Australians will soon need to register their drones as more and more users are taking to the sky each month. The move by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) will help ensure pilots are flying their drones safely and responsibly.
Like the registration for your car, a drone registration will make people accountable for their drone and the way they fly it.
Drones flown for work will need to be registered regardless of their type and weight. Registrations open on September 30, 2020 and will be required by January 28, 2021 and will be valid for 12 months.
Even if you are flying for fun, all drones weighing more than 250g will need to be registered but these registrations won’t come into effect until May 2022.
Drones weighing less than 250g and drones that are only flown indoors will not need to be registered.
Registration of a drone will require a description of the drone (make, model, serial number, weight and type of drone), a myCASA account and the applicant will need to be at least 16 years old.
A proof of identification will also be required like an Australian passport, Australian birth certificate, Australian Citizenship Certificate or foreign passport.
Pilots will also require an aviation reference number (ARN) which can be easily obtained online for free
These new rules will also require all drone users to obtain an operator accreditation that will prove the user has learned the drone safety rules.
Users will be able to obtain their accreditation by watching a short video and completing an online test.
Anyone with a remote pilot licence (RePL) will not need to get an accreditation.
