Evolving drone law on conference agenda

Enforcement of drone regulations is the biggest issue facing the fledgling technology according to experts.

Australia has a chance to take the lead in the law on drone use.

Enforcement of drone regulations is the biggest issue facing the fledgling technology according to law experts, ahead of a drone law conference to be held in Canberra.

David Hodgkinson and law firm partner Rebecca Johnston of aviation and aerospace specialists HodgkinsonJohnston said despite promising developments in modernisation of regulation surrounding unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), questions remain over how any laws would be policed.

“There are regulations being developed which don’t have the necessary force to deal with the state of industry that it’s in now, and there are also obviously big privacy issues,” Mr Hodgkinson told The Australian. “This is an area of law in which incidents will continue to happen, and the law is not currently addressing them. But it is in the process of addressing them.”

The pair said their conference would be the first of its kind, attracting a mix of regulators, government officials, lawyers and commercial operators.

The half-day seminar, to be held at ANU on May 3, will feature speakers including Civil Aviation Safety Authority acting CEO Jonathan Aleck and Australian Certified UAV Operators president Joe Urli.

Under relaxed rules set to take effect later this year, drones under 2kg will no longer need approval from CASA before commencing flight operations for commercial work, though pilots will still need to obtain operator’s certificates.

CASA says it will work on an expanded set of regulations for hobby and consumer-grade drones once its commercial weight approval rules have been implemented.

Mr Hodgkinson said Australia had been the first to regulate UAVs in 2002 and had an opportunity to once again take a lead in the space.

He said he hoped the conference would have a material impact on the review.

“We’ve got a unique opportunity here. We’ve got people from government, people involved in US corporations developing unmanned vehicles, lawyers, and academics. When you’ve got that kind of mix of people the outcomes can often be quite effective,” Mr Hodgkinson said.