[Peetwo]

Su_Spence decides to decentralise to enhance centralisation?? - OMHH! 

(OMHH - Oh my head hurts)

Via the Monthly Su_Spenceful bollocks...  : Ref- https://updates.communication.casa.gov.a...887f6d058c

Director of Aviation Safety, Pip Spence

We're continuing to fine-tune the way we interact with the industry by listening to your suggestions, embracing ideas aimed at improving communication, explaining clearly why we're doing what we are and focusing on things that make a difference to safety.

This month sees a return of some regulatory services functions to our local offices to make it easier for aviation operators to interact with us, and for us to better understand local operations.

We're doing this after feedback that some elements of our centralised model were not working as expected and made it difficult at times for you to connect with us when you needed to.

A review of these arrangements prompted us to make changes that will see our regulatory services teams once again operate from their local CASA offices and engaging with local operators.

To be clear, we're still looking for consistent and predictable results through a national system.

Complex issues will still require centralised consideration, while more straightforward matters will be progressed locally, consistent with nationally settled policies and procedures.

But we operate better and get improved safety outcomes when we're engaging with industry and that's what our local offices will do.

If you’re an aviation operator, you’ll receive more detail from us directly over the coming weeks.

This is one of several moves to make interacting with us quicker and easier. Others include a push to embrace digital technology, work on streamlining medicals, a new Safety Management System tool kit and our Plain English guides.

Another change for operators will be around the remaining deadlines to implement some transition steps to the flight operations regulatory suite introduced at the end of 2021, which included several deferred provisions.

Specifically, this includes revisions to timelines for training and checking systems for many air transport and aerial work operators, human factors and non-technical training and safety management systems for previous charter and air ambulance operators, and Part 133 rotorcraft performance classes.

We’ll be communicating directly with operators soon on these new timeframes and, more importantly, what we can do to help industry embed these important safety initiatives in their operations.

In keeping with our commitment to keep you informed, later this month we'll be updating our website to show completed General Aviation (GA) Workplan initiatives  and providing revised timeframes for other items to give you the latest outlook.

Work continues on our GA Workplan and while we have steadily rolled out initiatives, I’m conscious some proposals have taken longer than we originally predicted.

On the plus side, we have delivered initiatives for flight instructors, opened up examiner proficiency checks for industry and established a multi-engine helicopter 'class rating'.

And if you’re a pilot operating in controlled airspace, please check out our latest pilot safety campaign and consider joining one of our webinars.

We also have our ‘Stay OnTrack’ series which has guides for VFR pilots to use when flying into, out of and around some of Australia’s main regions.

Be sure to check out the guides for Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Perth and Darwin and stay tuned for our Melbourne region guide.

And we’ve got a range of information on our pilot safety hub with a range of products to support you flying in and around these locations.

We will continue to update you on our initiatives as 2023 progresses and, of course, we welcome your feedback.

All the best,

Pip

And via our resident fence sitter LMH:

CASA to decentralise Oversight Functions

3 May 2023



CASA announced today that it will send some functions of regulatory oversight back to the regional offices after problems connecting with the aviation industry through the central office in Canberra.

The Regulatory Oversight Divsion (ROD) will still handle most day-to-day inquiries such as applications, approvals and safety regulations, but CASA is now encouraging the aviation community to contact the regional offices for complex inquiries like surveillance issues or operational services.

According to CASA, the changes came from a review of the national oversight model that was established in 2020.

"We’re doing this following a review of our 2020 move to manage regulatory services nationally," a CASA spokesperson said.

"Our goal was to make sure we were providing a more consistent service across Australia, however, in practice, we understand this made it more difficult for [the industry] to interact with us.

"The changes we’ve made are designed to rectify that, while maintaining the improvements we’ve made in national standardisation.

"We’ve changed our processes to make it easier for you to get in touch with us when you need to speak directly with someone who understands your operations and the environment you work in,."

ROD functions were brought under a national model in 2021 because the aviation community was being provided with inconsistent advice and rulings from regional offices. CASA now believes some services are best delivered from the regional offices.

"To be clear, we're still looking for consistent and predictable results through a national system," Director of Aviation Safety and CEO Pip Spence said.

"Complex issues will still require centralised consideration, while more straightforward matters will be progressed locally, consistent with nationally settled policies and procedures.

"But we operate better and get improved safety outcomes when we're engaging with industry and that's what our local offices will do."

CASA will send out an e-mail to all holders of Air Operator's Certificates detailing the changes.

MTF...P2