CASA Industry Complaints Commissioner (ICC)

If you have a complaint about the behaviour of a CASA staff member or an industry delegate or authorised person, which you are unable to resolve directly with that individual (or their manager) in the first instance, you may lodge a formal complaint with the Industry Complaints Commissioner (ICC).

Consistent with best practice principles and good governance in the management of complaints by and within government organisations, the ICC is dedicated to ensuring legitimate complaints about CASA officers, industry delegates and authorised persons are objectively considered, effectively addressed and fairly resolved in a timely fashion. The ICC operates independently of CASA’s technical and operational line management, under the guidance and, where necessary, the direction of CASA’s Ethics and Conduct Committee.

Terms of Reference for the ICC

Terms of Reference for the Ethics and Conduct Committee

The ICC’s functions may complement, but they do not replace or supersede those of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, the Administrative Review Tribunal or the Federal Court, which have been established to provide fully independent mechanisms by which certain actions and decisions of government agencies and authorities can be reviewed, challenged and, where appropriate, modified or set aside entirely.

What the Industry Complaints Commissioner does

The primary role of the ICC is to provide members of the industry, the wider aviation community and the public with an easy, accessible and effective way to:

make a complaint about the behaviour of CASA personnel, industry delegates and authorised persons;
ensure that meaningful and appropriate action in response to a complaint is initiated expeditiously and followed through to a fair resolution within a reasonable time; and
receive information about the progress and disposition of a complaint.

The ICC also receives, and refers to the most appropriate persons and areas in CASA, information about possible threats to aviation safety and apparent contraventions of the civil aviation legislation. If you want to make a confidential report of this kind, you can do so by using CASA’s confidential Hotline (see below).

Matters with which the Industry Complaints Commissioner does not deal

The ICC has a broad mandate to receive and respond to any complaint of the kind mentioned above. However, there are limits on the kinds of matters the ICC may properly consider. Issues with which the ICC may not deal include:

actions or decisions of a CASA officer or delegate taken in the exercise of their powers under the Civil Aviation Act, the Civil Aviation Regulations or the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations;
Unresolved disputes concerning actions or decisions by CASA under the Act or the regulations are properly reviewable in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) or the Federal Court, under the Administrative Appeals Act or the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act.
any matter that is already under review in the AAT or in the Federal, State or Territorial courts;
any matter that has been formally referred to the Commonwealth Ombudsman (unless the Ombudsman recommends that the matter be referred to the ICC or some other person in CASA);
any matter that has already been dealt with by the AAT, a court or the Commonwealth Ombudsman;
any matter that is, or ought more properly be, the subject of an investigation by or under the authority of another CASA manager;
any matter that is currently the subject of an investigation under Part IIIA of the Civil Aviation Act, or which the ICC knows or determines is the subject of an investigation by another government agency or law enforcement authority;
CASA Investigators are empowered under Part IIIA of the Civil Aviation Act to investigate suspected or alleged offences under the civil aviation legislation.
in most cases, any matter the ICC is satisfied the complainant became aware of more than 12 months before the complaint was first raised with the ICC;
complaints about CASA’s regulatory, operational or corporate policies and practices generally (as opposed to complaints about the particular conduct or actions of individual officers, managers, delegates or authorised persons);
General complaints about CASA’s policies and practices should be raised with the relevant Executive Managers or with the Office of the Director of Aviation Safety. The ICC is concerned complaints about the behaviour of specific individuals in a particular instance or particular instances.
complaints concerning the conduct of the Director of Aviation Safety, the Deputy Director or a senior executive manager in the Office of the Director of Aviation Safety, a member of the Ethics and Conduct Committee (in his or her capacity as a member of that Committee) or a member of the CASA Board;
Complaints concerning the conduct of the Director of Aviation Safety should be directed to the CASA Board. Complaints concerning the conduct of the Deputy Director of Aviation Safety or a manager in the Office of the Director of Aviation Safety should be directed to Director or to the CASA Board. Complaints concerning the conduct of a member of the Ethics and Conduct Committee (in that person’s capacity as a member of that Committee) should be directed to the Director of Aviation Safety. Complaints concerning the conduct of a member of the Board should be directed to the Minister.
any matter in respect of which the ICC is satisfied the complainant does not have a legitimate or sufficient interest; and
complaints that are frivolous or vexatious, or which the ICC is satisfied have not been made in good faith.

How the Industry Complaints Commissioner works

Subject to the limitations mentioned above, the ICC is available to any person, other than a CASA employee, who has a genuine complaint about the behaviour of a CASA employee which they have been unable to resolve with that employee or that employee’s manager.

How to lodge a complaint

Complaints should be lodged with the ICC, preferably in writing, using one of the following methods:

Email:	complaints@casa.gov.au
Fax:	02 6217 1701
Mail:	GPO Box 2005 Canberra ACT 2601
Online:	via the online form

The ICC can also take complaints by telephone on 02 6217 1717. You can ring the ICC toll free on 131 757. In taking complaints by telephone, the ICC’s office will normally ask you to provide the same information requested in the on-line form, so it will be helpful if you have those details available when you ring to lodge a complaint.

How eligible complaints are handled

On receipt of an eligible complaint, the ICC will contact the manager(s) responsible for the person(s) about whom the complaint has been made, informing them of the nature and details of the complaint, and asking the responsible manager(s) to make appropriate inquiries, formulate an appropriate responsive approach and report back to the ICC within a specified reasonable time. All inquiries of this kind are conducted in accordance with the applicable principles of procedural fairness.

If the ICC considers that the findings of, and/or the actions to be taken by, the responsible manager(s) are appropriate, the ICC will:

provide the complainant with as much information as may properly be disclosed about those findings and the responsive actions to be taken;
monitor the progress of those actions and keep the complainant appropriately informed; and
advise the Ethics and Conduct Committee accordingly.

If the ICC considers that the findings of, and/or the actions taken or to be taken by, the responsible manager(s), are not appropriate, the ICC will:

advise the manager(s) accordingly and recommend what, in the ICC’s view, constitutes a more appropriate response;
register and monitor the actions of the responsible manager(s) taken on the basis of the ICC’s recommendations; and
advise and make further recommendations to the Ethics and Conduct Committee accordingly.

Ineligible complaints

If the ICC finds that a complaint cannot properly be dealt with by the ICC for any of the reasons mentioned above, the ICC will advise the complainant as soon as possible. In such cases, the ICC will try to recommend a more appropriate approach to the complainant.

Preserving your right to an independent review of CASA’s actions and decisions

Applications for the review of CASA decisions that are subject to review in the AAT or the Federal Court must normally be lodged within a specified period of time after notice of the decision has been given.

Decisions reviewable in the AAT are defined in section 31 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 as reviewable decisions. Reviewable decisions under the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR) are set out in CAR 297A. Reviewable decisions under the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (CASR) are set out in CASR 201.004.

Although the ICC will endeavour to advise a complainant if their complaint is one that should more properly be raised in the AAT or the Federal Court, it is the responsibility of the complainant to ensure that they are not compromising or prejudicing their right of review in the AAT or the Federal Court by pursuing a matter with the ICC. It is always advisable to obtain independent legal advice about such matters from a qualified legal practitioner.

Criminal activity

Complaints involving suspected or alleged criminal conduct on the part of a CASA officer should be directed to the Australian Federal Police.

Confidential Hotline

If you want to make a confidential report on a matter affecting aviation safety, ring the CASA hotline 1800 074 737.