Australia · Country guide
You can fly commercially in Australia without a licence at all
Up to 2 kg, paid drone work needs no remote pilot licence and no operator's certificate. What it needs is a free online accreditation that takes minutes and lasts three years. Photographers, surveyors and estate agents run entire businesses inside this category, and CASA names them as examples.
New to this? Australia calls the qualification a remote pilot licence (RePL) and the business permission a remotely piloted aircraft operator's certificate (ReOC). The reason most commercial operators hold neither is the excluded category, which lets defined kinds of paid work happen without them.
The short answer
Flying for fun
No accreditation needed. Follow the drone safety rules. Model aircraft association members flying at CASA-approved airfields are covered too.
Flying for money, under 2 kg
Get an aviation reference number, get the free operator accreditation, register the drone, and fly inside the standard operating conditions. No RePL, no ReOC.
Flying for money, over 2 kg
Now you need a RePL, and usually a ReOC for the business. The exception is flying 2–25 kg over your own land, which stays excluded — but only if you accept no payment for the work.
Who runs it and what it's called
- Regulator
- Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA)
- Official guidance
- casa.gov.au/drones ↗
- Framework
- CASR Part 101
- Qualification names
- RPA operator accreditation · Remote pilot licence (RePL) · Remotely piloted aircraft operator's certificate (ReOC)
- Weight classes
- Micro 250 g or less · Very small 250 g–2 kg · Small 2–25 kg · Medium 25–150 kg
- Accreditation
- Free, online, valid three years
- Minimum age
- 16 to hold accreditation. Under 16 must be supervised by an accredited adult over 18
- Also required
- An aviation reference number (ARN) and drone registration
What you need, by weight and by what you are doing
| Category | Weight | Paid work allowed? | RePL or ReOC needed? | What you must have |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Micro | 250 g or less | Yes | No | ARN · operator accreditation · drone registration |
| Very small | 250 g to 2 kg | Yes | No | ARN · operator accreditation · drone registration |
| Small, over your own land | 2 kg to 25 kg | No payment accepted | No | ARN · accreditation · registration · operational records |
| Everything else | Over 2 kg for hire, or outside the standard conditions | Yes | Yes | RePL, and normally a ReOC for the business |
Read from CASA's own drone weight categories and operator accreditation pages on 9 September 2026. The landowner category is the one people misread — it excludes you from needing a licence, but only while you accept no payment for the services.
What it really costs
For the majority of commercial drone work in Australia, nothing. The accreditation is free, and CASA says so in as many words. Cost only appears when the drone gets heavy or the operation leaves the standard conditions — and then it is training-market pricing for a RePL, which CASA does not set.
| Item | Cost | Paid to | Compulsory? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aviation reference number | Not yet checked | CASA | Yes |
| Operator accreditation | Free | CASA | For paid work under 2 kg |
| Drone registration | Not yet checked | CASA | Yes |
| Remote pilot licence | Training-market rate | A CASA-approved training organisation | Only above the excluded categories |
| Cheapest legal commercial route | Free accreditation plus registration | — |
Already qualified somewhere else?
The excluded category changes the shape of this question. A visitor doing paid work with a drone under 2 kg does not need a pilot qualification at all, so there is nothing for a foreign certificate to be recognised as — but the accreditation, the reference number and the registration are still required, and those are Australian.
We have not yet confirmed how CASA treats foreign licence holders who need a RePL because their work sits above the excluded categories. Until we have read CASA's position directly, this page will not guess at it.
Where every claim on this page came from
| Claim | Value | Primary source | Checked | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accreditation is free, online, valid 3 years | Free · 3 yrs | CASA, operator accreditation | 9 Sep 2026 | Verified |
| Minimum age 16, supervision under 16 | 16 | CASA, operator accreditation | 9 Sep 2026 | Verified |
| Sub-2 kg commercial work needs no RePL or ReOC | No licence | CASA, drone weight categories | 9 Sep 2026 | Verified |
| Weight classes | 250 g / 2 kg / 25 kg / 150 kg | CASA, drone weight categories | 9 Sep 2026 | Verified |
| Landowner category excludes payment | No payment | CASA, drone weight categories | 9 Sep 2026 | Verified |
| ARN and registration fees | — | CASA's registration page was not reachable at the URL we tried | — | Not yet checked |
| RePL course prices | — | No survey of CASA-approved training organisations done | — | Not yet checked |
| Treatment of foreign licences | — | Not yet read | — | Not yet checked |
Questions people ask about flying in Australia
Do I need a licence to fly a drone commercially in Australia?
Not if the drone weighs 2 kg or less. That work sits in the excluded category and needs a free operator accreditation, an aviation reference number and drone registration — but no remote pilot licence and no operator's certificate.
How much does the accreditation cost?
Nothing. CASA states it is free, online and valid for three years.
Can I fly a 10 kg drone over my own farm without a licence?
Yes, under the landowner excluded category — provided you accept no payment for the services you provide. The moment money changes hands for that work, the exclusion stops applying.
Do I need accreditation to fly for fun?
No. Accreditation is for flying for business or as part of your job.
We will tell you when this changes
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