If you want to be paid to fly a drone in Australia, two acronyms decide almost everything about what work you can take, what you can charge, and how insurable you are: RePL and ReOC. They get used interchangeably in Facebook groups, quoted wrongly in job ads, and skipped entirely by pilots who assume a good showreel is enough. It isn't.
This guide untangles the two, explains where the sub-2kg excluded category fits, and — the part most licensing explainers skip — when each pathway actually makes commercial sense. It's written for pilots in Western Australia, but the framework is national: drones are regulated federally by CASA, and there is no separate WA drone law. If you want the broader compliance picture first, start with our guide to what every Australian pilot needs to know about CASA compliance.
The short version
- RePL — Remote Pilot Licence. Your personal licence. It demonstrates competency in flight operations and is specific to the aircraft category you trained on. Think of it as the driver's licence.
- ReOC — Remote Operator Certificate. The business's certificate. It demonstrates that an operation has the systems and processes for safe commercial work, documented in an Operations Manual. Think of it as the transport company's accreditation, not the driver's.
The distinction matters because they attach to different things. A RePL follows you. A ReOC follows the operation. In practice, many working pilots hold a RePL and fly under an established operator's ReOC before taking on the certificate themselves — it's a legitimate way to earn commercially while you build toward running your own operation.
What the RePL actually covers
The RePL is the competency layer. It exists to prove you can plan and fly a mission safely — not just keep a drone in the air on a calm Saturday, but manage airspace, weather, people, and failures like a professional.
Two things trip new pilots up:
- It's category-specific. Your licence must match the aircraft category you fly. Training on a small multirotor doesn't automatically qualify you for everything with propellers.
- It's necessary but not sufficient. A RePL alone doesn't make you a commercial operation. For commercial drone work, the operation you fly for needs a ReOC — yours or someone else's.
What the ReOC actually covers
The ReOC is where CASA stops assessing you and starts assessing your business. It's required for commercial drone operations beyond the excluded category's narrow limits, and the heart of it is the Operations Manual — the document that sets out how your operation plans jobs, assesses risk, maintains aircraft, and responds when things go wrong.
This is the step that turns a licensed pilot into an accountable operation, and it's the step that separates the professionals in the market from everyone else. It's also the credential clients and insurers look for first. Third-party insurance isn't a blanket legal requirement — CASA strongly recommends it, and it can be a condition of specific approvals — but clients and sites treat it as non-negotiable, and reputable operators hold it as standard. A$20 million in cover is the common minimum, and some clients require higher limits. Holding a ReOC with a real Operations Manual is what makes that insurance straightforward to obtain and keep. Clients increasingly know to ask; here's what they're told about operator insurance on our side of the fence.
One more piece of housekeeping that applies across the board: any drone flown commercially must be registered with CASA, regardless of weight — the 250g threshold only applies to recreational flying — with the registration number displayed on the aircraft and the registration renewed annually. Registration is not a licence — it's the entry ticket, whichever pathway you take.
The sub-2kg excluded category: what you trade away
Here's the nuance the two-acronym summary hides. CASA's framework also includes a narrower pathway — commonly called the sub-2kg excluded category — under which some limited commercial work with very light drones can be done without the full RePL/ReOC pathway. It is not paperwork-free, and its exact conditions are CASA's to define and update, so check the current requirements on CASA's website before you build anything on it. For a photographer testing whether drone work adds value to their business, it sounds like a shortcut. Sometimes it is. But you need to understand what you're trading away.
Flying outside the full RePL/ReOC pathway confines you to the standard operating conditions: below 120 metres, daylight only, the drone always within visual line of sight, at least 30 metres from uninvolved people, one drone per pilot, and no controlled airspace without approval. Those conditions are the whole deal — and unlike a ReOC holder, you have no Operations Manual and no framework through which to seek the additional approvals that unlock work beyond them.
In practice, that rules out a surprising amount of paid work:
- Anything near people. Events, busy job sites, and tight residential streets frequently collide with the 30-metre rule.
- Anything near controlled airspace. In Perth, that's a lot of postcodes — properties near Perth Airport or Jandakot need planning and often approvals that the excluded category can't access.
- Anything a serious client procures. Mining companies, builders, and agencies ask for RePL, ReOC, and insurance certificates before you're on site. "Sub-2kg excluded" is not an answer their procurement process recognises.
The excluded category is a proving ground, not a business model. Use it to confirm there's demand for what you want to sell. Then get licensed.
The pathway, stage by stage
The full journey from hobbyist to certified operator is covered in our hobby-to-business commercial drone pathway — here's the licensing spine of it:
Stage 1: Foundation
Master flight skills under recreational rules, build pre-flight checklists and safety habits, and get comfortable in real WA conditions — sea breezes included. Nothing here requires paperwork, and everything here makes the paperwork easier later.
