You now need to register your drones, or remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), if you fly them for business or as part of your job.
There are some circumstances where you don’t need to register your drone. This includes when:
- you don’t intend to fly your drone
- you’re only flying for sport or recreation, including model aircraft flown at CASA-approved model airfields
- you're a commercial drone repairer or manufacturer, but you must keep records.
You can register your drone online and it only takes a few minutes. Each registration is valid for 12 months.
Drone registration requirements
You must register it before you fly if you fly a drone or RPA for:
- business
- use as part of your job.
This applies to all drones you fly to provide any type of service, no matter how much the drone weighs. This may include activities such as:
- selling photos or videos taken from a drone
- inspecting industrial equipment, construction sites or infrastructure
- monitoring, surveillance or security services
- research and development
- any drone activities on behalf of your employer or business.
You must be aged 16 or older to register a drone.
You must also get an RPA operator accreditation if you fly your drone for business or use one as part of your job
You don’t need an RPA operator accreditation if you have a remote pilot licence (RePL) or only fly for sport or recreation.
Registration levy
You may need to pay a levy for some drones flown for business or used as part of your job.
Drones weighing 500 g or less
It's free to register drones that are 500 g or less.
Drones weighing more than 500 g
A registration levy of $40 per drone applies.
Registration is mandatory. In exceptional circumstances, you may be eligible to apply for a refund of the remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) registration levy.
Register your drone
It only takes a few minutes to register your drone using myCASA.
Watch our step-by-step guide on how to register your drone.
To register a drone, you must:
You should also consider whether you need an organisation aviation reference number (ARN). If you’re a business, this will allow others to manage your fleet of drones.
You can also follow these steps to register your drone:
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Create or use your Digital Identity to log into myCASA
You can use Digital Identity to login to the portal.
If you don’t have one, it is a safe, secure and convenient way to provide or reuse your identity online.
If you already have a myCASA account, you can sign in using your account details.
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Select ‘Apply for an individual ARN’
After you have logged in, navigate to the ‘Need an ARN?’ section and select ‘Apply for aviation reference number (ARN)’.
You can link your existing ARN or apply for a new one. If you’re operating on behalf of a business, you’ll also need an organisation ARN.
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Enter your personal details
You will then enter your personal details. These include:
- name
- address
- date of birth
- sex
- phone numbers
- nationality.
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Submit your identification
After entering your personal details, you will see a prompt to submit your identification.
You will only need one type of identification. Most identity documents can be verified online, including:
- Australian passport
- Australian birth certificate
- Australian citizenship certificate
- ImmiCard
- foreign passport.
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Register your drone
Select the ‘individual’ or ‘organisation’ account.
Select ‘drone registration’ and then ‘Begin drone registration’.
Select your:
- drone manufacturer from the list provided
- model of your drone.
If your drone’s manufacturer and model isn’t listed select ‘other manufacturer’ or ‘home built’, then add:
- manufacturer name
- model name
- drone category
- drone weight.
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Enter your drone’s serial number
Enter the drone’s unique serial number. You might find this inside the battery compartment, on the warranty card, the packaging for the drone, or via associated apps.
Let us know if your drone is registered overseas.
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Review the summary and read declaration
Review your registration summary.
You can add additional drones if you’re registering more than one. To do this, select ‘Add Drone’ and repeat previous steps for all the drones you wish to register.
Read the declaration carefully.
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Complete payment details
Once you have completed the registration form, add your payment details to complete the application.
Extra Body field:
Renew your registration
Drone registration is valid for 12 months. You'll be notified by email when your registration is up for renewal.
You can renew your drone registration under the 'Manage registered drones' section of your myCASA account.
Registrations can be renewed up to 30 days before and up to 30 days after the due date. Registrations expire automatically. To keep flying, make sure you have renewed your drone registration by the due date.
If you forgot to renew your registration within the 60 day period, you'll need to register your drone again.
Modifying a registered drone
Modifying a registered drone may require you to deregister the drone and register it as a new drone. This applies if the modifications:
- changes the category or type of drone (eg aeroplane to multi-rotor)
- changes upwards the classification of the aircraft (eg very small to medium); or
- increases the take-off weight by more than 20 per cent (take-off weight includes payload)
- don’t contain parts and components from the permit version that are critical to the operations of the drone.
Deregistering your drone
You must deregister your drone if you:
- lose it
- damage it beyond repair
- sell or dispose of it.
If you sell or transfer ownership of your drone, you must cancel your registration. If you don't, you might be held responsible for any offences committed by the new owner.
You can deregister your drone from the 'Manage registered drones' section of your myCASA account.
Do not remove the serial number from your drone after deregistering it. A drone’s serial number remains the same even if it is transferred to someone else.
After you have deregistered your drone, the new owner will be able to register it using myCASA.
Follow these steps to deregister a drone or cancel its registration:
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Log in to myCASA
Navigate to the myCASA portal and use your Digital Identity or CASA credentials to log in.
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Select 'Manage registered drones'
From the list of drones, find the drone you want to deregister and select 'Manage'.
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Select 'De-register'
Confirm it has the correct details and select 'De-register'.
Extra Body field:
Penalties for flying an unregistered drone
You can be fined if you fly an unregistered drone for business or as part of your job. The fine is up to $13,750.
You can be asked to produce your certificate of registration by either:
- an authorised representative of CASA
- a member of the Australian Federal Police or state and territory police services.
Contact us
Have a question? Need help?
You can contact us through our online enquiry form.
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Last updated:
25 Jul 2023
