Drone Regulations

Drone Regulations in Australia

The regulator for the use of aircraft in Australia, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), has developed new drone regulations, which took effect on 29 September 2016. From 25th September 2016 the term UAV was replaced with RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) in official documents and the UAV Controller’s Certificate was replaced by the Remote Pilot Licence (RePL).

CASA’s new regulations will amend Part 101 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASR), which is the primary regulatory instrument affecting drones in Australia.

This Regulation allows a person to operate a very small RPA, weighing less than 2 kg, without certification, if it is being operated in standard RPA operating conditions - an excluded aircraft. Standard RPA operating conditions means that the RPA must be operated: within visual line of sight, below 400 ft AGL, during the day, more than 30 m away from anyone who is not directly associated with the operation. It is notable that  people being filmed are not considered to be directly associated with the RPA’s operation.  It may not be operated over a populous area, within 3 nautical miles of the movement area of a controlled aerodrome, in a prohibited area, in a restricted area that is classified as RA3, in a restricted area that is classified as RA2 or RA1 otherwise than in accordance with regulation 101.065, over an area where a fire, police or other public safety or emergency operation is being conducted without the approval of a person in charge of the operation.

Photoraphers and real estate photographers are usually usually not able to conform with all of the above these conditions and will usually require a UAV Operator Certificate (UOC). If flights are not for making any commercial gain from, then certification may not be required. However, commercial gain is iterpreted widely, so it includes any flights for advertising purposes or even making videos.

Any flights for commercial gain require certification of both the pilot flying the actual drone, and the business which is conducting the operation. The pilot must have a UAV Controller’s Certificate and the business must have a UAV Operator’s Certificate.  

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