All safety issues are risk assessed by the ATSB. In 2019–20, the ATSB identified the following number of safety issues.²

Table 6: Number of safety issues identified in 2019–20

Safety action is sought to address any safety issues when proactive safety action is not forthcoming. Once safety action has been undertaken, the ATSB conducts another risk assessment of the safety issue. When the post-action risk assessment results in either an acceptable level of risk or a risk as low as reasonably practicable, the safety issue status is categorised as ‘adequately addressed’.

The Portfolio Budget Statements 2019–20 specify, as two of the ATSB’s key performance indicators (KPIs), that:

• safety action is taken by stakeholders to address 100 per cent of critical safety issues identified
• safety action is taken by stakeholders to address 70 per cent of all other safety issues identified.

² Includes safety issues identified through rail investigations conducted on behalf of the ATSB by OTSI NSW and CITS Victoria.