A drone safety campaign is now being offered to schools across Australia. 

The innovative program, launched by aviation safety regulator Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) alongside Education Services Australia, aims to provide children and teenagers from 10 to 16 years old with the skills to safely fly drones for both educational and recreational usage. 

The classroom-based campaign has been created in a way that is informative yet fun and engaging for students, including quizzes, learning activities, and teacher-led discussions, explains Sharon Marshall-Keefe, CASA Acting RPAS Manager. 

“In consultation with Education Services Australia, CASA has developed a range of tailored resources to help build understanding and awareness of the drone safety rules among young people, teachers, parents and carers,” she said.

“It’s important to raise awareness of incoming operator accreditation and drone registration requirements affecting people over 16, and the requirement for people under 16 to be supervised by an accredited adult.” 

Andrew Smith, CEO of Education Services Australia, says that the program was created with the future generation’s enjoyment in mind. 

“We’ve developed a range of resources including digital resources that we know will help engage young people,” he explains. 

“So, there’s board games, there’s quizzes, there’s videos, all sorts of material that we know young people will enjoy engaging with and we’ll know they’ll learn from, so that we’ve got the pilots of tomorrow learning today.” 

"It's critically important that young people understand they do have to be safe when they're flying, safe for themselves, safe for others and take a responsible approach to what's really, at the heart, a fun activity for them." 

Andrew Coughlan, NSW Farmers Regional Services Manager for the Central/Orana area, conducts drone courses in the Western Plains region, and was pleased to hear that students can now learn how to use them safely. 

Mr Coughlan says that drone usage continues to increase in regional areas due to being a useful tool in not only the farming community, but many other businesses. While the courses are traditionally aimed at farmers, they are beginning to pique the interest of the younger generation. 

“We have had some children of the farmers come along and register for the course which was really good, and we also had a couple of the younger ones tag along with their parents for the day and learn a bit as well,” he says. 

"We definitely had the younger generation coming through who might already have drones but don’t truly understand the full potential of the units.” 

Mr Coughlan believes that a drone safety course in schools would be beneficial in order to protect both young people, and the community. 

“People understanding the CASA guidelines around operating a drone straight off the bat is a massive benefit to drone usage, so you’re not going to have people using them in the wrong way, which gives them a bad name and potentially puts people in danger.” 

“That part of the education would be fantastic.” 

For more information about drone safety, visit www.knowyourdrone.gov.au