Flight paths, or ‘procedures’, govern where aircraft fly, usually within a relatively narrow corridor, assisted by on-board navigation ‘instruments’. Paths of most concern to communities tend to be those that connect arriving or departing aircraft to an airport runway and are known as ‘Standard Instrument Departures’ (SIDs) and ‘Standard Terminal Arrival Routes’ (STARs). Airports can have a number of SIDs and STARs depending on terrain and traffic levels.

While there are other ways that air traffic can be safely managed, such as radar or visual navigation, fixed flight paths provide predictability for airline operators and ensure aircraft automatically maintain a safe distance between each other and the ground.

Airservices Australia is responsible for the design and review of flight paths,, and CASA is responsible for the airspace classifications which set constraints on where flight paths can go.

Due to changes in technology, airport development such as new runways, and other factors, flight paths are occasionally changed. This can mean that high concentrations of aircraft are moved over new communities, some of which may never have experienced overflight by large jets.

The impact of resulting aircraft noise on individual amenity, property values and human health are well documented, and secondary effects such as social division can become apparent as community members struggle to cope with what can be a significant change to lifestyle and community identity.

While it is true that ‘planes must fly somewhere’, Airservices Australia is responsible under its establishing legislation to balance the interests of safety, efficiency and the environment (which includes community impact) when making flight path design decisions, with safety as the first priority.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) also requires Airservices to seek advice from the Department of Environment if an action it plans to take (such as a flight path change) is likely to have a ‘significant impact’ on the environment.

However the Act does not define what level of impact from aircraft activity is acceptable, or how this should be determined - leaving it to Airservices to decide. Airservices has a poor track record, including inadequate consultation practices which have left communities uniformed and excluded from the decision-making process.

An investigation by the Aircraft Noise Ombudsman in 2018 found major problems with the implementation of changes to flight paths in Hobart, and made a series of recommendations for improvement. While the recommendations were accepted by Airservices, similar issues continue to occur, most recently with flight path changes at Sunshine Coast and Brisbane Airports.

The key issues are:

1. A legacy culture within Airservices Australia that lacks respect for community stakeholders, with a subsequent reluctance to genuinely engage with communities as partners in decision-making about flight path design

2. Current aviation policy offers little protection to overflown communities. For example it does not recognise the impact of aircraft operations (such as noise) on human health and relies solely on legislation designed to protect the natural environment to mitigate the impact of aircraft operations on community

3. Decisions about flight path changes are not subject to merit-based review and challenge requires a costly judicial review process.

CAAA is advocating for the following changes to Australia’s current aviation regulatory framework to better protect communities.

• Recognise the impact of aircraft operations (such as noise) on human health, community amenity, devaluation of property, costs of mitigation or relocation in line with WHO best practice guidelines and other forms of industrial or transport operations or neighbourhood law

• Expand the role of the Commonwealth regulatory agency (CASA) to include consideration of the impact of aircraft operations on environment and community as well as management of aircraft safety and efficiency

• Transfer governance of the Aircraft Noise Ombudsman from within Airservices Australia to an indpendent third party entity appointed by Parliament (e.g. as part of the Commonwealth Ombudsman)