Aviation Consumer Protection Bill 2026, Aviation Consumer Protection (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2026, Aviation Consumer Protection Levy Bill 2026, Aviation Consumer Protection Levy (Collection) Bill 2026

Ms AMBIHAIPAHAR (Barton) (12:55): I rise in support of the Aviation Consumer Protection Bill 2026 and the other bills itemised. These bills together represent the most significant reform to aviation consumer rights here in this country in more than a decade. For too long, Australian travellers have felt powerless when flights are being delayed, cancelled or disrupted.

For too long, people have been left stranded at airports, unable to get clear information, unable to access assistance and unable to resolve complaints in a fair and timely way. For too long, this system has effectively relied on airlines policing themselves. But Australians deserve better, and the Albanese Labor government is delivering a modern aviation system that puts passengers back in the centre of this conversation—a system that is fairer, a system that is much more transparent and a system that improves accountability across the aviation industry and, more importantly, a system that recognises that air travel is not a luxury for many Australians.

It's an essential part of everyday life. In my electorate of Barton, the issue matters deeply because Barton is located very close to Sydney airport, which is one of the busiest aviation hubs in this country, and many residents in Barton work directly in aviation, tourism, hospitality, freight, logistics and airport services. I've had the privilege to meet a number of those workers through doorknocking and meet wonderful United Workers Union members as well at Sydney airport.

Many families travel regularly to visit their loved ones overseas, and my community is a proudly multicultural community. For many people in Barton, flying is not simply about the holidays, maintaining family ties, weddings, caring for ageing parents who might be living overseas, studying, working and conducting business. When flights are disrupted, it has a real emotional and financial consequence to the people in my community.

Anyone who has travelled in recent years knows that frustration Australians have experienced—hours of sitting in the terminals, last-minute cancellations, confusing communication, travel credits instead of refunds, and passengers left to navigate really complicated systems with little clarity about their rights. These reforms recognise that consumers deserve certainty and dignity when things go wrong.

The Aviation Consumer Protection Bill establishes the legal foundations for a new consumer protection framework that will fundamentally improve the passenger experience here in Australia. At the core of these reforms is the creation of the Aviation Consumer Protections Charter. This charter will set out clear minimum standards that consumers can expect from airlines and airports.

Importantly, it will clarify what obligations airlines have when flights are delayed, cancelled or disrupted. And, for the first time in Australia, there will be a nationally consistent framework outlining the minimum standards of treatment that passengers should receive, and that includes standards across communication, assistance, accessibility and support during disruptions.

This is major reform. It's one driven by evidence. The government's Preparing for take-off study revealed what many Australians already knew through lived experience.

More than half of the flying public experienced a disruption within a 12-month period, around one-third were satisfied with how it was handled, 82 per cent of passengers said that they received no support during disruptions, 81 per cent said they were not informed of their rights, and about 17 per cent were satisfied with the complaints process overall. Those figures are quite staggering, and they demonstrate why these reforms are very necessary.

Passengers should not need to become experts in aviation law simply to understand what support they're entitled to. Consumers deserve clarity and transparency. Consumers deserve accountability, and that is precisely what these reforms will deliver.

The legislation will establish the Aviation Consumer Protection Authority, or the ACPA, and the role of ACPA will be to monitor compliance, enforce standards and ensure airlines and airports are meeting their obligations under this charter. This is critical because standards without enforcement are meaningless. The ACPA will provide proper oversight and ensure the framework has teeth.

Importantly, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will continue its existing role in enforcing Australian consumer law and monitoring competition issues within the aviation sector. That means misleading conduct and anticompetitive behaviour will still be scrutinised by the ACCC, but this new framework recognises that aviation also requires a dedicated and specialised consumer protection regime and the aviation sector has unique operational challenges.

It requires tailored oversight, and these reforms deliver exactly that. Another major reform contained within this package is the establishment of the Aviation Consumer Ombudsperson. This is an Australian-first independent external dispute resolution mechanism specifically designed for aviation complaints.

For many travellers today, making a complaint feels like shouting into a void. People are bounced through departments, receive automatic responses or simply give up altogether, and I don't think that's good enough. The Aviation Consumer Ombudsperson will provide passengers with an independent avenue to resolve disputes fairly and transparently and will help restore confidence in the complaints process and ensure consumers are very much heard.

Importantly, it will sit outside government as an independent not-for-profit body, and that independence matters. Australians need confidence that complaints will be assessed fairly and objectively. The bill package also establishes the Aircraft Noise Ombudsperson, and this is particularly important for communities living near major flight paths and airports.

