I liked the following quote from the ICAO audit; perhaps we could send our blokes across the Tasman for a dose of humble pie and a quick training camp. I bet Joolia would love to have the real amount of dollars spent tucked away in a sock right about now, what is it ? ¼ billion and counting.
ICAO – January 2009 -3.2.3 For the regulatory framework and rulemaking procedures, the Regulatory Development Management (RDM) Manual, dated 20 February 2008, describes the processes and requirements involved in the making of aviation safety regulations, standards and associated advisory materials. Procedures for amending regulations, including identifying and notifying differences to ICAO, are established and documented in the manual. In addition, the manual provides an overview of the requirements established by the Australian Government for conducting consultations on regulatory requirements and following other regulatory “best practices.”
However, the procedures described in the new manual for the amendment of regulations and for the identification and notification to ICAO of differences existing between the ICAO SARPs and PANS (Procedures for Air Navigation Services) do not address adopted regulations and have not kept the national regulations in pace with ICAO Annex amendments, in particular for personnel licensing, airworthiness and aircraft operations. In addition, not all differences to ICAO SARPs have been notified to ICAO.
What are we doing ?- seriously.