A summary of the steps in writing a CASR Part
The Standards Development and Rule Making manual describes the steps required to write new legislation such as a CASR Part. This page is intended to give a brief summary of that process.
Initiation and planning
CASA has a business management forum to coordinate regulatory development. The Regulatory Development Coordination Panel (RDCP) considers strategic policy and operational issues that may affect regulatory development. The RDCP considers all proposed regulatory development/legislative change proposals, their priorities and the impact on resources, and will make recommendations to the responsible CASA managers.
The first step in the regulatory development process is appointment of a project sponsor from within CASA and then to set up a project team. The project team writes the initial terms of reference and a project plan.
Regulatory development (informal consultation)
In this stage, the project team conducts research, talks to the aviation community, and tries to ensure all interested parties are involved in the process. This may involve aviation community meetings, distribution of information on the CASA website, advertisements in the aviation press, and structured consultation through representative bodies such as the Standards Consultative Committee (SCC) and Aviation Safety Forum (ASF).
During this stage, we might publish a Discussion Paper (DP) to put forward ideas and possible options for industry to consider and provide input.
Formal consultation
The Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) is the formal vehicle for seeking aviation community input to the legislative drafting process. Hopefully, by this stage, the aviation community has been extensively involved in the process and is substantially satisfied with the policy.
The NPRM is usually open for comment up to 8 weeks. Internally we start looking at necessary changes to CASA's systems and the education and training needs of both the aviation community and CASA staff. During this time CASA actively seeks aviation community input through seminars, advertisements and information on the CASA website.
Legal drafting
The legislative drafting instructions produced out of the consultation process go to the Attorney-General's Department. They are responsible for ensuring the legislation meets the Government's standards for Australian legislation but they are also mindful of CASA's requirement for 'Safety through Clarity'.
Once all the comments to the NPRM have been evaluated, we prepare and document them in a Notice of Final Rule Making (NFRM) — incorporating a Summary of Responses (SOR) — and, based on those comments, prepare the final legislation and advisory material.
If required, a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) documents the impact of the proposed changes on the aviation community.
Regulatory best practice
As with all Commonwealth Government agencies, CASA is required to apply 'regulatory best practice' to the development of all new or amended legislation. This means that CASA must follow the 'Best Practice Regulation Handbook' published by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR), which is part of the Productivity Commission.
This document requires CASA to undertake a structured analytical process to ensure that regulations are effective in achieving policy objectives. This process is built into CASA's rulemaking procedures
CASA is required to discuss all regulatory amendments with the ORBP who examine the proposal and determine whether a RIS is mandatory or not.
Not all regulatory amendments require RISs. For example, RISs are NOT prepared when the rule change:
- implements an obligation of Australia under the Chicago Convention — a majority of legislative changes are in this category as CASA continually seeks to harmonise Australian requirements with ICAO's Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs);
- does not have a direct or substantial effect on business and is not likely to restrict competition;
- is minor or legislative machinery in nature or does not substantially alter existing arrangements;
- is required in the interest of national security; or
- is an Airworthiness Directive (AD).
If a RIS is required, the OBPR advises CASA as to whether the RIS prepared is adequate and meets the Government's requirements.
Legislative approval
The legislation in its final form is cleared by the Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS) and EXCO (Executive Council) secretariat.
The legislative package is approved by CASA's Executive and sent to DOTARS for the Minister's approval, thence to EXCO before going before Parliament. If a Regulation Impact Statement was required by the Office of Regulation Review, it is also included in the legislation package for scrutiny in Parliament.
The Notice of Final Rule Making is published at this stage.
Once the regulation is passed, CASA staff and industry are notified.
Implementation
CASA sets up the procedures, authorisations, delegations, fees and whatever other internal systems and changes are needed to be ready for the new regulations.
Training and education programs for industry and CASA staff are run so that everyone understands the requirements of the new regulations.
There may be a transition period to allow industry to move to the new regulations or they may commence in full from day one. CASA staff will continue to educate and support industry to ensure maximum compliance with the new regulations.
Project closeout and review
The whole process from initial planning to implementation is reviewed to see how it can be improved.