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Old 26th Jul 2013, 10:27
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Profile – Senator David Fawcett

Phelan article on Senator Fawcett is well worth a read!
Profile – Senator David Fawcett

Some may disagree with some of his ideas but there is no doubt he has a strong commitment to improving the industry and it would appear he is actively involved in writing the Coalition policy.
Strategically sound models
Fawcett is acutely aware of the criticism that there is no “one voice” that speaks for the aviation industry. “I actually think a better way to oversee safety is to split the industry into its relative sectors. High-capacity RPT could be one segment, then regional airlines, EMS/air ambulance operators, airwork and agricultural operators, and then general aviation. Each of those sectors could then nominate the group they are happy to have representing their views and to work with CASA on their behalf. At the moment the regulator will say it consults with industry, but the feedback I’m getting from a lot of people in the industry is that it’s more like ‘sit down and let me tell you what we’re going to do’ as opposed to industry saying ‘well, this is best practice, this is how industry would like it to work,’ and the regulator then looking at it and saying: ‘yes, there’s no safety case to prevent that, therefore we will adopt by and large what you have actually put forward.’
“So that’s the formulation of the regulations and rules side of it. On the audit side there are a couple of models. One is the basic aviation risk standard (BARS) model, where you have an acknowledged standard and you have a third party who actually comes and does the audit and the regulator’s role is to make sure that the safety management system is in place, and that the audit is about how it is applied, and best practice, and is done by somebody who has competence in the relevant industry sector.
“There is also potentially a role for Company X to say ‘look, we’re quite happy to have Company Y to provide an audit team member to assess our operations and we’ll send one of our people to audit theirs as part of the team.’ That may or may not work for commercial reasons, but I think there are more ways to skin this cat than having the regulator being the rule writer, policeman, and the judge.
“My sense is that we can do a lot better, and one of the starting points for that is having a whole of government strategy for aviation as a starting point. A board recruited for CASA needs people who have experience in aviation, not necessarily from a regulatory perspective, but certainly from operating and airworthiness perspectives. As well as your governance issues we need to have a board that should be chosen on the basis of its ability to input and influence the government’s strategic direction for aviation. They then should be appointing the CEO of CASA, and holding him to account to work in accordance with the board’s and the government’s strategic directions for CASA. But it strikes me that there is no whole of government policy. The current Board doesn’t have much aviation experience if any, and the CEO of CASA ends up operating as an almost completely independent entity who can end up setting a completely new direction, for example in regulatory reform. I think there can be a lot more leadership at that strategic level, and I think it will help in determining the resource requirement to ensure safety, and how do we actually work not only to keep the industry safe, but also to empower the industry to grow.”
ProAviation closely followed the proceedings of the recent Senate committee enquiry into CASA’s and ATSB’s management of the Pel-Air ditching investigations. So did everybody we spoke to in the industry. They were unanimous in their applause for the professional way in which all participants – particularly Senators Heffernan (Chair), Fawcett and Xenophon – guided the process of the enquiry and the delivery of its report. Numerous industry identities frankly express the hope that Senator David Fawcett will continue to bring his aviation experience and awareness to bear on the creation and maintenance of a sound, credible relevant and supportive regulatory environment.
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