Civil/Hobby Drone Use
As things stand today, pivate operators don’t need approval from CASA before taking flight with their drones, but there are some rules that need to be respected.
The rules are simple:
• Stay at least 30 metres away from people with your drone.
• Keep your drone under 120 metres (400 feet).
•
No night flying or flying through fog/cloud. You should be able to see the aircraft with your own eyes (rather than through point-of-view camera/screen/glasses) at all times.
• You may not operate your drone above a large gathering of people (e.g.: fireworks, at sporting events, over crowds at the beach or groups of protesters).
• You must keep your drone within sight while you’re operating it.
• You may not operate your drone within 5.5km of an airport and a place where planes take off or land from.
CASA also reminds us that:
• The privacy of other people should be respected by not flying near homes and backyards.
• Never fly a drone in an active bushfire area as there is a real risk of a mid-air collision with a fire fighting aircraft, which could cause an accident. Fire fighting aircraft will be grounded if a drone is conducting unauthorised flights on a fire ground, hampering work to control the fire and putting people and property at risk.
• Drones should also be kept away from police operations, accident scenes, building fires and rescue operations.
If you violate these rules, CASA can take action against you in the form of infringement notices (read: fines) up to $8500 per offence. If you put people at risk or seriously injure someone, the penalties are far more serious and will be dealt with on a case by case basis.
For example, a private drone operator was allegedly using a quadcopter above a marathon race. The drone reportedly failed and struck a woman in the head causing serious injury.
The CASA took the case before the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to see whether or not criminal charges could be laid against the operator.
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/01/what-are-the-rules-about-operating-a-drone-in-australia/
