Budget Boost for Transport Safety in the Region

The Rudd Government will provide an extra $14.5 million for Australian transport safety authorities to continue working with their Indonesian counterparts to make the skies and waterways within our region even safer.

Since 2008, Australia has been helping to strengthen the capacity of Indonesian authorities to regulate and enforce higher safety standards within their aviation and maritime sectors. This has involved the training of their safety inspectors and accident investigators as well as joint search and rescue exercises.

The new funding in this year's Budget will build on the progress achieved to date, as well as help in the transfer of critical knowledge, skills and systems relating to transport safety.

This assistance is being delivered under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) negotiated by the former government and signed by the Rudd Government - another example of the bipartisan efforts to strengthen the Australia-Indonesia relationship.

The new funding builds upon the $24 million allocated in 2008.

Together these investments will continue improving safety standards within our region. This will benefit 1.3 million people who travel between Australia and Indonesia each year.

My Department will administer the $14.5 million and deliver the programs it funds in cooperation with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and Airservices Australia.