Flying in Melbourne & Tasmania

[rwarrior]

Hi mates!
I'm making a trip to Melbourne & Tasmania this October, and would be keen to know of good locations to fly which are not restricted.
I'll be bringing my Mavic Air2. I've done the usual checks and it doesn't seem there are many such locations, but any first hand knowledge would be immensely helpful.
Many thanks all!
Cheers

 

[jeffg53]

Any national parks are off the list, and that is countrywide AFAIK. I think that we are a little less restrictive elsewhere. I live in NSW, and the message from the parks people is that you need to apply for a permit to fly in a national park, but don't bother as they will probably take your money and reject your application.

 

[SkyeHigh]

Fortunately Western Australia is far more encouraging than NSW and flying in National Parks is very much permitted. WA realise the huge potential for promoting tourism through photography and actively encourage drone flying as long as the basic CASA regulations are strictly followed and is for Recreational use only although commercial options are available.

Drone flying in WA National Parks

Exceptions are in place for some places such as Rottnest Island so check first.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Any national parks are off the list, and that is countrywide AFAIK.

Fortunately Western Australia is far more encouraging than NSW and flying in National Parks is very much permitted.

Yes, as pointed out WA and QLD (Queensland) outright permit flying of drones in National Parks.
NT (Northern Territory) is pretty good with a permit system that's free and easy to go through the process for a duration of a state visit.

For the OP. Victorian and Tasmanian National Park are totally blanket ban on drone ops though.

@rwarrior there are however PLENTY of places to fly throughout Australia, not many other restrictions, some councils (particularly in urban regions) have bans on operating a drone or similar from land under their authority.
This includes places like parks and recreation areas in cities and large towns, not all, but many do have this ban.
This applies to standing on the land, take off and landing, during flight, etc, not flying over.
There are few signed though, so with thought and consideration, it is still possible to get flights in without causing too much drama.

We have some great apps that show you NFZs for airports and other restricted airspace.

They are all here . . .

https://www.casa.gov.au/knowyourdrone/drone-safety-apps

Many are pro based, the ones for rec that I find most useful are OpenSky, and AirMap.
Both have apps for apple and android, both have web versions that you can use for planning from base.

Sometimes DJIs Flysafe Geo Zone Map zones are more stringent than what our regulator CASA require, even going as far as to not allow take off (or motors to start up !).
So if close to airports, even regional uncontrolled airports, maybe check that too.

https://www.dji.com/au/flysafe/geo-map

The other great thing for you is that there are no recreational pilot requirements in place as yet to register either pilot or drones, just follow the drone rules, which are pretty much like 99% of other developed nations rules . . .

https://www.casa.gov.au/drones/drone-rules/drone-safety-rules

Have a great trip.
Victoria and Tasmania are very nice states (well to be honest ALL Aussie states are great !), so you'll get loads of opportunities to get the Air 2 aloft in some awesome places to film.

 

[rwarrior]

Thanks Jeff and Skyhigh for the helpful information.
And thanks MAvic_South_Oz too for the very detailed information.....I sort of expected that the national parks would be off limits, but good to know that there are still alternative locations to fly without breaking the rules...main thing is to check and double check.
Many thanks again to all of you for the help

Cheers,
Ranjit