As an International Civil Aviation Organization contracting State, Australia has an aviation State Safety Program which demonstrates Australia’s aviation safety management systems approach to risk management.
This policy statement confirms that Australia’s Government aviation agencies will adopt a common approach to risk management in relation to the assessment of airspace and air traffic management.
The Aviation Policy Group (APG) agencies, made up of the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities, the Department of Defence, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and Airservices Australia (Airservices) all have significant, complementary but different roles in policy development, regulation or service delivery in our airspace and air traffic management system.
The APG agencies are committed to the outcome of safe and efficient airspace and air traffic management.
The Government has established the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. This has resulted in the establishment of a consistent approach to risk management based on the best practice approach outlined in the Australian and New Zealand Risk Management Standards, AS/NZS ISO:31000 2009.
Each APG agency’s risk management processes include consultation and communication between APG agencies and with industry. The extent of consultation may be structured by the urgency and necessity with which safety or security related changes are required to be introduced.
The risk management processes are premised on the following principles:
- Safety of passenger transport services is the most important consideration
- National security considerations must be met
- Other considerations in examining airspace and air traffic management proposals, include protection of the environment, efficient use of airspace, equitable access for all airspace users, regularity of public transport operations and consistency with relevant international agreements must be taken into account.
This policy statement replaces the previous Common Risk Management Framework and will be reviewed every three years.
Contact Information
The Commonwealth aviation agencies welcome comments on the Policy Statement at any time. These may be directed to:
General Manager
Air Traffic Policy
Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities
GPO Box 594
CANBERRA CITY 2601
Phone: (02) 6274 7611
Fax: (02) 6274 7804