We take all reports of illegal aviation behaviour seriously. We can respond in a range of ways. The available evidence determines the way we respond.
Information about potential breaches can come from:
- members of the public
- other members of the aviation industry
- CASA surveillance
- oversight operations
- anonymous or self-reporting.
All reports are important. A single report may not result in regulatory action but we may use to build a case in the longer term.
We can’t be everywhere and see everything. Credible reports from the public and industry can alert us to people doing the wrong thing, help preserve aviation’s well-deserved reputation and improve safety.
Use our Report concerns about aviation safety to alert us about an organisation or an operation you believe is unsafe.
Anonymous and confidential reporting
If you are making a report about an aviation safety matter, you can do it in one of two ways:
- anonymous report: a report made without identifying yourself to us
- confidential report: you may identify yourself to us, but don’t want us to disclose the report.
Before making the report, you should consider the following:
- We are obliged to act on safety related information we become aware of. A person can’t tell us about a safety related matter and ask or expect us not to act on it in a responsible way.
- In the interests of safety, we will accept anonymous calls and we will act on the information provided to the best of our ability. Where you provide information anonymously, however, it may not be possible for us to obtain further important details about the matter reported.
- We will also do our best to maintain the confidence of any individual who asks us:
- to protect their identity
- not to disclose the information they provided.
- We will often make safety-related enquiries based on the information provided by a source. This may enable others to infer, deduce or assume the identity of the source of the information given to us.
- In keeping with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988, we will take all reasonable steps to maintain the confidentiality of the sources of safety-information we receive. But this is not something we can guarantee.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s (ATSB) also has confidential reporting. Read more about how to report an accident or incident.
How we respond to reports of illegal behaviour
We carefully consider all information and concerns raised with us, assessing how we should respond and the sort of action we should take.
We use proportionality and discretion in regulatory decision making and we always act according to the law.
This means exercising our powers in accordance with the principles of procedural fairness and natural justice. This requires us to rely on evidence rather than hunches, rumour or speculation.