Drone Rule Management System

The Australian Government is developing a DRMS to coordinate, implement and manage nationally consistent rules on drone use relating to noise, privacy, security, environmental impacts and cultural sites.

To ensure safety, DRMS will complement CASA rules and regulations, and rules within the system will be subject to oversight to ensure that any conditions imposed do not compromise safety.

DRMS will provide a whole-of-government system to coordinate and manage rules and constraints applicable to drones, for different agencies and regulators across Commonwealth, state, territory and local governments. These rules and constraints will be guided by the following principles:

• Targeted: to address a specific risk or impact
• Outcomes focused: providing flexibility in how the risk or impact might be addressed
• Proportionate: for minimum restriction or disruption on operations needed to effectively manage the risk or impact

DRMS is being developed in consultation with Commonwealth, state, territory and local governments, and industry stakeholders. To ensure rules are targeted and proportionate for the purpose they are created, DRMS will accommodate local input and decision making within the constraints of an agreed nationally consistent framework.

Under the proposed framework, national rulesets will ensure consistency in how constraint areas are implemented across Australia. Communication through approved third-party apps would allow drone operators to easily check relevant DRMS rules in any given geospatial location and support compliance.

The Australian Government will work with state and territory governments to design and agree the framework, which would offer advantages including:

• A transparent, consistent and consultative process for the creation of drone rules relating to specific non-safety risks and impacts;
• Clear communication of DRMS rules to drone operators and the wider community;
• Greater certainty and national consistency for such rules, as part of a targeted and outcomes-focused approach; and
• Adaptable to new and emerging use cases and technologies as Australia’s drone industry evolves.