SAFA Skysailor Magazine

2 SKY SAILOR September | October 2019 Company Limited by Guarantee The transition of our organisation from an Incorporated Association to a Company Limited by Guarantee became official on 7 August 2019 with the issue of our ASIC Certificate of Registration. This marks a key milestone in the significant body of work conducted by the CoM during the last 18 months to get to this point. Much is still to be done, however, as we adapt to our updated Constitution, as well as continue the rewrite and upgrade of our organisational policies and procedures. The entire process, when complete, will ensure the Sports Aviation Federation of Australia Limited (SAFA) is presented and managed as a profes- sional, modern sporting and recreational aviation sporting organisation. For any member interested, the new Certificate of Registration and Constitution are available under ‘Pilot Tools’> ‘Forms and Docs’ on the SAFA website. Updated policy and procedures documents will also appear in this area as they are approved and become active. Membership Renewal 2019 As members are aware, the CoM made available two discounts for those members who renewed during the advertised July/August window. The annual Membership fee has remained stable for a number of years which has effectively resulted in a decrease in real cost because of the effect of inflation. When coupled with the discounts for 2019, this provides a meaningful benefit that we hope all members will be able to appreciate. At the same time, it should also be recognised that the costs associated with running the national body have been facing upward pressure over the last few years, and the Board will be focused on continuing to manage financial costs, reviewing service providers, seeking increased revenue opportunities and funding more of our projects from the public sector. Safety Initiatives Members will be aware that SAFA Safety Manage- ment Officer, Iain Clarke, was appointed to his role earlier this year and one of his tasks is to facilitate the production of meaningful information from our accident and incident reporting system. Infor- mation produced needs to be timely, relevant and of benefit to members. Much of the initial reporting of accidents and incidents is scant in content and lacking in effective detail. The AIRS Manager role was created some time ago to improve this, along with the timeliness of the reporting. AIRS Managers exist to assist with the investigation of accident and incident reports, and safety at the local level. These AIRS Manager roles are not a substitute for our Safety Officers (SO) and Senior Safety Officer (SSO) roles, nor are they an extension of these roles. SOs and SSOs are primarily there to assist on the hill before, during and sometimes after flight. AIRS Managers are required to assist post flight, when things haven’t gone so well, and effective accident or incident reports are required. Iain will be seeking the co-operation of all clubs in appointing suitable pilots to these roles, so please assist him to assist our members when he makes contact. The sooner we get this aspect of our reporting productive, the sooner we will be able to produce meaningful, helpful information about accidents and incidents for the benefit all pilots. Iain has also been preparing SAFA for the implementation of Part 149, which is effectively an overhaul of the Safety Regulatory environment being driven by CASA across all aviation groups in Australia. Essentially, the regulator is moving from a prescriptive, punitive means of managing safety to one based on desired outcomes. This is a long overdue aviation reform. Safe flying. by Paul Green President’s Update Climbing the Dent du Crolle behind St Hillaire Photo: John Chapman