Drone fines and legal advice in Australia

The legal framework: Commonwealth aviation law

The primary source of drone safety law in Australia is the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (Cth), the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (Cth) — principally Part 101 — Unmanned aircraft and rockets — and instruments made under Part 101, including the Part 101 Manual of Standards and various CASA directions. Part 101 uses the term remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) for what most people call a drone, and distinguishes RPA from model aircraft flown for sport or recreation. RPA are further categorised by mass: micro (250 g or less); very small (more than 250 g but not more than 2 kg); small (more than 2 kg but not more than 25 kg); medium (more than 25 kg but not more than 150 kg); and large (more than 150 kg) — with different rules for different categories and operations.

CASA also publishes extensive guidance material, safety campaigns and educational content. That material is helpful but is not itself the law. Where guidance and the current authorised regulations or instrument diverge, the legislation prevails.

State and territory laws — including surveillance devices, privacy, criminal, environmental, national park, wildlife, major-event and critical-infrastructure legislation — apply in addition to Part 101, not instead of it. A flight can comply with Part 101 and still breach a state law, and vice versa.

Recreational, business and commercial operations

The purpose of a flight matters as much as the aircraft. Broadly:

• Sport or recreation with a model aircraft is subject to model-aircraft rules and any conditions of flight at an approved model-aircraft flying site.
• Excluded-category RPA operations (commercial or otherwise) — such as sub-2 kg operations flown under the standard operating conditions, or private landowner operations of defined weight over their own land — can proceed without an RePL and ReOC if the specific requirements are met. CASA operator accreditation, RPA registration and pre-notification requirements commonly apply.
• Other RPA operations for anything beyond sport or recreation generally require a Remote Pilot Licence (RePL), operation under an RPA Operator's Certificate (ReOC) and compliance with the operator's operations manual and any conditions.
• Certified-category operations — for example beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), over people or in controlled airspace outside standard conditions — require a specific CASA approval or authorisation and additional safety assurance.

Statements such as "any commercial use requires a licence" are too broad. Whether a licence is required, what registration and accreditation apply and which operating conditions govern the flight all depend on the specific aircraft, operator and operation. Current CASA requirements — and any transitional arrangements affecting registration or accreditation of model or recreational aircraft — should be checked before flying.

Standard operating conditions under Part 101

Most excluded-category and recreational operators fly under the Part 101 standard operating conditions. In summary form, those conditions include:

• keeping the RPA within visual line of sight at all times;
• flying only by day and only in visual meteorological conditions;
• flying no higher than 120 m (400 ft) above ground level;
• not flying within 30 m of a person who is not directly associated with the operation;
• not flying over a populous area (a broader concept than a crowd), and not over people, in a way that would create a hazard;
• not flying in prohibited or restricted airspace, or over an area where public safety or emergency operations are being conducted, without the applicable authorisation;
• for a drone over 250 g, not flying within 3 nautical miles (approximately 5.5 km) of a controlled aerodrome without the applicable authorisation; a drone of 250 g or less may be flown within that distance subject to specific height, airport-boundary, approach and departure path, airspace and hazard restrictions;
• observing the specific rules that apply near non-controlled aerodromes and helicopter landing sites, particularly when a manned aircraft is operating in the vicinity; and
• flying only one RPA at a time.

Different or additional conditions apply to model aircraft, to certain excluded-category commercial operations and to any operation flown under a specific CASA approval, instrument or authorised area. Commercial and safety apps that display airspace or distance information are useful planning tools but are not themselves legal authorisation to fly.

People, populous areas, airports and emergency operations

The 30 m distance from people applies to people who are not directly associated with the operation. The ordinary rule is to keep the RPA at least 30 m from those people. Mere consent from an uninvolved person does not automatically make that person directly associated with the operation or disapply the rule. Reducing that distance, or operating over people or a populous area, requires a specific regulatory exception, exemption, approval or authorisation — for example a specific CASA approval or operation under a certified-category authorisation — and its conditions must actually be met. A property owner's permission to launch from their land is not, on its own, authorisation for a flight profile that would otherwise breach Part 101. Any proposed CASA reform to the 30 m rule is not current law unless and until it commences.

