Lobby groups plead for drastic reforms to outdated regulations

An alliance of Australia’s major aviation associations has called on the government to reform aviation regulations.

The Civil Aviation Act 1988 has not been reviewed in nearly 30 years.

An alliance of Australia’s major aviation associations has called on the government to reform regulation of general aviation activities to ensure business and jobs continue to grow in the ailing sector.

The newly released 66-page report from the Australian Aviation Associations Forum says it is imperative that the Civil Aviation Act is rewritten to align with international standards and that action be taken to ensure education and aviation training remain on par with global best-practice.

“Aviation policy has lan­guished and is in need of a bold agenda for reform. It is critical that the industry start moving forward again rather than being subjected to another review,” the report says.

“The Forum believes that key challenges for aviation in the next term of our federal parliament are to create a whole-of-government approach and forward-looking aviation policy, to harmonise aviation regulations with international standards and to establish performance-based safety regulation based on risk assessment and outcomes.”

The report calls for the realignment of the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Dev­el­opment and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to implement policy effectively and create a performance-based regulatory system. It points to Australia’s pilot certification regulations, which cover 3000 pages, whereas the same material in the US — which has better safety statistics — covers just 100 pages.

“A key initiative is a major modernisation of the Civil Aviation Act 1988, which has not been reviewed in nearly 30 years. A priority is to ensure Australian aviation regulations are better aligned with international standards to facilitate exports and reduce unnecessary costs and delays, including the recognition of Australian qualifications by other aviation states, especially in the emerging aviation powerhouses of China and India,” the report said.

The report also calls for the sale of the government’s billion-dollar-a-year Airservices air traffic controller organisation to help fund a revival of the struggling general aviation sector.

“The partially-corporatised model under which Airservices Australia has operated for almost 20 years is increasingly incapable of delivering efficient and affordable air traffic services in a growing aviation market,” the paper says.

It’s the second report in as many weeks calling on the government to privatise Airservices after the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association released its Project Eureka document, which has blamed creeping over-regulation for the destruction of small aviation businesses.

The AOPA report claims a full privatisation of Airservices could bring in as much as $4 billion, which could be split, with half going to the commonwealth to help claw back its budget deficit and the other half to establish a trust fund that could reinvest in the aviation industry to buy back secondary airports, spur job creation and increase the sector’s involvement in R&D.

The Forum’s paper, however, says the sale of Airservices would bring in about $1 billion. The Forum says that $500 million from the proceeds of any sale should be spent on a developing training, research and leadership programs.

If Airservices was privatised, the Forum said major airport operators should be responsible for day-to-day management of aircraft noise reporting as well as take over aviation rescue and firefighting services.