The Australian Federal government has identified Aviation as an industry of national strategic importance, and while Australia already has an outstanding aviation safety record, the Government consulted with industry and released a National Aviation Policy Green Paper in December 2008. This paper which was based on the consultative process was followed up by the National Aviation Policy White Paper in December 2009. It is the White Paper that identifies a set of key industry goals as well as providing a range of initiatives and policies that focus on achieving those goals.
The White Paper recognizes that “Safety is the Australian Government’s first priority in aviation” and follows this by declaring that “our system of safety regulation must be robust, efficient and effective”. By following this principle, the Australian government, through this White Paper, has strengthened the role of CASA and has also proposed a number of initiatives and commitments that cover:
- International aviation
- Domestic and regional aviation
- General aviation
- Industry skills and productivity
- Consumer protection
- Aviation safety regulation and investigation
- Air traffic management
- Aviation security
- Airport planning and development
- Economic regulation of airports
- Other airport infrastructure
- Future aviation needs to the Sydney region
- Reducing global carbon emissions
- Minimising the impact of aircraft noise
While the above initiatives cover the full spectrum of the aviation industry, special mention should be made on the Demerit point scheme and how this and related schemes can be used to manage and control risk from a safety point of view.
In essence, the Demerit points scheme is a system that was established under Division 3D of Part III of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 and “provides a staged approach for dealing with a holder who has multiple, or repeated, breaches of strict liability, regulatory offences”. In terms of penalties “demerit points are incurred for such breaches on payment of a fine under an infringement notice or on a conviction or finding of guilty by a court. After a predetermined number of points have been accumulated within a specified period of time, all the holder’s authorisations, of that particular class, must be suspended or cancelled” .
It should be noted that the Demerit points scheme affects people in the aviation industry that hold a license, certificate or any authorisation granted by CASA. As part of the scheme, CASA is required to suspend all civil aviation authorisations (CAAs) held by a person within a particular class once they incurred a loss of 12 or more demerit points in that class over a three year period. The length of suspension is based on a sliding scale and the actual suspended time is calculated according to how many demerit points the holder has incurred over a period of time.
However, the Civil Aviation Act 1988, No. 63 as amended and in force on 10th March 2016 does specify in the event a CAA has been suspended due to loss of demerit points, CASA may reinstate the CAA, if, and only if “CASA is satisfied that the suspension or cancellation would cause the holder severe financial hardship because, without the authorisation, the holder would not be able to earn the holder’s principal or only income”. In this circumstance, CASA may reinstate the authorisation and impose on the authorisation such conditions as CASA considers appropriate in the circumstances.
In addition to the Demerit point scheme, CASA also enforces Aviation Infringement Notices (AINs) and these consist of administrative fines and are issued in relation to all offences under the Regulations. CASA has identified that a consistent approach between the Demerit point system and AINs should be in place and therefore, AINs should only be issued and enforced when there is a breach of strict liability offence.
Unlike the Demerit point scheme where the amount of points lost are determined by a table and sliding scale formula, the financial liability, or fine, that is associated with an AIN is dependent on the gravity of the offence and is determined by the maximum penalty that a court may impose. Should a person dispute or refuse to pay the fine, then they can choose to have the matter heard in court and CASA is then obligated to refer the matter to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP).
Both the Demerit point scheme and the AINs rely on a culture of self-reporting and this process is documented under the Aviation Self Reporting Scheme (ASRS) which commenced in 2004. Although the ASRS pre-dates the Demerit and AIN initiatives, This scheme is still current and the use of this scheme for these initiatives allows for a broader catchment of potential issues and risks by allowing trained and qualified workers within the industry to confidentially report potential incidents that they may see or encounter during the course of their professional duties. The outcome of the ASRS will provide CASA with information and reports which may lead to the enforcement of the already mentioned Demerit point scheme and AIN initiative.
As already outlined, both the Demerit point scheme and the AIN relates to people that hold a CAA. Additionally, the CASA Surveillance Manual (CSM) also sets out the policies and processes that are to be followed when conducting surveillance and assessing the risk of people that do not hold an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) and/or are organisations that are related to Recreational Aviation Administration. This includes representatives from the Australian Ballooning Federation the Australian Parachute Federation, Gliding Federation of Australia etc.
The issuance of the CSM stemmed from an Air Traffic Safety Bureau (ATSB) recommendation – R20070004, issued on 4th April 2007, that identified, at that time, that “CASA did not have a systematic process for determining the relative risk levels of airline operators”. Although this Recommendation pre-dates the Aviation White Paper, the subsequent responses and restructuring from CASA throughout the following years has resulted in this Recommendation being partially actioned and updated at various times with the final update occurring in 2013 with CASA announcing a restructure and alignment of resources that now include a dedicated Safety Analysis and Education Division combined with the establishment of a Safety Oversight Branch within that division.
Recognising this restructuring, the ATSB in response stated “this work will deliver a systemic process for the management of safety performance at a national level”. The ATSB added “itwill generate processes for more effectively capturing, assessing and managing the relative risk levels of Australian civil aviation permission holders through the strategic application of CASA resources in line with those aviation safety risk levels.
While strictly not related to the enforcing of safety measures as such, the CSM does allow CASA and all aviation employees to apply a standard and defined “risk management approach to planning, conducting, monitoring and reporting surveillance across the Australian aviation system”. It is through this risk management approach that workers within the Aviation sector may identify and therefore report information or potential issues that may result in the enforcing of Government policy and safety initiatives on people that do not hold an AOC and/or are organisations that are related to Recreational Aviation Administration.
Concluding, although the Aviation White Paper was tabled in 2009, both the Australian Federal government and CASA have initiated and implemented a number of policies and initiatives that have been designed to assist and enhance the enforcement of existing and new measures – such as the use of the Aviation Self Reporting Scheme in gathering information and enforcing the offences from that information with the Demerit point scheme and the Aviation Infringement Notices.
In turn, and by recognising the potential difficulty in regulating the industry due to the number of carriers and entities involved, through the White Paper, the Australian Federal Government strengthened CASA’s regulatory powers by allowing the regulatory body to inspect and regulate foreign carriers who are operating in Australia’s airspace. This, combined with the ongoing restructuring of CASA along with the establishment of new divisions has been greeted with enthusiasm from the ATSB and these measures have strengthened CASA’s ability to take enforcement action against internal and foreign operators as well as those people who do not hold AOCs. The combination of these initiatives and policies ensures that Australian safety standards are being met by all carriers and all personnel that work and fly within Australian airspace.
