Drone Registration coming to Australia in July.

The Aussie Viking · Mar 26, 2019

For those of us in Australia, this is happening. Unsure how that will affect tourists/visitors who want to use a drone. Will update when known.

If you own a drone you'll need a 'flyer's licence' from July

As a drone delivery service prepares to begin operation in Canberra, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority commits to enforcing licences for any Australian using a drone.

www.abc.net.au

Krusty Geeza · Mar 27, 2019

I liked the follow up story linked to on that page about the year long Google "Project Wing" that wound up at the end of February.

Can a group of angry residents in Australia take down Google's drone delivery project?

The company behind a drone delivery trial in Canberra has worked to make them quieter, but there are plenty of other things to worry about besides noise.

www.abc.net.au

Here's a short video illustrating the annoying noise levels of these delivery drones dropping off a coffee & this is the newer, quieter drone apparently!

A burrito is delivered to a Canberra home as part of the drone delivery trial. (Supplied: Jamie Hengst)

Follow the latest news headlines from Australia's most trusted source. Read in-depth expert analysis and watch live coverage on ABC News.

www.abc.net.au

It's primarily because of this Google assault of drone deliveries that the registration & tracking of drones is happening. Where was the community consultation again? Oh, that's right, a few buck$ from a pro-Google lobbyist & you don't need to do that any more...

AaronB · Mar 27, 2019

Krusty Geeza said:
...
It's primarily because of this Google assault of drone deliveries that the registration & tracking of drones is happening. Where was the community consultation again? Oh, that's right, a few buck$ from a pro-Google lobbyist & you don't need to do that any more...

As much as I dislike laws that introduce victimless crimes (taking a selfie at 5 feet without first registering will become a criminal act?), I can see one positive to this. It creates an artificial incentive for further development towards a photography drone that is smaller and lighter and hence safer, quieter and less prone to damage. Such a drone would bring back the freedom we once had for this hobby, and benefit the consumer drone industry as a whole.

Landbo · Mar 27, 2019

Registration is not the end of the world. Here in Denmark we have had the requirement for the last 2 years together with a forced liability insurance in order to fly. In fact, we are now waiting for the rules the EU has made to be implemented in Danish law, which will probably make our strict rules less strict by allowing us to fly with RC airplanes/drones closer to people and cars, roads etc than we must today. Also I hope we will not lose the possibility of night flying as we have today as probably the one and only country in the world.

Model-flying guests in our country must today take the online test, which can be done in English and then be registered in the same way as we Danes. The same rules also apply for having a valid liability insurance. It's pretty simple and takes no more than an hour to get over. The price of the registration is about 2 USD.

Regards, Leif.

Krusty Geeza · Mar 27, 2019

Landbo said:
Registration is not the end of the world. Here in Denmark we have had the requirement for the last 2 years together with a forced liability insurance in order to fly. In fact, we are now waiting for the rules the EU has made to be implemented in Danish law, which will probably make our strict rules less strict by allowing us to fly with RC airplanes/drones closer to people and cars, roads etc than we must today. Also I hope we will not lose the possibility of night flying as we have today as probably the one and only country in the world.

Model-flying guests in our country must today take the online test, which can be done in English and then be registered in the same way as we Danes. The same rules also apply for having a valid liability insurance. It's pretty simple and takes no more than an hour to get over. The price of the registration is about 2 USD.

Regards, Leif.

You Danes & your application of logic! We prefer to operate from a place of excessive fear created by the media & political idiots in conjunction with severely imposed limitations it seems...

Krusty Geeza · Mar 27, 2019

Just joking with the above comment Leif @Landbo You do have to wonder at times though...

FrostyParrot · Mar 31, 2019

This is not finalised yet according to CASA website, they are still in discussions.
When this does happen, recreational flyers will not have to register their drone until November.
There is no speak of having to have a RePL as yet

Jagerbomb52 · Mar 31, 2019

During the transition of the new UAV rules here in Canada that take effect on June 1st there where many changes along the way. Even with them being finalized and brought into law they say some still might change as needed. Actually what we ended up with is ten times better then what they had proposed.
If there are any options to allow you to voice your opinion I strongly suggest you do it. Change sometimes is not all that bad if you work together to find a good solution.

Krusty Geeza · Apr 1, 2019

According to CASA's site:

The proposed registration and accreditation requirements apply (with certain exceptions) to:

drones more than 250 grams operated recreationally
all drones operated commercially regardless of weight.

Key parts of our proposal were:

flyers under 16 years of age need to be supervised by someone 18 or older who is accredited
accreditation will be an online education course to make sure you know the rules - basically, watching video and answering a quiz
registration for recreational flyers will be less than $20
for commercial flyers registration is likely to be from $100 to $160 per drone.
CASA has yet to determine if you can register early or if there will be any leeway around the time of registration.

So it's not forcing you to have to obtain an RePL at all, if you are a recreational user.

Landbo · Apr 1, 2019

Krusty Geeza said:
According to CASA's site:

The proposed registration and accreditation requirements apply (with certain exceptions) to:

drones more than 250 grams operated recreationally

all drones operated commercially regardless of weight.

