About the Commission
Role of the Commission | Members of the Commission
Role of the Commission
The Commission was established under the International Air Services Commission Act 1992. The object of the Act is to enhance the welfare of Australians by promoting economic efficiency through competition in the provision of international air services, resulting in:
- increased responsiveness by airlines to the needs of consumers, including an increased range of choices and benefits; and
- growth in Australian tourism and trade; and
- the maintenance of Australian carriers capable of competing effectively with airlines of foreign countries
The Commission's role is to determine the outcomes of applications by existing and prospective Australian airlines for capacity and route entitlements available under air services arrangements. These determinations allocate the available capacity on a route to one or more carriers and set conditions, where these are considered appropriate. The Commission may conduct a review of a determination at any time, either at the request of the carrier concerned or if the Commission believes that there may be grounds for doing so. The Commission is also responsible for reviewing determinations after a specified period and providing advice to the Minister for Transport about any matter referred to the Commission by the Minister concerning international air operations.
In allocating capacity, the Commission assesses the merits of claims by applicants under specified public benefit criteria. These criteria are detailed in Policy Statements issued, from time to time, by the Minister.
The Government, through the Department of Infrastructure and Transport, continues to have the responsibility for administering and negotiating Australia's air services arrangements. In this role, the Department is responsible for maintaining a Register of Available Capacity for use by the Commission and applicants. This register details the capacity available under each air services arrangement, and is updated to reflect changes in capacity entitlements arising from new negotiations and determinations by the Commission. The Department is also responsible for making operational decisions that authorise carriers to fly on each route based on the Commission's determinations.
Members of the Commission
The Commission comprises a part-time chairwoman and two part-time members. Its office in Canberra is assisted by a small Secretariat.
Dr Jill Walker, Chairwoman
Dr Jill Walker, (formally appointed as the Chairwoman for the IASC on 9 February 2011), is currently a Commissioner at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). She is Chair of the Mergers Review Committee. Prior to her appointment at the ACCC, Dr Walker worked as an economic consultant with LECG Ltd, Network Economics Consulting Group (NECG) and CRA International. Her work spanned a wide range of industries and included the preparation of advice, reports, submissions and the presentation of expert evidence in the Federal Court of Australia.
Stephen Bartos, Member
Stephen Bartos is a director international consulting firm Sapher Research Group. He is an expert in public sector governance and risk. He is author of two books Against the Grain – The AWB Scandal and Why it Happened (UNSW Press, 2006) and the reference manual Public Sector Governance – Australia (CCH, 2004) which he continues to edit. He has written numerous refereed articles in scholarly journals and regular governance comment and opinion pieces, including a regular column in the Public Sector Informant (a monthly supplement to the Canberra Times). His work in the aviation sector includes advising the Victorian government on aviation technical training, a review of Airservices Australia for the former Transport Minister, and advice to the Board of Airservices Australia. Much earlier, he played a key role in provision of economic advice to government on policy ending the ‘two airline’ agreement.
Prior to consulting, Stephen was Professor of Governance and Director of the National Institute of Governance at the University of Canberra.
Stephen previously worked in the Commonwealth Government for some 25 years. He was a Deputy Secretary in the Finance department and head of Budget Group, where he was responsible for advising Ministers on spending and non-tax revenue in the Commonwealth budget, government business enterprises, fiscal policy, accounting policies and public sector performance improvement.
Dr Ian Douglas, Member
Dr Ian Douglas is a Senior Lecturer in Aviation Management, School of Aviation, at the University of New South Wales, specialising in the areas of air transport economics, airline marketing strategy, airline fleet and schedule planning. He has also been a consultant for Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways International, Bain & Co Singapore, Icebox Advertising, Air Bagan and Tourism Queensland. Prior to academia and consulting, Dr Douglas had a 25 year career with Qantas managing pricing, business development, routes, annual plans and strategic planning and market development.