Office of the Inspector of Transport Security

The role of the Office of the Inspector of Transport Security is to inquire into, when directed by the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, a major transport or offshore security incident or a pattern or series of incidents that point to a systemic failure or possible weakness of aviation or maritime transport security regulatory systems in order to strengthen transport security.

The appointment and role of the Office of the Inspector of Transport Security was initially established by administrative arrangement on 11 November 2004.The Inspector of Transport Security Act 2006 (the Act) received Royal Assent on 7 December 2006 and the legislation commenced on 8 June 2007.

The Inspector of Transport Security has no "own motion" powers and, apart from necessary administrative functions, conducts inquiries only at the direction of the Minister.

A direction by the Minister to conduct an inquiry may follow a request from the Prime Minister, another Government Minister, a Minister of a state or territory government, or a recommendation of the Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure and Transport.

A transport security incident worthy of inquiry is one that is likely to involve serious breaches of regulatory obligations by regulated parties, security related events leading to death or a major event, or a pattern of events pointing to serious security vulnerabilities.

A copy of the Act and Regulations may be found below.

• Inspector of Transport Security Act 2006 [PDF: 185 KB]
• Inspector of Transport Security Regulations 2007 [PDF: 25 KB]