BVLOS Approvals
BVLOS approvals lawyer
Fixed fee counsel for drone operators, enterprises and investors navigating beyond visual line of sight approval under CASA's AusSORA framework. Safety case, containment, sequencing and regulator strategy. One team, one sequence.
Since 11 May 2026 every new BVLOS application runs through AusSORA. The operators who treat it as a form to fill in will spend the assessment period discovering what the operators who treated it as a case to be built already knew.
Book a consultation or call (07) 3519 5616.
The problem we solve
A BVLOS application fails quietly. The safety case is written around the aircraft instead of the operation, the containment strategy does not survive scrutiny, the operational safety objectives are asserted rather than evidenced, and each weakness surfaces months after lodgement when the capital is already committed. CASA assessment of BVLOS approvals may take several months from payment, and a rejected or stalled application resets that clock while your competitors fly.
AusSORA changed the game on 11 May 2026. It replaced the interim instrument TMI 2024-03 and it is Australia's adaptation of the international SORA process, built around Advisory Circular AC 101-06 of April 2026. Applications are now built on bespoke safety cases, containment requirements and operational safety objectives. That is not a compliance checklist. It is an argument, and arguments are what we build.
Who we act for
Drone delivery and logistics operators
Building networks whose entire commercial case depends on flying beyond visual line of sight at scale. The approval is not a permit. It is the product, and the safety case behind it decides whether the network is investable.
Inspection, survey and agriculture operators
Extending proven visual line of sight businesses into linear infrastructure, broadacre and remote work where BVLOS is the difference between a service and a demonstration. The updated iGRC ground risk table now includes a population band for extremely remote areas with fewer than 0.5 people per square kilometre, and what that means for your operation is a design question, not a lookup.
Enterprises bringing drone operations in-house
Utilities, miners and infrastructure owners deciding whether to hold their own remote operator certificate or contract it in. The structure you choose allocates regulatory exposure, data ownership and operational control for years.
Investors
Backing operators whose valuations rest on approvals that have not been granted yet. Regulatory diligence on a BVLOS pathway is a different exercise from reading a pitch deck, and it belongs at term sheet stage.
The BVLOS Entry Program
Three phases, each a fixed fee agreed before it starts. The sequence is the service.
Phase 1: Feasibility and pathway design
Your concept of operations assessed against the AusSORA framework before you are committed. You get the map: what your operation actually requires, whether BVLOS is needed at all, the realistic assessment horizon, the risk posture your safety case must carry and the failure modes specific to your operation. Fixed fee.
Phase 2: The application
We run the strategy behind the safety case, the containment position and the operational safety objectives, and we manage the engagement with CASA including requisition responses. The engineering is yours. The argument is ours. Fixed fee, agreed after Phase 1.
Phase 3: Operational compliance and contracts
The obligations and agreements that switch on when you fly. Customer contracts, liability allocation, subcontracting structures and the compliance framework that keeps the approval you fought for. Fixed fee.
Why a law firm
Your feasibility analysis, your safety case strategy and your regulator engagement are protected by legal professional privilege, which matters when the frank conversation is about what your operation cannot yet demonstrate. Our advice carries the professional liability of a regulated profession. And your matter is run end to end by a senior lawyer.
Read the detail
How to Start a Commercial Drone Operation in Australia
The baseline certificates, the line that separates routine operations from BVLOS and why the business model decides the regulatory load.
BVLOS Approval Under AusSORA: Cost and Timeline Realities
What the assessment period actually costs an operator, where applications lose months and why the safety case is the schedule.
Automated Vehicles in Australia: The Coming Safety Law
A national safety law for automated vehicles is in development. What the drone sector's regulatory arc suggests about who wins when it lands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need BVLOS approval for my drone operation?
It depends on the operation. The baseline commercial requirements are a remote operator certificate and a remote pilot licence, and many businesses run profitably within visual line of sight. Whether your model needs BVLOS, and what pathway that puts you on, is exactly what Phase 1 answers before you spend on the wrong one.
What is AusSORA and does it apply to me?
AusSORA is CASA's framework for beyond visual line of sight operations. It came into effect on 11 May 2026, is built around Advisory Circular AC 101-06 and is Australia's adaptation of the international SORA process. New applications from that date must follow it.
How long does a BVLOS approval take?
CASA assessment may take several months from payment, and that is only the assessment. The safety case build sits in front of it and requisitions can stretch it. The spread between a well built application and a weak one is the real timeline risk, and it is the one you control.
I was preparing an application under the old interim instrument. What now?
AusSORA replaced TMI 2024-03 and new applications from 11 May 2026 must follow the new framework. Material prepared for the old pathway is not wasted but it is not an application either. Where it fits in an AusSORA safety case is a mapping exercise we do in Phase 1.
What does it cost?
Each phase is a fixed fee agreed before it starts, scaled to the operation. No hourly rate ambush.
Discuss your operation
The cheapest time to fix a BVLOS strategy is before the safety case is written and before CASA has formed a view of your operation. Call (07) 3519 5616 or book a consultation.
Book a ConsultationThis page is general information, not legal advice. The regimes it describes are moving, so some dates and rules will change. Obtain advice tailored to your circumstances before acting. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.