Transport Security Amendment (Security of Australia’s Transport Sector) Bill 2024 - Impact Analysis for Final (Second Pass) Assessment

Sep 2, 2026

The Impact Analysis assesses outcomes of consultation by Australia’s Department of Home Affairs with industry participants across the aviation and maritime transport sector. It evaluates regulatory impacts of four policy options intended to address misalignment between existing transport security legislative frameworks and the evolving geopolitical and cyber threat environment. The analysis estimates the net benefit, costs and benefits, incorporates stakeholder feedback, identifies Option 4 as preferred, and sets out how outcomes will be evaluated against success metrics.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatDOCX

Pages101

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Policy problem and available data

Objectives, intervention rationale, and success metrics

Policy options considered

Net benefit of each option

Consultation and incorporation of feedback

Preferred option and implementation

Evaluation against success metrics

Transport Security Amendment (Security of Australia’s Transport Sector) Bill 2024 Impact Analysis for Final (Second Pass) Assessment Prepared by the Department of Home Affairs This Impact Analysis (IA) analyses the outcomes of consultation conducted by the Department of Home Affairs with industry on the regulation of Australia’s aviation and maritime sector industry participants. This document aims to provide transparency on the government’s decision-making process and has enabled the testing of regulatory impacts of options under consideration with stakeholders. Contents Executive Summary Introduction What is the policy problem you are trying to solve and what data is available? What are the objectives, why is government intervention needed to achieve them, and how will success be measured What policy options are you considering? What is the likely net benefit of each option? Who did you consult and how did you incorporate their feedback? What is the best option from those you have considered and how will it be implemented? How will you evaluate your chosen option against the success metrics? Executive Summary Australia’s transport sector, is essential for the nation’s social and economic prosperity, national security, and defence, and for facilitating the provision of essential goods and services. The 2023 Critical Infrastructure Resilience Strategy defines critical infrastructure as: “…physical facilities, systems, assets, supply chains, information technologies and communication networks which, if destroyed, degraded, compromised or rendered unavailable for an extended period, would significantly impact the social or economic wellbeing of Australia as a nation or its states or territories, or affect Australia’s ability to conduct national defence and ensure national security.” The evolving, dynamic and heightened geopolitical and cyber threat environment facing Australia requires regular review of current legal parameters to ensure the integrity and resilience of critical infrastructure. The Department of Home Affairs (the department) remains focused on ensuring the security and resilience of Australia’s critical infrastructure, including for Australia’s transport sector (comprising aviation, maritime and offshore facility industry participants). This involves providing ongoing assurance that the Australian government is managing critical infrastructure in a manner which reflects an inherently complex risk environment. Australia’s transport sector is security-regulated through the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004 (ATSA) and the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act 2003 (MTOFSA) and supporting regulations (transport security legislative frameworks). The transport security legislative frameworks require the transport sector to mitigate the threat of unlawful interference, terrorism, and serious crime within an entity’s physical boundary or geographical location. However, the limited focus of the transport security legislative frameworks does not reflect the current or emerging threat environment nor the range of risks the Australia’s transport sector faces. The department’s role in assuring the security of the transport sector involves ongoing assessment of whether the applicable legislation remains fit for purpose. It also requires engagement with industry to understand and address areas of concern. As such, the department is proposing to amend the existing transport security legislative frameworks to ensure that it: operates on a flexible, risk-based and scalable basis, ensuring obligations are adaptable and flexibly applied to an appropriate range of entities and their specific risk environments holistically addresses potential vulnerabilities which could have a relevant impact on aviation and maritime entities and flow-on effects for Australia’s critical infrastructure, which will result in security requirements that support the delivery of dynamic and modernised transport security legislative

FAQs

What is the purpose of this impact analysis document?

It analyses consultation outcomes with industry and evaluates the regulatory impacts of options under consideration, supporting transparency in government decision-making.

Which areas does the analysis focus on for Australia’s transport security?

It covers aviation, maritime, and offshore facility participants and examines how current legislation mitigates unlawful interference, terrorism, and serious crime.

What policy option is identified as the preferred option and why?

Option 4—amending ATSA, MTOFSA and associated regulations to enact mandatory obligations—is identified as preferred after considering objectives, costs and benefits, and industry feedback.

Sep 2, 2026

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