Our program is consistent with the Government’s whole-of-government policy development approach to emerging aviation technologies.
The emerging technologies program complements the Australian Government’s National Emerging Aviation Technologies (NEAT) Policy Statement. It also complements whole of government initiatives such as:
- Australian Future Airspace Framework (AFAF)
- maturation of noise and privacy regulation
- Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) development.
We will continue developing policy guidance in line with the work of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and other aviation safety regulators.
Principles
It is challenging to chart a long-term plan for the regulation of emerging aviation technologies and systems.
Emerging aviation technologies span a broad range of systems and capabilities at different stages of maturity.
The scale and the pace of deployment of these technologies and systems are uncertain. We may see these new technologies and systems deployed on aircraft of varying sizes, types and complexity.
The risk profile of the associated sector is as diverse as the range of systems and their operations.
The RPAS and AAM Roadmap identifies certain principles for a regulatory response to RPAS and AAM. We identified these principles by consulting with industry. They apply to the regulation of emerging aviation technologies and systems more broadly. They are:
- safety first: placing safety first. Our program must deliver acceptable levels of safety performance for all aviation operations. This is consistent with our Statement of Intent for 2023-2025.
- risk and outcome-based: achieving greater flexibility through an outcome-based legislative structure. Regulations should not prescribe solutions. Regulation and oversight should also be proportionate to the safety hazards and associated risks being managed.
- adaptive and scalable: the legislative structure must respond to changing risk profiles and the dynamic needs of evolving sectors. It should also account for the size of the sector and pragmatic constraints, such as available regulatory resources.
- progressive and internationally aligned: develop and implement a phased regulatory framework, while remaining consistent with a longer-term vision. It should seek to align with, adopt, or adapt international standards and regulations where beneficial in the Australian context. It should also consider appropriate alignment with Australia’s defence aviation safety regulations.
- balanced and socially responsible: our framework should achieve the required safety outcomes and consider the cost burden imposed on industry. It also should account for broader community interests and expectations.
We will need to have a flexible and responsive regulatory framework to keep pace with evolving developments. This will allow us to scale regulatory processes to respond to increasing volumes of demand from industry. To build in this flexibility and scalability we have considered requirements for our activities through the following time horizons:
- Immediate Term (0-2 years) – 2022 to 2023
- Near Term (2-5 years) – 2023 to 2026
- Medium Term (5-10 years) – 2026 to 2031
- Long Term (10-15 years) – 2031 to 2036.