email to Australian National Audit Office
28/09/21To the person responsible within the Australian National Audit Office.
I write to you in regard to the current audit into the Civil Aviation Safety authority (CASA) Planning and Conduct of Surveillance Activities.
I am writing to you as a person directly impacted by what I perceive as deficiencies in this area, and I feel that I could make a valuable contribution as part of a process of continuous improvement.
In short, I operated two businesses in the flight training industry, since 2005. That business underwent a complete revalidation by CASA in April 2017.
In November 2017, that entire business underwent a Level One Audit. This being the highest-level audit that CASA can conduct. It involved several CASA personnel over a period of one week. No concerns other than minor administrative matters were raised.
In October 2018, CASA determined that identical business was now declared unauthorised, and placed restrictions on the businesses ability to trade, leading ultimately to its demise which impacted on businesses, students, customers, suppliers etc.
Personally, this matter has cost me many millions of dollars and left me bankrupted.
I am concerned that the business could undergo a CASA revalidation in April 2017, followed up by a Level One audit six months later in November 2017, but be declared unlawful in October 2018. In a subsequent investigation, CASA had advised the Ombudsman’s Office that they were not aware of my business structure until just prior to October of 2018. The Ombudsman subsequently found that despite CASAs assertion, the business was in fact not unlawful. I find it concerning that CASA would not be aware of the organisation structure, despite conducting a level one audit.
Had CASA identified any concerns during the development stage prior to the April 2017, or during that audit, I may have had the opportunity to act in a more timely manner and avoid the associated closure of my own business, business dependent on me, and the impact onmany staff, students, and suppliers also impacted.
May I respectfully request that someone from your office contact me by phone on 0418772013 at a suitable opportunity. In order for me to discuss making a submission,
I would need to arrange a few days annual leave. If my matter is not pertinent to the current audit, then I obviously will not make a leave request to my current Employer.
Yours thankfully, Glen Buckley