CASA undertakes a wide range of activities to support and develop its workforce and workplace culture to assist CASA to achieve its corporate goals.

Staffing

On 30 June 2018, CASA had 859 employees, including 69 temporary and casual staff and 13 inoperative staff – that is, staff on long-term leave for maternity or paternity reasons or staff on unpaid leave.

Tables B.1 to B.3 on pages 171 to 173 show details of employee numbers by classification and location, gender and age group.

Figure 11 shows the breakdown of employees into CASA’s main work areas.

Figure 11 Proportion of employees across CASA's organisational structure at 30 June 2019

Figure 11

Unplanned absences

CASA uses the Australian Public Service Commission definition to calculate unscheduled absences. This rate includes sick leave, carers leave, compassionate leave and unplanned emergency leave. This method allows us to benchmark our performance against the wider APS.

In 2018–19, CASA employees used an average of 10.8 days of unscheduled leave per full-time employee. Most absences were taken as sick leave (75 per cent) or carers leave (23 per cent). This is below the APS average, as shown in Table 5.

Table 5 Unplanned absence rates, 2014–15 to 2018–19 (days per FTE)

Staff turnover

In 2018–19, CASA’s ongoing employee separation rate was 6.9 per cent, as shown in Table 6. This is lower than the 2017–18 rate of 10.5 per cent. The change was driven by an overall decrease in the number of ongoing employees leaving CASA, and an increase in the total number of employees.

Table 6 Staff turnover, 2014–15 to 2018–19 (%)

Workplace diversity and inclusion

CASA is proud of the progress it has made in laying the foundations for a diverse and inclusive workplace. CASA encourages and celebrates diversity in the workplace and promotes a safe, supportive and inclusive working environment.

Achievements

CASA undertook a range of activities to support a diverse and inclusive workplace in 2018–19, including:

• appointing three executive managers as Executive Diversity Champions – an Indigenous Champion, a Disability Champion and a Gender Champion – to further CASA’s efforts across all areas of diversity and increase the involvement of members of the executive leadership team in initiatives to support diversity and inclusion
• offering Cultural Appreciation Training, delivered by National Indigenous Employment Solutions, to provide a greater appreciation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, customs and traditions as well as tools and techniques to help CASA staff to communicate and engage effectively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• engaging an employee (under a three-month supported work contract on a part-time basis) through Koomari, an Australian Capital Territory organisation that supports people with disability to achieve their life goals, dreams and aspirations. This engagement was successful for both the employee and CASA and raised awareness of working with people with Asperger syndrome.

Key activities

NAIDOC Week was celebrated across CASA offices on 9 July 2018, providing an opportunity for CASA employees to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Tori Nikoloau, who aspires to become Australia’s first female Indigenous commercial pilot, talked about the challenges she has faced in pursuit of her dreams. Tori’s experiences were particularly relevant given the theme of NAIDOC Week, ‘Because of her, we can’, which celebrated the essential role that women play as role models at the community, local, state and national levels.

Inclusion in the Workplace

Right to Left: Haydn Busch, Shane Carmody, Keeshia Coulthard

Inclusion in the workplace

Members of CASA’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Network were recognised in December 2018 with CASA’s first Diversity Champion’s Award. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Network has increased the profile of CASA’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees by sharing their inspiring personal stories and promoting diversity and inclusion within CASA. The network members are Nelson Stacey, Haydn Busch, Renae Isaacs, Jay Costello, Keeshia Coulthard, Adrian Tusek, Korin Tricot and Toni McPhail.

CASA celebrated the International Day of People with Disability on 3 December 2018, with staff from all CASA locations treated to a motivational speech from the chair of Wheelies with Wings, a non-profit organisation that gives people with disability the opportunity to fly, offering a sense of freedom and achievement.

In March 2019, CASA staff from across the regions attended the third in CASA’s series of Women in Leadership Panel events, held annually as part of International Women’s Day. The event included a panel discussion facilitated by the Gender Champion.

The panel members were Nikki Gotovac, a Larrakia woman from Darwin with experience in domestic and international aviation, maritime transport safety, security and infrastructure; and Kate Munari, Australia’s only female Navy helicopter pilot to fly in Afghanistan, who served in the Commando Helicopter Force and now works as an air accident investigator with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, having recently retired from the Royal Australian Navy after 17 years of service.

To reflect the diversity of sexuality and gender among its workforce, CASA celebrated IDAHOBIT – the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia – on 17 May 2019. CASA employees supported IDAHOBIT at a special afternoon tea hosted by the Gender Champion.

To help gain a better understanding of the LGBTIQ+ community and the challenges faced by LGBTIQ people, CASA’s Brisbane office celebrated an event modelled on the ABC TV series You Can’t Ask That. The special guests were Hannah Mouncey, a transgender female who in September 2018 was named Victoria’s LGBT Athlete of the Year, and Alex David, an intersex human rights activist and educator, a director of Intersex Human Rights Australia, a member of the National LGBTI Health Alliance, and a Queensland Government LGBTI Roundtable representative.

