New Recreational Drone Rules

Today we announced new stronger and clearer rules for flying drones to help drone flyers operate with increased safety.

The new rules will better protect people and aircraft from drones and have been developed in response to community concerns about drone safety and the rapid increase in the number of drone operators.

They do not apply to all drone flyers. If you hold a remote pilot licence (RePL) and operate according to a remotely piloted aircraft operator certificate (ReOC) or have an authorisation from CASA, you will be exempt from the new measures. Model aircraft operating under CASA approvals are also exempt.

These new interim measures also make it clear that operating drones near a public safety or emergency operations is not permitted. We have also launched a new website called droneflyer.com.au that explains key safety rules for recreational drone flyers, using easy-to-understand language and clear and simple information graphics.

Droneflyer.com.au complements our Can I fly there? free mobile app, which helps recreational and sub-2 kg drone operators fly safely by providing practical information about where they can and can’t operate.

Find out more about the new measures and about flying drones commercially.

Last modified: 20 October 2017