UNSW Aviation Industry Panel Discussion Series

The Federal Government’s Aviation Green Paper, which includes emerging technology, marks an important stage in developing the Aviation White Paper, which will set the policy direction for the aviation sector to 2050. What has it got right? What has it missed?

This UNSW Aviation Industry Panel discussion brings together experts from across aviation’s regulatory, educational, operational and consultancy sectors to discuss the wins and losses in the government’s Green Paper, and what is needed for the White Paper to be an effective instrument for policy direction for the aviation sector to 2050.

Topics covered include stronger consumer protections, improved complaint handling processes, improved accessibility for consumers living with disability, improved sustainability targets, access to affordable air services, how to leverage economic shifts for the benefit of Australia’s regions, how to maintain world leading safety and security standards, and how to provide secure jobs now and in the future. 

The aviation industry as a whole, broadly accepts the premise ‘to err is human’. In western based countries, this has resulted in the industry advocating a system of safety that divorces human error from accountability. This is more widely known as a ‘just culture’, where the overarching principle is to treat people fairly if they make mistakes, even if the mistakes lead to negative outcomes. Such a perspective on human error is reflected more broadly in the shift from Safety-I, where the focus was understanding what went wrong, to Safety-II, where the focus is on understanding the system’s ability to succeed.

It can be argued, however, that this shift and focus is problematic, neglecting fundamental principles associated with human behaviour. Humans are central to the success and failure of all systems. Having a detailed understanding of why humans err, will ultimately result in improvements in safety. Such knowledge does not and should not be at odds with a mature safety system, where the focus is on improvements and not retribution. Therefore, this panel will discuss the latest research about human error, the link between motivation, punishment, reward and human error, and a retributive vs. a just safety culture.