Australians are to have a greater say in the planning and operation of our airports.

The Gillard Labor Government is establishing community aviation consultation groups at each capital city airport and eleven smaller ones across the country.

The airports in our State and Territory capitals will also be required to set up high level planning coordination forums to improve coordination and foster regular dialogue with government planning authorities on future developments and ground transport access.

We want more transparent decisions about development at, and surrounding, our airports.

We also want to ensure that the community is involved in this process.

After all, 4.7 million Australians live within 10 kilometres of one or more of our 19 federally leased airports, with more than a quarter of a million people living within 10 kilometres of two of these airports.

They deserve to be informed about and involved with future plans for our airports.

The boards will be independent and will engage with local residents and the broader community on issues such as noise, disability access, environmental concerns, ground transport linkages and future developments.

Today I am releasing the guidelines to help the airports set up their groups.

I note that several airports already have them in place, in response to the aviation white paper, Flight Path for the Future, which I released just over a year ago.

The groups will be in place at all 19 federally-leased airports.

Serious engagement by airports with the community and with planning agencies is at the core of the Gillard Labor Government’s airport reforms.

These build on further airport reforms we recently introduced limiting non-aviation activity and requiring any development with a big community impact to undergo a planning and consultation process.

Guidelines are at: http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/aviation/airport/planning/index.aspx