BuzzBox, Thanks for posting the link to that report. Hopefully some of the recommendations get implemented.
The Western LFA is a large area, which is as big as the Williamtown terminal area, larger than Sydney’s airspace and comparable in size to RAAF Pearce. Figure 09-01 shows the Western LFA.
The Western LFA is mainly used by Hawk and PC9 aircraft and is activated by NOTAM, typically in one week blocks. The study team observed the activation of this airspace for only one aircraft operating in the NE corner of the area and the resultant level restrictions and additional tracking by a civil aircraft to avoid the LFA. The civil aircraft was 25 nm from the military aircraft actual area of operation. Further, PT aircraft on the W223 route from NICLA to Taree can be held up in descent because the Western LFA is active to 9,000 ft AMSL. ABATS and ATC reported that this was not an unusual occurrence and that they had no visibility or control of the LFA operations. A segmented redesign of the LFAs combined with slight route changes could improve the descent options for PT aircraft.
Another aspect that requires investigation is the actual need for RA airspace for Defence Low Flying operations. In accordance with the Act, the decision to use RA airspace for low flying needs to be based on safety. Therefore, a risk based assessment and justification is required for the RA airspace. Such an assessment may indicate a lower level type of mitigation of the risk, such as a DA may be suitable.