Charter

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is strongly committed to working with industry to enhance aviation safety and believes that an industry body, consulting directly with the Director of Aviation Safety, will benefit its decision making process.

The Aviation Safety Forum

At the invitation of the Director of Aviation Safety, the Aviation Safety Forum (ASF) will provide strategic advice about the Authority's functions, consistent with the following outcomes:

the provision of up-to-date, simplified regulations aligned with international best practice;
a consistent approach to enforcement and encouragement of industry to accept its safety responsibility;
a safety system approach to surveillance audits, where appropriate;
the interpretation of regulations on a nationally consistent basis;
effective safety promotion activities;
the timely and efficient provision of regulatory services;
the appointment of staff with strong industry backgrounds and trained for regulatory and service delivery roles;
the pro-active management of information.

The ASF will also provide advice to CASA about the following issues:

cultural change within the organisation;
the process of making CASA's cost structure more transparent to the industry, including an integrated formal consultation process in the organisation's annual budget cycle;
the development of the public Regulatory Reform Plan; and
the broad policy implications of the regulatory changes developed by the Standards Consultative Committee.

Membership

The Director of Aviation Safety will appoint Members for terms of two to three years who:

as individuals are representative of industry;
are able to work in a two-way partnership with CASA; and
support the organisational and regulatory reforms of CASA.

The Director of Aviation Safety, The Australian Defence Force (RAAF representative) and a representative of Airservices Australia will be members of the Forum. A representative of the Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTRS) will attend meetings as an observer.

CASA will provide the Secretariat and venues for the Forum.

Reporting Arrangements

Meetings will take place quarterly in Canberra, or more frequently if requested by the CASA Director of Aviation Safety.

The Chairman of the ASF will report to the CASA Director of Aviation Safety following each meeting.

The CASA Director of Aviation Safety will inform the Minister of the outcomes of the meetings and proposed action on significant issues that may emerge.

Industry's Role

While the regulator makes the decisions and must be accountable for them, CASA recognises the benefit of industry input.

The Aviation Safety Forum and the Standards Consultative Committee will form an integrated consultative mechanism. The industry members of the Standards Consultative Committee will assist CASA officials in developing proposals for regulatory change. The ASF will be able to provide the Director of Aviation Safety with advice on the broad policy implications of the proposals. In this way, industry will be able to participate at every level of the standards development and review process.

Civil Aviation Safety Authority
February 2000