parliament. I note that there is a full new board for CASA, although three of the four appointments were announced in last year's statement. The new chairman, Jeff Boyd, took over from Dr Alan Hawke in May, having served as vice-chairman. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to Dr Hawke for the work that he did, not just in this position; I think his record of public service is quite extraordinary and almost without peer if you look at the decades in which he has served governments and his nation. I pay tribute to him.

I also note the appointment of Chris Manning as an additional ATSB commissioner in March. In September CASA's new leadership outlined the 10 points of its regulatory philosophy. I acknowledge Mark Skidmore's organisational leadership in setting clear expectations around its regulatory approach and how it will interact with the aviation community. I think being so clear about the philosophy moving forward allows people in the industry to have an element of certainty as to how CASA will respond to certain situations, and that can only be a good thing. The aviation sector, particularly the smaller sector of general aviation, is under real pressure. Improving outcomes for them, with the success of what can be, in many cases, very small business operations, is critical, and it is obviously harder for smaller operators to deal with regulation than it is for larger companies such as Qantas and Virgin Australia. Inviting the industry to point out existing issues in regulation that could be addressed should not supplant the fundamental responsibility of CASA to drive continuous improvement in aviation safety.

There is one matter on which the opposition has had to take a view in the past year, although not at our instigation. A disallowance motion in the Senate relating to responsibility for maintenance operations on aircraft was moved. Though the opposition favoured the precautionary approach then, I do want to indicate that I respect the assistance that Mr Skidmore and his team provided to the parliament at that time. It is difficult for non-expert politicians to weigh highly technical aviation regulatory matters—they are the subject of some disagreement from time to time—although we must.

While there are no specific announcements in this statement, the update is indeed welcome. Events overseas in the past year remind us that safety can never be taken for granted and that, in our dynamic world, the quest for aviation safety is never accomplished.

Debate adjourned.