The AMSA Compliance Strategy 2023-27 builds on the modern regulatory foundations laid out in its predecessor - a data-driven, risk-based and proportionate approach to compliance that minimises impact on industry while maximising safety and environmental outcomes.
On a practical level, the strategy is implemented through AMSA's annual National Compliance Plans which detail specific inspection and education focus areas for a given 12-month period.
AMSA Executive Director of Operations, Michael Drake, says the authority uses incident and inspection data to identify and target emerging risks to safety across the domestic and merchant maritime industries.
"Once we know where our efforts need to be strategically directed, our proportionate approach means we adjust our compliance response according to an individual's willingness to comply with their legal obligations," Mr Drake explains.
"A more collaborative approach is used with operators who voluntarily comply, while on the other end of the compliance spectrum, a more punitive approach is used with operators who disregard and resist their legal obligations.
"Safe and clean seas, and lives saved, isn't just AMSA's mission statement - it's a shared goal for everyone who works on the water."
Mr Drake says there were six elements or underpinning principles to AMSA's Compliance Strategy 2023-27.
"We aim to simplify explanations of the law, educate and assist our regulated communities to comply, monitor their compliance, reward voluntary and deter non-compliance, and last but not least, build the compliance skills and capacity of our workforce.
"Like most modern regulators, we have finite resources - our most critical being our people - and that means investing in them and being strategic about where we direct our efforts."
AMSA's Compliance Strategy 2023-27 is available on its website.
