Action by the Sport Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA) and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has forced CASA to review the requirements for Class 2 medicals.
After a meeting with both associations in Canberra on 5 October, CASA has committed to producing a discussion paper by the end of the year with a view to implementing reforms in the first quarter of 2017.
"The safety regulator has confirmed to AOPA and SAAA that it will move to public consultation for Class 2 reform before the close of the year, with a view towards regulatory introduction by March of 2017," said AOPA CEO Ben Morgan.
"Mr Rob Walker, Industry Stakeholder Group Manager CASA, went on the record to state that the AOPA and SAAA call for reform had been clearly heard from within the regulator and that CASA was now working to see Class 2 reform delivered as soon as possible."
The SAAA forced CASA's hand in July this year when it requested the regulator grant self-certification rights to members who flew with the same restrictions as those applied to Recreational Aviation Australia (RAAus) pilots, who currently have those rights. To not grant the request has been described as a clear-cut case of discrimination.
AOPA added pressure in August when they released a new Class 2 medical policy that called for less stringent medical standards for all VFR pilots, not only those operating under similar circumstances to RAAus. The SAAA has since supported the AOPA policy in principle.
Both groups have presented CASA with data from RAAus, which is believed to show that pilots operating without Class 2 medicals pose no safety risk at all.
Reports coming from the 5 October meeting are positive, but both associations are concerned that CASA will try to drag out the reform process.
"Now that the regulator has committed to moving forward with public consultation, the challenge will be to keep CASA on track and to ensure that the Class 2 reform is not turned into an unusable or ineffective regulation," said Morgan.
"Very shortly the Australian aviation industry will have the opportunity to respond directly on Class 2 reform, both the AOPA and SAAA will be working hard to encourage the industry to do so en masse and will make available resources to help individuals do so in the coming weeks."
The SAAA has said they will encourage all pilots to contribute to the industry response once the discussion paper has been released.