Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss has appointed a three-person panel to review aviation safety regulation in Australia.
In a speech made to parliament today, Truss, in his capacity as Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, appointed Safeskies Chairman David Forsyth to head a review panel that also includes Don Spruston from Canada and Roger Whitefield from the UK.
The principal objectives of the review are to investigate:
- the structures, effectiveness and processes of all agencies involved in aviation safety
- the relationship and interaction of those agencies with each other, as well as with the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development (Infrastructure)
- the outcomes and direction of the regulatory reform process being undertaken by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA)
- the suitability of Australia's aviation safety related regulations when benchmarked against comparable overseas jurisdictions
- any other safety related matters.
"Any regulatory system must evolve to keep pace with the industry it regulates," he told the House of Representatives. "Given the speed with which the aviation industry evolves, the need for continued improvement in the aviation safety regulatory system is even more critical that in many other sectors.
"So now is the right time to reflect and take stock of how our safety regulatory system is placed to deal with this economically important industry. The coalition goverment is determined to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to make our safety system even better."
To make sure the GA sector gets a strong voice, the minister has appointed AOPA President Phillip Reiss as a specialist advisor to "ensure the concerns of general aviation and regional operators are well aired."
Member of the aviation industry and the general community will be able to send submissions to the review panel through the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development website.