The Board of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) meets six times per calendar year to fulfil its obligations under Section 53 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 to decide the objectives, strategies and policies to be followed by CASA; to ensure that CASA performs its functions in a proper, efficient and effective manner.
The CASA Board met in Canberra on 29 February 2024. Prior to the meeting, the Board met with the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, the Hon. Catherine King MP. This meeting provided the Board with an opportunity to hear the Minister’s expectations and the Government’s aviation priorities firsthand. The Board also met with The Australian Aviation Association Forum (TAAAF) to discuss industry perspectives on current and future aviation priorities.
CASA Board meetings follow a theme-based agenda focusing on organisational matters and operational matters that affect the aviation industry. The organisational matters centred around CASA’s corporate governance, financial position, the status of major projects, cyber security issues, organisational culture, workplace health and safety, and workforce planning. The Board received a briefing from the Chair of the People and Culture Sub-Committee and discussed matters relevant to CASA’s workforce. The Board also received standing reports from the Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Industry Complaints Commissioner.
Reflecting the seriousness with which the CASA Board takes its governance responsibilities and to support enhanced transparency the Board agreed to establish a governance webpage.
The Board received an internal audit report on CASA’s Guidance Delivery Centre (GDC). The objective of the audit was to determine whether CASA has appropriate systems, processes and controls in place. As well as providing assurance that the GDC provides consistent and accurate information, assistance and advice to industry and CASA staff, the report was also useful in assisting CASA to continue improving its communication channels with industry.
CASA’s Executive Management Team provided updates on a range of operational and regulatory initiatives. This included standing reports on the operational surveillance framework under the national model and the reporting of accidents and incidents to the Board. The Board received an update on the National Oversight Plan (NOP) and the extent of surveillance coverage across the different aviation sectors. The Board also endorsed CASA’s refined performance metrics, which will be reviewed again once the Aviation White Paper has been released and is part of the iterative development of performance metrics that are relevant and appropriate to the aviation regulator. Additional updates were also provided for the Flight Operations Regulations (FOR) training and checking requirements and the General Aviation (GA) Workplan.
The Board discussed the issues associated with airspace management, including the provision of air traffic control in light of variations in the services provided by Airservices Australia, and received an assurance that, while obviously disruptive to scheduled operations, safety is not compromised, and efforts are focused on ensuring Airservices addresses identified issues.
The next Board meeting will be held in Brisbane on 2 May 2024. We are planning to continue our industry outreach program and invite local representatives from all sectors of the aviation industry to an informal ‘meet and greet’ session with the CASA Board.
Air Chief Marshal (Ret’d) Mark Binskin AC
Chair, CASA Board