Again, this is highly relevant to the communities in and around my electorate of Barton, because I'm also the Chair of the Sydney Airport Community Forum. I know many of my fellow parliamentarians in this chamber understand that this is an important issue regarding flight paths. Residents living near the Sydney Airport understand both the economic importance of aviation and the impact aircraft noise can have on their daily life.

Communities deserve confidence that noise complaints are managed transparently and independently. The Aircraft Noise Ombudsperson will review how aircraft noise complaints are handled by Airservices Australia and the Department of Defence, and this reform strengthens trust and transparency and ensures communities are not simply ignored. It reinforces that government can support both aviation growth and community amenity at the same time.

These reforms also recognise that accessibility must be the centre of aviation consumer protection. The Preparing for take-off study found that passengers with disabilities, medical conditions or injuries consistently experience poorer outcomes when travelling. Around one in four travellers surveyed identified as having a disability, injury or medical condition.

Alarmingly, two in five did not know how to access assistance services available to them. That is unacceptable in a modern aviation system. Every Australian deserves to travel with dignity, and these reforms will help ensure airlines and airports provide fair and reasonable treatment to passengers with accessibility challenges or needs.

That matters enormously. Aviation should be able to connect people, not exclude them. The government has been very clear from the outset that this framework will be designed in consultation with industry.

There will be ongoing engagement with airlines and airports to ensure standards are operationally feasible and sustainable, and the framework strikes an appropriate balance. It lifts standards while recognising the realities of operating within a very complex aviation environment. Importantly, the legislation also provides flexibility for exemptions where appropriate.

The aviation industry is not all the same. The small regional airport is very different from a major international gateway. That is why this government intends to exempt airports with fewer than one million passengers per year from the framework.

This ensures smaller regional and council owned airports are not unfairly burdened. At the same time, the framework will still capture Australia's largest airports, including Sydney Airport and Western Sydney International Airport, covering approximately 93 per cent of passenger movements nationwide. This is a sensible and proportionate approach.

We also know that there has been discussion around financial compensation for delays and cancellations, and the government has carefully considered international models. What we have seen overseas is that mandatory compensation schemes can often result in an increase in ticket prices without necessarily improving airline performance. This government's focus is on practical support and better outcomes for passengers.

Under these reforms, the airlines will be expected to cover reasonable, consequential costs when disruptions occur. That may include accommodation, meals and transport where appropriate. Importantly, when flights are cancelled for reasons within the airline's control, consumers should receive refunds in the original form of payment, not be forced into an unwanted travel credit.

That's commonsense reform; it puts the consumer first. These reforms build on substantial work already undertaken by the Albanese Labor government in aviation. In our first term, we delivered the Aviation white paper, we passed legislation to boost competition at Sydney Airport, we reinstated ACCC's airline monitoring after the former government planned to discontinue it and we released the draft Aviation Consumer Protections Charter.

This government understands that a healthy aviation sector requires both competition and accountability, because competition benefits consumers, transparency benefits consumers and strong protections benefit consumers. These reforms are also particularly important in an increasingly uncertain global environment. Recent global conflicts and international instability have demonstrated how vulnerable aviation networks can be to disruption.

Australians need confidence that, when disruptions occur, there are clear standards in place and proper consumer protections are available. This legislation provides that certainty. It modernises the framework, strengthens accountability and delivers long-overdue protections for passengers.

I also want to acknowledge the many workers across the aviation industry: pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, baggage handlers, airport workers, customer service teams, security staff and the thousands of people employed across Sydney Airport and related industries near my electorate. These reforms are about building a stronger and more trusted aviation system for absolutely everyone—a system where passengers know their rights, complaints are handled fairly, and accountability and transparency are very much embedded into the sector.

Australians understand that disruptions can and do happen; weather events happen, mechanical issues happen and global events happen. What people rightly expect is clear communication and fair treatment when things go wrong. That is not an unreasonable expectation, and that is exactly what this legislation seeks to deliver.

At its core, this package is about restoring that trust—trust between consumers and the airlines, trust between communities and airports and trust that the government is willing to step in when self-regulation has failed to deliver adequate outcomes. For too long, consumers have carried that burden. This legislation shifts that balance back towards fairness.

It says to Australians, 'You deserve transparency, you deserve assistance, you deserve accountability and you deserve to know your rights when you're flying.'