Key parts of our proposal were:

flyers under 16 years of age need to be supervised by someone 18 or older who is accredited

accreditation will be an online education course to make sure you know the rules - basically, watching video and answering a quiz

registration for recreational flyers will be less than $20

for commercial flyers registration is likely to be from $100 to $160 per drone.

CASA has yet to determine if you can register early or if there will be any leeway around the time of registration.

So it's not forcing you to have to obtain an RePL at all, if you are a recreational user.

Alex, it's then a fortune that an Australian dollar is not as much worth as an American dollar. ? ?? ?

Regards, Leif.

Krusty Geeza · Apr 1, 2019

Landbo said:
Alex, it's then a fortune that an Australian dollar is not as much worth as an American dollar. ??? ?

Regards, Leif.

About 14 Swiss Franc's or US $ for a recreational license. That's a fairly nice bottle of Shiraz!

Ooh, it's a hard decision...

Landbo · Apr 1, 2019

Krusty Geeza said:
About 14 Swiss Franc's or US $ for a recreational license. That's a fairly nice bottle of Shiraz! Ooh, it's a hard decision...

Yes or 94.37 Danish kroner or 9 liters of petrol or 10 liters of diesel. Sorry but I don't drink wine, just a single beer 3-5 times a year.

If you do not want to pay that small amount of money then you can risk to pay a fairly large fine. It is much easier to pay and cut back on Shiraz consumption.

Regards, Leif.

Krusty Geeza · Apr 1, 2019

Landbo said:
Yes or 94.37 Danish kroner or 9 liters of petrol or 10 liters of diesel. Sorry but I don't drink wine, just a single beer 3-5 times a year.

If you do not want to pay that small amount of money then you can risk to pay a fairly large fine. It is much easier to pay and cut back on Shiraz consumption.

Regards, Leif.

Leif, I am one of the rare Australian's that doesn't drink or drive! I have a glass of sparkling Shiraz at Christmas & that's it for me.

I have no issue paying for a license as a recreational user, as that is what I am. I do however have issue with being considered to be a commercial pilot currently, because I am voluntarily capturing footage of community events. If I am asked to pay the commercial pilots fees I will protest loudly!

Landbo · Apr 1, 2019

Krusty Geeza said:
Leif, I am one of the rare Australian's that doesn't drink or drive! I have a glass of sparkling Shiraz at Christmas & that's it for me.

I have no issue paying for a license as a recreational user, as that is what I am. I do however have issue with being considered to be a commercial pilot currently, because I am voluntarily capturing footage of community events. If I am asked to pay the commercial pilots fees I will protest loudly!

Well in that way Alex.

I do not know the rules and the coming rules in Australia, but as it is generally in Europe, the dividing line between being a hobby dronflyer and a professional is taking money for his services. A professional must also pass a reasonably large and expensive test.

The rules for hobbyists are largely that they must not fly closer than 150 meters to buildings and gardens in urban areas and 50 meters to buildings and gardens on the countryside if they do not have the owner's permission. And that hobby flyers must not fly closer than 50 meters to a person who is not part of the planned operation, as it so beautifully is written in the law. These are the main "features" of the legislation here.

Then you can judge for yourself whether the rules in Australia are/will be worse than the current rules in Denmark.

I suppose we get new rules in the autumn when the EU's adopted rules become law in Denmark.

Regards, Leif.

Krusty Geeza · Apr 1, 2019

Landbo said:
Well in that way Alex. I do not know the rules and the coming rules in Australia, but as it is generally in Europe, the dividing line between being a hobby dronflyer and a professional is taking money for his services. A professional must also pass a reasonably large and expensive test.

The rules for hobbyists are largely that they must not fly closer than 150 meters to buildings and gardens in urban areas and 50 meters to buildings and gardens on the countryside if they do not have the owner's permission. And that hobby flyers must not fly closer than 50 meters to a person who is not part of the planned operation, as it so beautifully is written in the law. These are the main "features" of the legislation here.

Then you can judge for yourself whether the rules in Australia are/will be worse than the current rules in Denmark.

I suppose we get new rules in the autumn when the EU's adopted rules become law in Denmark.

Regards, Leif.

That is surprising, Leif! Our recreational drone regulations are slightly more relaxed than yours. We currently have no demands on remaining certain distances from buildings & gardens, but local councils can set "no fly" zones where they wish & some are now doing this in their beaches & parks. We need to remain a 30 metre radius from people & can not fly over 120 metres high.

Landbo · Apr 1, 2019

Krusty Geeza said:
That is surprising, Leif! Our recreational drone regulations are slightly more relaxed than yours. We currently have no demands on remaining certain distances from buildings & gardens, but local councils can set "no fly" zones where they wish & some are now doing this in their beaches & parks. We need to remain a 30 metre radius from people & can not fly over 120 metres high.

Yes I thought your rules are a lot more human. Of course, we also have all the other restrictions beyond the usual aerodromes. As I see it, we get some good relief when the EU rules come into the country's legislation. However, I am afraid we will lose the permission to fly at night, which I will be very sorry on if that happen.

Regards, Leif.