[Peetwo]

The Rev is back banging the drum -

Via the Oz:

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Former air safety tsar backs calls for red-tape reform

The Australian 9h ago

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Former air safety tsar backs calls for red-tape reform

The Abbott government’s air ­safety tsar has called for reform of “unnecessary” red tape stymieing aviation, urging a more “collaborative” approach by the “hard-line, bureaucratic” regulator.

David Forsyth, who chaired a 2013-14 review into air safety regulation, said needless red tape was still imposed across all areas of Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulation, four years after his ­report was delivered.

“Australia has quite a lot of unique regulations, unnecessarily so,” Mr Forsyth said. “It would be a good thing for Australia if we harmonised our regulations with overseas, particularly with the two big regulatory bodies around the world: the Federal Aviation Administration in the US and the European agency.

“We shouldn’t try to reinvent the wheel all the time and have something different and unique … because we don’t need to.”

Mr Forsyth said “unique” ­requirements existed “across the whole suite” of CASA regulation.

“(That is) operations, flying training, maintenance, air traffic control, the airports,” he said.

A ratio of one flight attendant to 36 passengers was applied, ­despite standards in the US and Europe specifying one to 50.

Restrictive licensing made it difficult to hire maintenance engineers from overseas and created overly burdensome costs.

Pilot training had recently been subject to extra layers of red tape, including requiring pilots wanting to renew licences to do separate tests for each form of aircraft they flew rather than one test on the aircraft type mostly flown. Pilots with overseas qualifi­cations seeking to work in Australia were also put through further needless training or tests.

Mr Forsyth, a former Airservices Australia chairman, Royal Flying Doctor Service vice-president and Qantas senior executive, credited new CASA chief executive Shane Carmody with beginning to address some unjustified regu­lations.

However, he believed CASA was a large bureaucracy ­resistant to change.

CASA yesterday rejected the criticism, saying it had “worked closely and collaboratively” with Mr Forsyth to “consider and ­address all of the actions from the government’s response to the recommendations of the review”.

“These recommendations have either been completed, incorporated into ongoing activities or we have announced plans to take action on recommen­dations,” a spokesman said. “We are committed to ensuring that the intent of the recommen­dations is honoured and the benefits continue to be delivered to the aviation community.

“We look forward to working with industry as we move to finalise the last 10 parts of the civil aviation safety regulations, as well as other items of interest to industry, including changes to aviation medicine, low-level frequency use and finalising our review on the ­fatigue rules.”

Mr Forsyth said there was also a distinct lack of political will to streamline red tape hurting all ­levels of aviation — ministers were scared of streamlining regulation for fear of being blamed for any ­accidents. Mr Forsyth and his review panel were, he said, “exceptionally disappointed” at years of inaction on the recommendations of their report.

The report found CASA’s “hard-line” approach “not appropriate for an advanced aviation nation”, with industry viewing regulations as “overly legalistic, difficult to understand and ­focused on punitive outcomes”.

While Mr Carmody, appointed last June, had made “quite a bit of progress”, action on simplifying regulations was “still fairly slow” and Mr Forsyth feared gains would be lost when Mr Carmody inevitably left the position.

&.. definitely related the following, courtesy Oz Flying: 

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CASA CEO and Director of Aviation Safety Shane Carmody. (composite image: CASA/Bidgee)

CASA Restructure confirms GA Branch
24 January 2018

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority announced a restructure this week that includes a general aviation branch as first revealed by Australian Flying in December.

To be called the General, Recreational and Sport Aviation Branch, the new group has been established to create a stronger focus on the GA sector, especially important in the implementation of CASR 149 on Approved Self Administering Aviation Organisations.

"I believe that a vibrant general aviation sector is important for the health of the aviation community as a whole," said CASA CEO and Director of Aviation Safety Shane Carmody.

"While CASA's influence on the strength and performance of the general aviation sector is limited, we can play a role by ensuring regulatory requirements are reasonable and fit for purpose.

"We must also ensure we minimise regulatory red tape and make the processes for gaining authorisations and approvals as smooth as possible. The General, Recreational and Sport Aviation branch will be the key contact point between general aviation and CASA.

"Responsibilities of the branch will include entry control, surveillance, regulatory services and oversight of the new Part 149 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations."

In the general restructure, CASA has also split the Aviation Group into two divisions: National Operations and Standards and Regulatory Services and Surveillance division. The position of executive manager Regulatory Services and Surveillance division has been filled by new recruit Peter White, who has arrived at CASA with credentials in transport security and regulatory reform. White is also a recreational pilot.

The new structure is on the CASA website.

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/lates...tIJO3s5.99

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MTF...P2