The RPAS and AAM sectors are rapidly evolving. The Roadmap outlines a long-term vision for safety regulation in these sectors, but their future needs are uncertain.
Challenges in safely regulating the RPAS and AAM sectors include:
- Diversity– aircraft have unique types, sizes, and varying degrees of complexity and performance
- Pace of innovation and change – quick evolution, with rapid advancements in technology and operational concepts
- International alignment – maintain alignment with global efforts due to diversity, rapid innovation and scale of the sectors
- Scale – there are more RPAS operating in Australia than the total number of existing airspace users combined, with further substantial growth expected
- Disruptive – these technologies differ from traditional approaches to aviation. We must adapt our regulatory and oversight processes to safely handle these technologies, integrating them into the broader ecosystem
- Autonomy – automation and human machine interactions pose regulatory challenges that need ongoing attention.
Figure 4 below illustrates some of these challenges. The rapid growth of the RPAS sector affects our regulatory services and impacts across roadmap regulatory areas.
The pace of change shown in the figure above has challenged our regulatory service delivery times. This is a pain point for industry. In July 2024, we published service delivery standards for individual approvals on our website to improve transparency. We are also carrying out a benchmarking initiative to set service delivery timeframes for all regulatory services related to organisational approvals. This will give the aviation industry clear visibility of expected timeframes for receiving organisational approvals from CASA. Several Roadmap activities aim to improve, and where it is safe to do so, streamline approval and oversight processes including:
- policy
- guidance
- pathways.
See Regulatory areas and activities.
CASA’s regulatory philosophy sets out the principles underpinning the way we perform our functions, exercise our power and engage with the aviation community.
To address the challenges, the following principles guide the Roadmap activities:
- Safety first – the Civil Aviation Act 1988 requires that safety must come first. We have designed the Roadmap to strive for acceptable levels of safety performance for all aviation operations.
- Risk and outcome-based – we will achieve greater flexibility through a legislative structure that is outcome-based. Regulations should not prescribe solutions. Regulation and oversight should be proportionate to the safety hazards and risks being managed.
- Adaptive and scalable – the legislative structure needs to be responsive to changing risk profiles and the needs of evolving sectors. It should account for the size of the sector and any constraints, for example, available regulatory resources.
- Progressive and internationally aligned – we will develop and implement the regulatory framework in phases, consistent with a long-term vision. It aims to align with, adopt or adapt international standards and regulations that benefit Australia. It should consider alignment with Australia’s Defence Aviation Safety Regulations when appropriate.
- Balanced and socially responsible – the framework should achieve the required safety outcomes and consider the cost and economic impact to industry. It should also account for broader community interests and expectations.
We also seek to make sure regulations are fit for purpose as per the Government’s Regulatory Policy, Practice and Performance Framework.