Before ParliamentDefence & Security Introduced in the House of Representatives, 27 Oct 2026

Defence could knock down drones and guard more sites

Drones have flown over army bases here and overseas. This bill, a plan for a new law, would let Defence stop them. It would set up guarded zones around Defence sites. It would also let Defence test new gear here under orders from the Defence Minister.

Official name: Defence Legislation Amendment (Accelerating Capability and Protecting Bases) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• People who fly drones: Flying a drone over a base or other guarded zone without a pass could cost you a fine, and Defence could take the drone down.
• People near bases and Defence sites: In set areas just outside some sites, police could ask who you are or tell you to move on. The bill does not list these areas. They would be set out in the Minister's published rules.
• Protesters and striking workers: Guards must not use their new powers to stop a protest or strike. The exception is a real risk of death, bad harm or a harmful crime.
• Firms that make or test gear for Defence: Your staff could be named in a Minister's order. That lets them do the test work, even if a state law would stop it. Your factory could also become a guarded zone.
• First Nations traditional owners, farmers and rail workers in the Woomera area of South Australia: Your right to be there stays the same. It moves from old rules into the main Defence law, so the old rules can be scrapped.
• Foreign troops training here: You could be named in an order that lets you test and train in Australia.

Why it exists

Drones have flown over Defence bases in Australia. The same thing has happened at bases overseas. A drone is a small craft with no one on board. Someone steers it from far away, or it runs by itself.

Right now Defence has only short-term powers to deal with drones. In 2025 the government changed some rules to give it a few powers. In September 2026 the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, which runs air safety, let Defence stop some drones near Defence airfields. The government says these are short-term fixes.

The main Defence law dates from 1903. A bill is a plan for a new law. Once passed, it becomes an Act. The government says the old Act has not kept up with new tech. It also says Defence now works with private firms and foreign forces, at many places outside its bases.

Each state, like South Australia, makes its own laws. The national Parliament in Canberra makes federal laws. The government says both kinds of rules can slow down testing of new gear. Defence sometimes finds it easier to test overseas for that reason. In 2023 it asked the public for views on changing Defence laws.

The Defence Minister, Richard Marles, brought in the bill. It changes the Defence Act 1903 and some other laws. It also scraps two old laws. One, from 1918, covers waters used by the navy. The other, from 1952, covers special Defence sites.

Stopping drones

The bill covers any craft with no person on board that is steered from afar or runs by itself. That means drones in the air, boats, robot submarines and ground robots. It also covers anything a drone carries, like a camera.

Trained Defence guards and police could find, track and watch drones in or near a guarded zone. They could also jam a drone (block its radio signal), take control of it, disable it, grab it, or knock it down. They can do this if a drone enters an area listed in the Minister's published rules, such as an airfield. They can also do it if they suspect a drone nearby is a risk.

Any step must be needed. It must be to keep the site or air traffic safe. No step can put a plane with people in it at risk. Some airports are shared with passenger planes. There, guards must follow written steps that were first checked with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

After a drone is caught, Defence could take it apart and read its data. This is to find who flew it and to learn how to stop the next one.

Say you fly your drone near an air force base to film the sunset. If it drifts into an area listed in the rules, guards could force it down. If someone is hurt by these steps, the federal government must pay fair payment for the injury.

Guarded zones

Today Defence sites are covered by many old laws with different rules. The bill puts them into one system. It calls these places defence security zones. This article calls them guarded zones.

Some places would be guarded zones from the start. These include Defence land and buildings, Defence vehicles, ships and planes, the Pine Gap Defence base and the Woomera area in South Australia. A Defence truck or plane is a zone itself, so you need a pass to get in or on it.

The Minister could also add zones. A zone could be a shipyard building submarines or waters near a naval base. It could be the area around a Defence truck when it stops, for example 50 metres around it. A short-term zone could cover a firm's site for a few days while it shows off new gear.

In an urgent case, such as a crash of a secret aircraft, an emergency zone can be set up fast. It lasts 72 hours. The Minister can add 72 hours at a time, up to 30 days in total.

The Minister must think a zone is needed. It must be no bigger than it has to be. Where it can, Defence must first ask the people likely to be affected, like nearby homes and firms. Some places, such as Pine Gap, get a higher level of guard. Fines and jail terms are higher there, and no one may fly a plane over them without a pass.

What you cannot do in a zone

You would need a pass to go into a guarded zone. Defence staff on duty get a pass automatically. Other people can get a pass from the Minister. The rules can also set up permits for some zones. A permit scheme can have its own forms and fees.

Without a pass you could not fly a drone over a zone. This applies even if you stand outside it. You could not mess with Defence gear. You could not take photos or video of a zone from inside it or from a drone. Filming from outside a zone is only a crime if police in a nearby set area have told you to stop. The Minister's detailed rules could ban other acts and items, if that is needed to keep a zone safe. The bill does not list them.

Fines are set in penalty units, a dollar amount fixed by law. The government's notes do not give the dollar value. The worst cases are where what you do puts Defence at risk. In an ordinary zone, that could bring two years in jail, 120 units, or both. Going in without a pass, even with no risk, could bring 20 units. At places like Pine Gap the top penalty is seven years in jail. For small cases, you could get a fine notice that you can pay without going to court.

