Mark Skidmore, the director of aviation safety for Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), last week released 10 guidelines of regulatory philosophy he believes should direct CASA’s approach to the performance of its regulatory functions. They include maintaining the trust and respect of the aviation community, remaining mindful of the primacy of air safety and CASA’s role in accounting for the cost of its recommendations, using risk-based approaches to regulatory action and decision making and performing its functions consistent with Australia’s international commitments.
Skidmore’s list also said CASA will approach its regulatory functions consultatively and collaboratively and that the agency will communicate fully and meaningfully with all relevant stakeholders; that CASA should fairly balance the need for consistency with its own need for flexibility; that the agency employ a just culture in its regulatory and related actions; that it demonstrate proportionality and discretion in regulatory decision-making and exercise its powers in accordance with the principles of procedural fairness and natural justice; and that CASA has a legitimate, but limited, role in pursuing punitive action for breaches of the civil aviation legislation.