Some of Airservices Australia’s responsibilities include air traffic control, airway navigation, communication facilities, publishing aeronautical data, airport rescue, and fire-fighting services.

[1] The agency is fully funded by direct charges to the aviation industry and controlled by a board of directors, accountable to the Australian Parliament through the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.

In addition, Melbourne Centre is responsible for managing traffic handovers from South Africa, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Indonesia and New Zealand.

Brisbane Centre manages traffic handovers from neighbouring flight information regions including East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and the United States.

In 2013, Airservices was ranked among the world's best as part of an international safety benchmarking study undertaken by the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO).

As negotiations continued, ATC staff shortages were said to contribute to what was the worst year on record for flight delays and cancellations,[10] but had been earlier defended by Airservices CEO Greg Russell as having been caused by a group of "renegade air traffic controllers" who had been responsible for airspace closures in a form of covert industrial action.

[15][16][17] High-level intervention of CEO Greg Russell and ACTU President Sharan Burrow in the negotiations produced an offer which averted industrial action and was endorsed almost unanimously by the Air Traffic Controllers.

[22] In its 2010–13 Workforce Plan,[23] Airservices claimed that as of December 2009 the required number of operational ATC staff were available, reflecting the impact of a significant increase in recruitment and training throughout 2008–09.

On 28 July 2010 a Federal Court action was brought against Airservices Australia by two air traffic controllers employed by the agency for alleged bullying and sexual harassment within the workplace.

[24] In August 2019 following media publicity[25] over complaints of ongoing sexual harassment, Airservices engaged Elizabeth Broderick and Co to conduct a culture review.