CASA is an agency within the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA).

CASA is responsible for monitoring civil air operations in Australia, issuing appropriate licences, enforcing safety requirements and protecting the environment from the effects of aircraft use.

Although it is a corporate body distinct from the Australian Government, CASA is responsible to the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.

Those functions include conducting the safety regulation of:[7] CASA must regard the safety of air navigation as the most important consideration, however it must exercise its powers and perform its functions in a manner that ensures, as far as is practicable, the environment is protected from: (a) the effects of the operation and use of aircraft; and (b) the effects associated with the operation and use of aircraft.

[9] In practice there is uncertainty concerning which body assumes meaningful responsibility for the impact of aviation on the environment.