Developing the roadmap

The Roadmap was a commitment under the National Emerging Aviation Technologies Policy Statement. The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA) released this policy in May 2021.

After this announcement, our Aviation Safety Advisory Panel formed a technical working group (TWG) with sub-groups and industry participation. This group collaborated to co-design the Roadmap. We developed the roadmap through this process to make sure that the outlined activities support industry goals while maintaining a safe aviation environment in Australia.

The TWG considered the requirements of the RPAS and AAM sectors over 4 time horizons.

We identified 9 primary use cases for RPAS and AAM, along with 6 Regulatory areas. We discussed the progression of each across these time horizons.

We transformed the work of the TWG into a draft roadmap, which was consulted on before its publication in 2022. We reviewed the 2022 version in 2024 (see Maintaining currency and relevance) in line with the Government’s Aviation White Paper → Towards 2050.

Maintaining currency and relevance

We expect the priorities of industry to change in response to new technologies and new operational use cases. For example, the timelines outlined in the Roadmap may not align with the pace of industry and technology development.

We may also need to respond to new challenges and priorities across other aviation sectors.

Therefore, regular reviews are essential to ensure it continues to meet industry needs. We will continue to collaborate with industry to update the roadmap in response to changing needs and priorities.

We will review the Roadmap with industry by no later than the end of the immediate term. For detailed progress and outcomes from the first review of the Roadmap conducted in 2024, see the Roadmap Review Progress and Outcomes document.

Reporting

We will provide progress updates on activities and proposed Roadmap changes on the website. Previous updates, with searchable tags, will be available from our Latest updates (news) section of our website.

We’ll continue to work with industry to develop flexible, regular consultation mechanisms. This may include sessions like those held in May and June 2024 for the first Roadmap review.

Updated: 30 January 2025
Online version available at: https://www.casa.gov.au//resources-and-education/publications-and-resources/corporate-publications/rpas-and-aam-strategic-regulatory-roadmap/developing-roadmap
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