Submission to Aviation Consumer Protections Consultation – Primary Legislation

The Justice and Equity Centre made a submission responding to the Australian Government’s Consultation Paper on Aviation Consumer Protections – Primary Legislation. This consultation focused on how the aviation consumer protection framework should be established and governed, including the roles of the Ombudsperson and regulator.

We emphasised the importance of establishing the regulator independently of government, so it has broad authority to pursue consumer interests. We also reiterated (from our 2024 submission) that people with disability must be able to complain directly to the Ombudsperson in serious or urgent circumstances, for example, where mobility aids are damaged or lost. 

The consultation also sought views on the scope of the regulatory framework. We called for the entirety of the consumer aviation experience to be covered by this framework, including for consumers to be able to bring complaints and seek remedies where travel agents have contributed to the problem, and where poor treatment is experienced at security screening.