National Reconciliation Week was celebrated on 29 May 2019, with staff from around Australia coming together to listen and learn about reconciliation. The event was hosted by CASA’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Network, with support from CASA’s Indigenous Champion. The special guest and keynote speaker was Clifford Coulthard, an Adnyamathanha Elder and senior cultural interpreter from the Flinders Ranges, South Australia.

A participant in the Indigenous Australian Government Development Program was placed in CASA’s Brisbane office, and CASA continued to maintain its mentoring program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.

CASA’s annual Taste of Harmony event was held on 21 March 2019. Each year staff are invited to bring a plate of food that reflects their culture and background to share, and to learn about the cultural backgrounds of their colleagues.

Diversity profile

Figure 12 provides an overview of diversity in CASA’s workforce.

Diversity data on CASA employees, by classification, are provided in Table B.4 in Appendix B.

Figure 12 Representation of diversity groups in CASA’s permanent workforce at 30 June 2019

Figure 12 Representation of diversity groups in CASA’s

Staff training and development

The highlights of CASA staff training and development activities in 2018–19 included:

• introduction of the Manager Orientation Program for all managers who have employees reporting directly to them
• delivery of a Regulatory Reset workshop to 426 staff
• procurement of five specialist courses from international providers for delivery to CASA staff and participants from other agencies
• development of a seven-module online professional development program designed to build capability within the industry flight examiner cohort.

New content

During 2018–19, CASA implemented the Manager Orientation Program, which aims to equip CASA managers with an understanding of the regulatory and administrative environment in which CASA operates. The program increases management effectiveness through exposure to the day-to-day functional aspects of leading people within the CASA context.

Five programs were delivered to 91 CASA managers. CASA has committed to ensuring that all managers who have employees reporting directly to them will have completed this face-to-face course by the end of 2019.

CASA developed and delivered a Regulatory Reset workshop to refresh and update the regulatory capability of inspectorate staff, shared services staff and operational managers. The workshop was delivered on 23 occasions to 426 staff in total during the year.

CASA procured five specialist courses covering topics such as aircraft fatigue and damage tolerance, helicopter maintenance and performance-based navigation. These specialist courses enabled 61 CASA staff as well as staff from other government agencies, including Airservices Australia and the Department of Defence, to gain valuable skills and knowledge, and provided opportunities for CASA to strengthen links with industry and government.

CASA produced a new professional development program for industry flight examiners. The program uses a combination of delivery methods, including video, audio and interactivity, to educate industry and improve the standardisation of industry flight testing.

Delivery

During 2018–19, CASA delivered four three-day orientation programs, four four-week foundation training programs, and two advanced training programs for each of the key inspectorate roles.

Classroom-based training in 2018–19 comprised:

• 31 regulatory and technical training courses, attended by a total of 1,062 participants
• 14 professional development courses, attended by a total of 822 participants.

CASA staff completed 4,975 training sessions through CASA e-learning, across 47 courses; and completed 132 courses and accessed 8,648 training videos online through Lynda.com.

CASA provided external e-learning opportunities to the aviation industry. For example, 945 flight examiner sessions were completed and 9,246 training sessions were completed through the AviationWorx portal.

Table 7 shows staff training and professional development activities for CASA employees from 2014–15 to 2018–19.

Table 7 Staff training and professional development per employee, 2014–15 to 2018–19

Management

In 2018–19, CASA increased the focus on regulatory skill sets and corporate capabilities. Using an agile development process, CASA developed 26 face-to-face, 13 e-learning and 17 blended courses in response to organisational training requests.

During the year, CASA commenced a project to transition to a new learning management system with a planned launch in 2019–20. The new system will deliver improved functionality and reporting capability to ensure the visibility of data on training availability and completion.

Workplace agreements

CASA employees are employed under the powers vested in the Director of Aviation Safety by the Civil Aviation Act.

The terms and conditions of most CASA employees are provided under the CASA Enterprise Agreement 2016–19, which nominally expires on 16 November 2019. At 30 June 2019, 96.3 per cent of CASA employees were employed under the enterprise agreement and 3.7 per cent were employed under individual contracts.

CASA also had several service contractors and individuals temporarily engaged through contracted employment agencies. This included some short-term project employees.

Recognition of high performance and commitment to service

CASA’s recognition and reward framework supports managers and staff to provide authentic and timely recognition, at the local level, for valued contributions and staff achievement.

The CASA Award Scheme recognises outstanding staff contribution and achievement within five categories:

• CEO/DAS Achievement Award
• Diversity Champion’s Award
• Above and Beyond Award
• Innovation and Continuous Improvement Award
• Australia Day Achievement Award.

The Australia Day Achievement Award, the CEO/DAS Achievement Award and the Diversity Champion’s Award are presented annually, while the Above and Beyond Award and the Innovation and Continuous Improvement Award are awarded biannually.

Table 8 lists the 2018–19 award recipients as determined by the Executive Committee

Table 8 Employees recognised under the CASA Award Scheme, 2018–19

CASA also recognises the achievements and commitment of employees who have reached their five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 or 40-year milestones of service with CASA. In 2018–19, 32 employees achieved 20 years service or longer, as shown in Table 9.

Table 9 Recipients of CASA milestone awards for service of 20 years or more, 2018–19