You’re more likely to be called Andrew than be an Australian woman with full CASA drone certification. There’s 16 Andrews plus 3 Andys, at last count – IE 19 in total. And right now I can only find 17 fully licenced Australian women flying drones.
Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has two tiers of drone operator certification. The Remote Pilot Licence (RePL) is the basic level. RePL operators have to operate under people who hold a Remote Operator’s Certificate (ReOC). Completely independent drone operators have their own RePL & ReOC, as I do.
No figures are forthcoming from CASA re the number of Australian women who hold both a RePL and a ReOC. So I went through all 26 pages listing current ReOC holders. Many ReOC holders are registered under business, organisation and government department names. But given the high percentage of individually listed men in proportion to women, it’s safe to presume that almost all of the ReOC’s issued to business, organisation and government names were issued to men. (Like credit cards, an individual has to apply.)
Here are the women who are listed on CASA’s website as holding a ReOC, as of today:
QUEENSLAND:
Fiona Lake (Townsville, Nth Qld)
Monica Dunn (Marian (west of Mackay; North Qld)
Cheryl McCarthy (Bris, Qld)
NSW:
Kim Clark (Sydney, NSW)
Caitlin Polley (outer Sydney, NSW)
Gaelen Alexander (Newcastle, NSW)
Jessica Robertson (James Creek, Northern NSW)
VICTORIA:
Heidi Muehlebach (Melbourne, Vic)
Sara Kempe (Melbourne, Vic)
Sarah Wood (Melbourne, Vic)
TASMANIA:
Fiona Moray (Arthurs Lake, Central Tasmania)
SOUTH AUSTRALIA:
I can’t see any South Australian women listed.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA:
Cara Stasikowki (Perth, WA)
PLUS WOMEN I KNOW WHO HOLD A REOC, BUT WHO ARE LISTED UNDER A COMPANY, ORGANISATION OR GOVT DEPT NAME:
Renee Bartolo (NT)
She Flies (Karen Joyce, Far North Qld; & Catherine Ball, SE Qld?)
Jackie Dujmovic (Hover UAV; Port Stephens, north of Newcastle, NSW)
Debbie Saunders (ACT)
You’re three times more likely to be called Michael than to be listed as a speaker at a typical tech event. In fact it’s four times, if you include Mike. (Interdrone, Las Vegas) It would be great to see more role models.
In total – there’s just 17 fully licenced Australian women flying drones, that I can find.
However there may some female scientists and agronomists who hold a ReOC who didn’t show up in my search because they’re listed under government department names.
If you know of any other fully licenced Australian drone pilots who are women, please let me know so I can add them to the above list.
Why does it matter? Obtaining both the CASA RePL & ReOC:
- Greatly improves operator knowledge and safety procedures.
- Every drone pilot should have public liability insurance. Without any CASA certification, insurance can be hard to obtain (or more expensive as the perceived risk is higher).
- Everyone who teaches should be a fully certified drone operator. To do a great job, a teacher must have more knowledge and skill than their students.
- Certification builds professional confidence and creates better role models.
Why haven’t more women who have obtained an RePL, gone one to obtain full autonomy by studying for a ReOC? Most that I have asked said it’s due to cost – either they or their employers couldn’t justifty the additional expense. It also involves extra study, on top of the week that it takes to obtain the RePL, and most women worry that they won’t pass.
Tags: Photography - Drones