The 3 nautical mile / 5.5 km distance from a controlled aerodrome under the standard operating conditions applies to a drone over 250 g, which generally must not be flown within that distance without the applicable authorisation. A drone of 250 g or less may be flown within that distance of a controlled aerodrome subject to specific height, airport-boundary, approach and departure path, airspace and hazard restrictions. Near non-controlled aerodromes and helicopter landing sites, Part 101 imposes different requirements, particularly when a manned aircraft is operating. Prohibited and restricted airspace, including around certain defence, security and critical-infrastructure sites, is set out in aeronautical publications; access requires the relevant permission, and simple distance rules of thumb do not substitute for those publications or for any temporary CASA instrument in force.

Flying anywhere near police, fire, ambulance, search-and-rescue, accident or other public-safety operations is separately restricted under Part 101 and can also engage state and territory offences relating to obstruction, endangerment or interference with emergency services.

Night, BVLOS, automated and first-person view operations

Under the standard operating conditions, operations at night, beyond visual line of sight, autonomously without a competent remote pilot, and (in defined ways) with first-person view goggles are not permitted. Operations of those kinds may be conducted only under a specific CASA approval, an instrument, an authorised model-aircraft arrangement or a certified-category authorisation with appropriate safety assurance and operator credentials. That a drone is technically capable of a flight profile does not mean the flight is lawful.

Enforcement: infringements, civil penalties and prosecution

CASA's enforcement toolkit is graduated. In broad terms:

• Infringement notices can be issued for specified strict-liability offences under Part 101. The penalty for each offence is expressed in penalty units under Commonwealth law; the dollar value of a penalty unit is set by the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) and is indexed from time to time. A single flight can attract multiple alleged offences.
• Administrative action available under the current legislation may include suspension, variation or cancellation of a civil aviation authorisation held by the person, such as a RePL or a ReOC. Registration and operator accreditation are not necessarily subject to the same variation, suspension and cancellation machinery as an authorisation; the current provisions should be checked against the credential in question.
• Civil penalty proceedings may be brought in a court for more serious or repeated breaches; a court may impose a substantially higher civil penalty than an infringement notice.
• Criminal prosecution may follow for the most serious conduct, including under offence provisions of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (Cth) for endangering the safety of an aircraft or of a person, and under state or territory criminal law where separate offences are engaged.

Because penalty-unit values and specific provisions change, headline dollar figures found in older articles are not a reliable guide. The current provision and penalty-unit value should be checked before any decision is made about whether to pay, elect for court, or contest an alleged breach.

Local police, councils and land managers

Local police and councils do not administer Part 101 unless separately authorised. That said:

• Councils frequently regulate take-off, landing and use of drones from land they manage — parks, reserves, foreshores, sportsgrounds and roads — through local laws. Enforcement is via council authorised officers and can attract infringements or council prosecutions.
• National, state and marine parks agencies commonly restrict drone use in conservation areas and generally require a permit for anything beyond incidental recreational use, where it is permitted at all.
• Event and critical-infrastructure operators may have specific restrictions or temporary no-fly zones designated by CASA around major sporting or public events.
• Police can investigate conduct that may involve criminal offences (for example dangerous conduct, stalking or interference with emergency services) and can report suspected Part 101 breaches to CASA.

These regimes regulate the land, the event or the conduct; they do not replace CASA's airspace rules. A flight that complies with Part 101 can still breach a council by-law, a park regulation or state legislation.

Privacy, surveillance and filming

Australia does not have a single general "drone privacy Act". Instead, drone filming and recording engages a patchwork of rules:

• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth): applies to defined APP entities and includes an exemption for many small businesses. It regulates the handling of personal information, which can include images that identify an individual, by entities to which it applies.
• Statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy: Schedule 2 to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), in force from 10 June 2025, creates a statutory cause of action for serious invasions of privacy. Broadly, it addresses intrusion upon seclusion and misuse of information, where the person had a reasonable expectation of privacy, the invasion was intentional or reckless, and the invasion was serious. The claimant must also satisfy the statutory public-interest requirement — in substance, the public interest in the claimant's privacy must outweigh any countervailing public interest — and the claim remains subject to statutory defences and available remedies. Not every intrusive drone recording will establish liability under this tort.
• Surveillance devices legislation: in Victoria the Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic) may regulate use of optical, listening, tracking or data-surveillance devices depending on the device, conduct and circumstances, including in some cases recording of private activities or private conversations. Other states and territories have equivalent legislation with different definitions, exceptions and defences.
• Common-law claims: trespass to land can be engaged by a flight at a height and in a manner that interferes with ordinary use; nuisance may arise where a flight substantially and unreasonably interferes with the use and enjoyment of land. Whether either succeeds in a given case depends on the facts and law.
• Criminal law: stalking, using a carriage service to menace and other offences can be engaged where drone use is repeated, targeted or threatening.

A flight can therefore be lawful under Part 101 and still create privacy, surveillance, nuisance or criminal exposure. Broad statements that filming from public airspace is always lawful, or that a right to privacy exists at large in Australia, both overstate the position. Commercial use of footage that identifies people or private property usually calls for additional consents and legal review.

Insurance, liability and business exposure

Recreational and business drone policies vary widely. Coverage typically depends on the policy wording, disclosed use, credentials of the pilot, compliance with the law and any relevant exclusions. Compliance with Part 101 does not, on its own, guarantee coverage; nor does a breach automatically defeat every claim. Where a drone flight has caused injury or property damage, civil exposure can arise independently of any CASA action.

Businesses that engage drone operators, whether as employees or contractors, should ensure operators are appropriately credentialled, that flights are planned and authorised, that contracts allocate responsibility for compliance and insurance, and that footage is handled lawfully.

Responding to a notice, infringement or complaint

The steps that most often make a difference are simple:

• Do not ignore it. Response deadlines matter, and missed deadlines close options.
• Identify the alleged provision. Note which regulation or instrument is said to have been breached, the date, location and any deadline.
• Preserve evidence. Retain flight logs, controller and app data, footage, registration and credential records. Do not alter or delete anything.
• Be careful about admissions. Statements made in phone calls, emails or on social media can be used in later proceedings. Ignorance of the rules, an app failure, loss of signal or absence of harm are rarely, on their own, decisive answers.
• Consider the options available for the notice. Any withdrawal request, extension, court-election, merits-review or judicial-review options depend on the particular notice, decision and legislation. Those pathways have their own time limits and consequences.
• Notify insurers where required. Policies may impose prompt-notification and cooperation duties. Comply with those duties without making inaccurate admissions.
• Get legal advice before paying or electing. In general, timely payment of an infringement notice disposes of liability to further proceedings for the alleged contravention under the applicable scheme, without a conviction, and is not itself an admission; the particular notice and legislation control. The precise legal effect should be checked before payment.

When legal advice is worthwhile

Many minor drone issues can be resolved without lawyers. Legal advice is more likely to be worthwhile where:

• the alleged breach is significant, or multiple alleged breaches arise from one flight;
• CASA has issued a show-cause notice or proposes to suspend, vary or cancel a registration, accreditation, RePL or ReOC;
• police are investigating, or the conduct may involve a criminal offence;
• the complaint involves surveillance, privacy, stalking or harassment allegations;
• there is a real or threatened civil claim — for example nuisance, trespass or property damage;
• a business or contractor's accreditation, licensing or insurance may be at risk; or
• there is media interest or the matter may affect professional reputation.

Parke Lawyers is a Melbourne-based firm with experience across regulatory, fines, disputes, criminal and traffic and commercial law. We can advise on notices, evidence, procedure, enforcement, disputes and related criminal and commercial issues arising from drone use. Specialist operational certification or flight-authorisation advice may require an appropriately qualified aviation professional. Our broader work is described on the Criminal & Traffic, Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Commercial & Business Law pages.

Where to get more information

The most authoritative source of current Australian drone rules is CASA. Current Part 101, the Manual of Standards, registration and accreditation guidance and any temporary instruments should be checked directly with CASA before any flight, particularly for commercial operations and flights near airports, in controlled airspace, near events or emergency operations, or over people. Our broader Information Centre covers related topics on fines, regulatory notices and disputes.

Frequently Asked Questions