Economic benefits

The drone industry has the potential to increase Australia's Gross Domestic Product by $14.5 billion from 2020 to 2040 (Deloitte Access Economics, 2020, p. 53). There are expected to be positive impacts experienced across major capital cities as well as regional and rural Australia. This highlights the innovative nature of emerging aviation technology to end-user industries.

Drones and other emerging aviation technologies will create new jobs in both emerging and existing industries.

Drones are projected to create up to 10,000 jobs over the next 20 years. These jobs will be supported by the drone industry as well as the uptake of drones across various downstream industries (Deloitte Access Economics, 2020, p. 54). There will be positive employment opportunities in capital cities as well as across states and territories.

New and emerging aviation technologies, such as drones, are already helping industries reduce costs compared to traditional methods of doing business. 

It is expected that cumulative estimated cost savings from 2020 to 2050 will total $48 billion in undiscounted terms (Deloitte Access Economics, 2020, p. 35). This is calculated through a scenario based model which estimates drone uptake (number of drones) over time and the potential cost savings taking into consideration the additional value drones add, which is embedded in the technology capability of drones.

This analysis is also informed by a combination of in-house data-sets, other economic data and previous studies, as well as through consultation with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Airservices Australia.