George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, I wish to make a statement on the committee's round table on drones and privacy.

Although drones have the potential to add great value to the Australian economy, widespread use of drones also raises serious privacy issues that will need to be resolved. Drones—or remotely piloted aircraft systems—are being seen more and more often in Australia's skies. The technology behind drones is advancing quickly and, as they become cheaper and more capable, larger numbers of Australian consumers and businesses are likely to start using them.

To get a clearer view of the privacy issues widespread drone usage might raise, my committee began its investigation with a round table discussion on Friday, 28 February, in Canberra. The round table heard a broad range of views about the challenges drones pose for air safety regulation, the huge range of useful applications drones might have and the ways in which Australia's existing privacy laws might struggle to cope with widespread drone use. Round table participants told the committee about the problems that drones in the wrong hands could cause in Australian airspace. The committee heard from industry representatives that they are increasingly being used by untrained operators. The committee also heard that commercial operators are using drones in violation of—or with complete ignorance of—Civil Aviation Safety Authority rules and regulations regarding remotely piloted aircraft systems. These factors raise serious safety concerns.

Round table participants also told the committee that drone use has revealed gaps and complexities in Australia's privacy laws. A range of common law, Commonwealth, state and territory privacy surveillance and anti-stalking legislation might be relevant to drone use, but the laws differ from state to state. This causes confusion about what is against the law and what is not, which is difficult for both members of the public and drone operators. There are also questions of individuals' access to remedies for breaches of their privacy. Of course, drones are just one of many emerging technologies that could raise serious privacy issues. Having said that, drones are a specific problem given their availability, their ease of operation and their capacity to go places people might not want them to, all the while recording footage or taking photographs.

The commercial and civil applications of drones are numerous, and the economic benefits they bring to the Australian economy are compelling. Drones will play an important role in fields as varied as mining, scientific research, emergency management, policing, media and much more in coming years. However, to maximise the opportunities of this technology, Australia will have to come to grips with the regulatory problems that remotely piloted aircraft systems raise.

The committee takes the view that these issues warrant further investigation. As a result, the committee will be conducting a further round table discussion in Brisbane on Friday this week, with the hope of shedding some more light on these issues. The committee will then report back to the House with the aim of drawing attention to the regulatory and privacy problems that drone use may cause so that Australia is well placed to maximise the commercial, civil and recreational opportunities drones will provide.