Background to CASA
Legislative framework
CASA was established on 6 July 1995 as an independent statutory authority by an amendment to the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act).
Under Section 9 of the Act, CASA’s primary function is to regulate the safety of civil air operations in Australia and the operation of Australian aircraft overseas. CASA’s other functions include providing comprehensive safety education and training programmes, working with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, and administering certain features of the Civil Aviation (Carriers’ Liability) Act 1959, in particular ensuring that operators hold insurance that complies with that Act.
The Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 and the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998, made under the authority of the Civil Aviation Act, provide for general regulatory controls for the safety of air navigation. The Act and 1988 Regulations empower CASA to issue Civil Aviation Orders on detailed regulatory matters. The 1998 Safety Regulations empower CASA to issue manuals of standards providing detailed technical information that support the Regulations.
CASA is progressively combining and updating the requirements currently set out in the Civil Aviation Regulations and Civil Aviation Orders into new Civil Aviation Safety Regulations under its regulatory reform programme.
Section 9A of the Civil Aviation Act requires CASA to regard the safety of air navigation as the most important consideration in the exercise of its powers and the performance of its functions.
The Airspace Act 2007 and Airspace (Consequentials and Other Measures)
Act 2007 will give CASA the power to regulate and administer Australia’s airspace from 1 July 2007. This is a new authority and responsibility for CASA.
The Airspace Regulations 2007 were developed to enable CASA to perform the functions and exercise the powers needed to administer and regulate Australian-administered airspace in accordance with the Airspace Act. The new Airspace Regulations include provisions for classifying and designating airspace to determine the level of air traffic service that can be provided in individual volumes of airspace, and to restrict access to particular volumes as necessary. They also include details about the timing of reviews of decisions made by the airspace regulator, and how such reviews are to be conducted.
The following legislation also affects CASA’s exercise of powers and performance of functions:
- Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975
- Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977
- Air Navigation Act 1920
- Air Navigation Regulations 1947
- Air Services Act 1995
- Air Services Regulations 1995
- Airports Act 1996
- Auditor-General Act 1997
- Aviation Transport Security Act 2004
- Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005
- Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997
- Criminal Code Act 1976
- Freedom of Information Act 1982
- Legislative Instruments Act 2003
- Ombudsman Act 1976
- Privacy Act 1988
- Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003