What guards could do

Police and trained Defence guards could check your bag at the gate, like at an airport. They could ask your name, address and pass. They could turn you away, search you if they suspect a risk, and order you to leave.

If you refuse to leave, they could remove you. If they suspect a crime, they could hold you until police arrive. They could also stop and search cars, boats and planes in a zone, take things, and use dogs.

Guards must use no more force than they need. They must not do anything likely to kill or badly hurt someone, unless it is needed to protect a life.

Guards must not use these powers to stop a protest, a public meeting or a strike, or to stop people speaking out. The only exception is if death or bad harm, or a crime that causes harm, is likely.

Some decisions can be reviewed. Say a zone is on land the government does not own, and you are refused a pass. You could ask the Minister to look at it again. You can also challenge a decision that you lose an automatic pass, and others the rules list. After the Minister, you could go to the Administrative Review Tribunal, a body like a court but less formal.

Areas just outside a zone

The Minister's rules could mark out an area just outside some zones. Only police, not Defence guards, would have powers there.

Police could ask you to show who you are. They must suspect a crime or need to know for safety. They could tell you to leave, stay away, or stop doing something, such as filming. These orders last up to 72 hours. If police want to give you a second order within seven days, a more senior officer must agree.

Not following a police order there could bring a fine of up to 20 units.

Woomera and other Defence areas

The Woomera area in South Australia is a huge area used by Defence. Many other people use it too. They include traditional owners, farmers who rent land there on long leases, the South Australian government and the Tarcoola to Darwin railway.

Their rights to be there were written in old rules. The bill moves those rights into the main Defence law without changing them. The government says the new system will not hurt these users.

The bill also moves rules on Defence practice areas into the main law. These are places where Defence trains, which are closed to the public some or all of the time. The Minister could not use private land for this without the owner's written OK.

Testing new gear here

The second big part of the bill is about building and testing new gear. The government says rules made for everyday people and businesses can block Defence tests. Gun licences, safety standards for gear and work licences are some examples. These would change only for the people named in an order, during that job.

The Defence Minister could sign an order that lets named people do named things for a test or a training job. Those people could be Defence staff, firms paid to work for Defence, other federal staff or foreign troops. The order would say which state or federal laws do not apply to them for that job.

Say a firm is testing a robot boat for the navy. Normal boat safety laws might not fit. An order could switch those laws off and make the firm follow Defence's own boat safety rules.

There are two kinds of order. Long-term orders last until they are cancelled. They must be published for anyone to read. Short-term orders last up to 12 months. These can be kept secret if publishing them would harm defence or relations with other countries. The public would not see these. The Inspector-General, an independent official who checks on the Defence Force, must still get a copy.

Testing cyber and radio gear

Cyber means to do with computers and the internet. Defence wants to test gear that breaks into or jams computers and phones, before using it in a war. Those acts are crimes in Australia today.

An order could allow this, but with tighter limits. Only Defence's own people can do it, not foreign troops. The Minister must sign the order in person, and it lasts six months at most. It must follow rules set by the Attorney-General, the minister for the law.

Data picked up must be destroyed once the order ends. Within three months, the head of Defence must report to the Attorney-General on how the test went. The government says this cannot be used to spy on people or to help police cases.

Limits on test orders

The Minister must judge that an order's effect on people in Australia is fair and no harsher than needed. There must also be protections, such as conditions written into the order. If the order touches people's personal details, privacy rules must be in place first.

An order can never allow force against a person in Australia. It can never allow a sexual crime. Police jobs stay with the police, and an order cannot hand them to Defence. It cannot force anyone to do anything, or take anyone's land.

If someone breaks a condition of an order and it causes a death or serious injury, they could get up to 15 years in jail. If it causes serious damage to property or nature, it is up to four years. Serious damage includes harm costing more than $100,000 to fix. Smaller rule-breaking by Defence staff or firms working for Defence could bring a fine of 60 units.

Misusing people's personal details gathered under an order would also be a crime.

Who keeps watch

The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force is an official who checks on the Defence Force and is separate from its bosses. The bill gives this watchdog new work. It could look into how test orders and guarded zones are used, and whether Defence followed the rules.

A group of members from both houses of Parliament, called the Joint Committee on Defence, would also keep an eye on both new systems. The watchdog can brief them.

After five years, the Minister must have people outside Defence review the test order system. The report goes to Parliament, with secret bits blacked out. The Joint Committee would see the full version.

If guard powers or a zone cause loss or damage to your property, the federal government must pay you fair payment. This does not apply if the loss came from you breaking the law.

Smaller changes

The bill gathers the rules on fines, on-the-spot fines and court orders into one part of the Defence Act. It also gives the parts of the Act new numbers to make it easier to use.

One small change fixes a word in a proposed law about airline customers. That law is still before Parliament. The change only happens if it passes. The government calls it very minor.

Waiting in the House

Most of the bill would start on a day the government picks. It can be no later than 1 April 2027. The renumbering starts straight after. The first few sections start on the day the law is signed. The airline change starts only when that other law starts.

Parliament has two houses. The bill was brought into the House of Representatives, the lower house, on 27 October 2026. A bill gets more than one vote. On 28 October members voted to support the bill's main idea. On 29 October they held the final vote and passed it.

Next the Senate, the upper house, must vote on it. If the Senate agrees, it goes to the Governor-General, the King's representative, who signs every new law passed by Parliament.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum

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