[Peetwo]

DLM 4 of 2023 (29 March 2023): Is "rule by exemption" a symptom of lazy Government??

Reference: 

What a tangles web of pointless work, a tour de force of bureaucratic overkill. CASA trying to micromanage everything and continuously tripping itself up and confounding everyone in aviation.

From the latest DLM it would appear that 'ruling by exemption is endemic across many of Government's Ministerial portfolios and agencies.

Extract from pg 11 of latest DLM:

1.26 The committee's longstanding view is that provisions that amend or create exemptions to primary legislation should be included in primary, rather than delegated, legislation. However, if the provisions are in delegated legislation, the instrument should operate no longer than strictly necessary, which in most cases should be no more than three years after commencement, in order to ensure regular parliamentary oversight. It is also a requirement of the Senate under standing order 23(3)(l) that the committee examines such instruments as to whether they are in force 'only for as long as strictly necessary'. Further, the committee's expectation about such instruments is informed by its longstanding view that such delegated legislation should not continue to be in force for such a period as to act as a de facto amendment to primary legislation.

 
Hmm...a blast from the past and the Oz Flying archives:
  

CASA Explains Regulatory Reform in Video

30 May 2013



CASA Director of Aviation Safety John McCormick has gone in front of a video camera to explain regulatory reform to the industry.

In the video, available on You Tube here, McCormick details the concepts behind the changes and reasons for the slow rate of reform. The process began in 1988.

The transition from Civil Aviation Regulations (CARs) to Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASRs) is being driven by the need for the rules to reflect reality and align Australia with ICAO standards.

"Our system at the moment, we've relied heavily on exemptions and permissions," McCormick says in the video. "There's in excess of 1700 of those documents out there, and that becomes a case of almost ruling by exemption."

According to McCormick, that system can make the original rule "a nonsense."

Other issues effecting the reform process that are detailed in the video include:

• The need for industry to be involved, including the traveling public
  
• Regulations need to be no more onerous than they are in other countries that CASA benchmarks itself against
  
• Maintenance regulations will take three to four years to roll out
  
• Part 141 is designed to demystify training regulations, particularly for small or one-person training operations
  
• Training and education are the cornerstones of what CASA does.
  

CASA has come under fire the for slow pace of reform over the past 25 years, and the video comes only a week after a Senate committee recommended an inquiry into CASA's handling of the process.

This was that recommendation: Ref - 

Recommendation 13

6.58 The committee recommends that a short inquiry be conducted by the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport into the current status of aviation regulatory reform to assess the direction, progress and resources expended to date to ensure greater visibility of the processes.

As history shows, the Labor Govt response to the PelAir report was obfuscated by Albo, with the excuse that the government was about to go into 'caretaker mode' (ref ProAviation: http://proaviation.com.au/2013/08/06/ele...endations/ )

When asked during Estimates on May 29 if the department’s brief to the Minister would occur in sufficient time so that Mr Albanese could respond before the caretaker mode, Department Secretary Mike Mrdak replied:

“We already have officers in the department – and clearly me and senior officers – who have carefully read the report now. I have had discussions with my senior officers. We envisage being in a position to provide some initial advice to the minister, I expect, certainly within the next week to 10 days in relation to it. I envisage having conversations with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority CEO and the head of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau in the coming days to ascertain their views, to enable me to provide a comprehensive view to the minister, I would hope by the end of next week.” [two months ago.]

Senator Fawcett points out that the report was tabled on May 23, allowing the Minister a three month window to respond and that given its damning findings Minister Albanese should have made this his top priority, particularly given his promise that ‘nothing is as important as aviation safety.’

Of course, with the change of Government, the responsibility for responding to the PelAir report fell on the Abbott Coalition Govt:

 
And again as history will show, that was the prelude to the ASRR (Forsyth Review) and we all know how that ended up...

So my challenge to the Scrutiny of Delegated Legislation Committee is to put their money (IE 'Our Money') where their mouth's are and conduct a serious review of the considerable list of CASA/CASR legislative instruments and exemptions...  

MTF...P2