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The new Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme will improve outcomes for air travellers by clarifying and upholding the rights of aviation customers, and establish an independent mechanism to resolve customer complaints about the aviation industry.
How the Ombuds Scheme will help Australians
The establishment of a new independent Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme was announced in the Aviation White Paper: Towards 2050. The Ombuds Scheme will develop an Aviation Customer Rights Charter to set out what the ombudsperson considers fair and appropriate treatment of customers by airlines and airports. The Ombuds Scheme will start operating in 2026, once it’s established by legislation.
What’s happening now?
To support improved outcomes for aviation customers in the short term, an interim ombudsperson has been appointed from within the department. The interim ombudsperson has a limited set of functions and in 2024-25 will focus on:
- drafting and consulting on an Aviation Customer Rights Charter
- reviewing and producing a report on aviation industry complaints handling
- establishing systems and processes to accept and respond to customer complaints about the aviation industry, with complaints handling to commence in 2025.
The complaints handling process and remit of the interim ombudsperson will be limited initially, with greater scope to make decisions following the passage of legislation to support the independent Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme.
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts has recently concluded a consultation on the design and implementation of the independent Ombuds Scheme, and is currently considering the feedback received through this process. The public submissions received through this consultation process will be published on the Have Your Say page.
Making a complaint
About Airlines
Each major domestic airline has their own process for handling complaints. If you have experienced an issue with the customer service you have received from a domestic airline, including issues with refunds, flight cancellations and delays, and/or baggage services, you must first lodge a complaint with the airline and receive an outcome from that complaints process.
About aircraft noise
About aviation safety and incidents
About Security screening
About Australian Government bodies involved in aviation
Contact
For more information about the interim Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme or to register for our mailing list, please contact: aviationcustomerrights@aio.gov.au.
Timeline
Below is a timeline showing the activities taking place between now and the establishment of the Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme in 2026.