Stage 2: Compliance
Register your drone with CASA, complete RePL training, and obtain commercial insurance. This is where you can start earning — under an existing operator's ReOC, or within the excluded category's limits if your aircraft and jobs genuinely fit.
Stage 3: Accreditation
Apply for your ReOC. Develop the Operations Manual, establish a safety management system, and build operational procedures. This is the longest and most valuable stage: the manual you write here becomes the backbone of every quote, insurance renewal, and client audit for years.
Stage 4: Business development
Define your services, build a portfolio, set pricing that accounts for insurance and equipment depreciation — new pilots underprice constantly and it devalues the whole market — and build a professional profile where clients can actually verify you.
Stage 5: Growth
Specialise. The pilots earning well in WA aren't generalists — they've picked lanes like inspection, mapping, or property, and priced accordingly. If you're weighing lanes, read mapping vs photography: which pays more before you buy your next aircraft.
When each pathway makes commercial sense
Strip away the acronyms and there are really three commercial positions:
Excluded category (sub-2kg). Makes sense when drone work is a garnish on an existing business — a real-estate photographer adding the occasional low-risk aerial, a farmer photographing their own paddocks. The moment a job involves people, controlled airspace, or a client with a procurement checklist, you've outgrown it.
RePL under someone else's ReOC. Makes sense when you want to fly commercially now without carrying the overhead of your own certificate. You earn, you log hours, you learn how a working Operations Manual functions from the inside. The trade-off is that the operation's certificate — and its rules — govern your flying.
RePL + your own ReOC. Makes sense when drone work is the business. You control your procedures, you can pursue approvals beyond the standard operating conditions — the route to higher-value work like beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations, which require specific approvals and higher insurance — and you're the entity clients contract with. Where the industry is heading — more automation, more procurement scrutiny, more premium on demonstrated systems — only strengthens this position.
The honest test: look at the jobs you actually want. In WA that might be real-estate photography in Perth, mining surveys out of Kalgoorlie, construction progress tracking in Bunbury, or agriculture mapping around Northam. Almost all of it sits behind the RePL/ReOC line — because that's where the budgets are. Real-estate work alone runs on fixed, GST-inclusive packages here — Silver A$295, Gold A$595, Platinum A$1,150 — and those jobs go to verified, certified operators every time.
Certification is only half the market equation
Here's what no training provider tells you: the licence gets you eligible, not hired. Clients in 2026 are actively warned about the cost of unverified drone operators and coached to run five checks before hiring anyone — credentials, insurance, samples, deliverables, local knowledge. If your RePL and ReOC exist only as PDFs in your email, you're invisible to the buyers who care most about them.
That's the gap Universe For Alice closes. The directory holds 2,678 CASA-referenced Australian drone operators, and the matching system puts verified credentials — not the loudest Facebook post — in front of clients with real budgets. Right now the platform is in its founding window: every tier is free for the first 1,000 accounts. If you're at Stage 2 or beyond of the pathway, create your operator profile before the window closes — the credentials you worked for should be doing sales work for you.
And if you're earlier in the journey, the pilot learning hub is built to walk you through exactly this terrain before you spend a dollar on training.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need both a RePL and a ReOC to fly commercially?
Commercial operations require both a Remote Pilot Licence and a Remote Operator Certificate — but they don't have to be yours alone. Many pilots hold a RePL and fly under an established operator's ReOC. The sub-2kg excluded category is the narrow exception; it confines you to the standard operating conditions, and you should confirm its current requirements with CASA before relying on it.
Which comes first, RePL or ReOC?
The RePL. It's the personal competency licence, and it's a prerequisite for meaningful commercial flying. The ReOC comes later, when you're ready to run the operation yourself — including writing and maintaining an Operations Manual.
Is the sub-2kg excluded category enough to run a drone business?
Rarely. It suits occasional, low-risk work with a light aircraft, but the 30-metre separation rule, the controlled-airspace restrictions, and client procurement requirements exclude most of the paid work worth chasing. Treat it as a trial period, not a destination.
Do clients ever need their own CASA approval?
No — the accreditation sits entirely with the operator, which is exactly why yours is a selling point. Here's what clients are told about CASA approval when they ask.
What insurance do I need once I'm certified?
Third-party insurance isn't legally mandated across the board — CASA strongly recommends it, and it can be a condition of specific approvals — but in practice you won't win serious work without it. A$20 million in cover is the common minimum, and some clients — particularly in mining and construction — require higher limits. Your ReOC and Operations Manual are what make that cover practical to obtain.
Does WA have different drone licensing rules?
No. Drones are regulated federally by CASA, so the RePL/ReOC framework and the standard operating conditions apply identically in Perth, the Wheatbelt, and the Goldfields. What changes in WA is the airspace picture — Perth Airport and Jandakot make metro planning non-trivial — and where the work is.
Certified, insured, and ready for clients? Join the network while every tier is still free for the first 1,000 accounts — or explore the pilot platform to see where your credentials fit.