Drone laws in Australia evolve slower than drone technology

With the boom in sales of small unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, aviation authorities are facing the ever-growing task of administering the laws applying to their use, in particular to breaches of privacy, flying in populated areas and the risk to other aviation activities.

Fines issued by CASA to operators who break drone laws

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) recently imposed a fine of $900 on a wedding guest who used a drone to film the celebrations. Another person was fined $900 for flying a drone over a children's Easter egg hunt.

A person who flew a drone in restricted airspace over Sydney Harbour and within 30 metres of people was fined $1,440. An operator whose drone crashed into the Sydney harbour bridge and fell in front of a train was fined.