Drone

• Drone safety is paramount and requires forward thinking Australian law

  2nd Sep 2016

  Liability for drone injuries applies to operators or controllers pursuant to the Damage by Aircraft Act 1999 (Cth) which sets up a domestic strict liability regime for compensation for those injured on the ground by aircraft, mirroring international provisions which accomplish the same purpose. However, the technical and regulatory landscape in Australia is such that the owner of a drone or its operator are notoriously difficult to identify, and thus pursue, after an incident. There is no federal requirement on the owner or operator to be insured for liability for damages.  No legislation presently requires registration of non-commercial operators and their equipment.  This is problematic because the drones themselves are fairly unreliable.