Seen these new shops popping up at your local Westfield?
You know, the ones that sell these baby spaceships called drones. My goodness I’ve already got two in my local mega mall.
What indeed is all this frenzy about having  a drone?
I know there’s an incessant and never ending hunger for new tech gadgetry in today’s society, but what is the benefit, or perhaps thrill, of actual owning one of these drones.

 Well it turns out that that owning one is more a cheap thrill rather than a benefit (if you know what I mean). Complaints to local councils and police are on the increase from neighbours who feel their privacy has been invaded by this new age sticky beak, and the salacious perks it can provide its’ pilot.

It all reminds me of a flat I lived at in the Sydney CBD many moons ago.
There was a guy that everyone in the complex referred to as “Merv the perv”.  Mervin was apparently a master when it came to spying on his neighbours at all hours of the day and of course, the night. He had two telescopes that never seemed to be pointed to the stars and always seem to have a pair of binoculars at hand when out of his balcony during the day. Residents would often comment on the need to “keep the blinds drawn” or you might end up being the latest prize for old Merv’s wandering eyes.

Alas, the simple advice to keep one’s blinds shut doesn’t seem to translate well in the age of the high tech sticky beak (or perv) with their camera eyed drone.

What can you do if your being annoyed or spied on by a drone?

Well I hate to say this but we have some of the weakest privacy laws in the first world and because of this your protection against unauthorised surveillance is limited.

The Privacy Act, for instance, only applies to organisations like big companies or individuals with an annual turnover of $3 million or more. It’s fair to say that most recreational drone owners wouldn’t meet that criteria.  The Act also applies to government to limit them in the information they can collect about us.
The drafters of our wishy washy privacy law seem to have forgotten that neighbours and individuals can also be a real pain and that from time to time and we do sometimes need privacy protection from them.
So unless the drone pilot is working for an organisation or is an individual with at least $3 million in annual revenue, it is not possible for a you and I to take action against an individual drone pilot under the Privacy Act as it currently stands.
Only handy I guess if your privacy is being interfered with by a big corporation or the billionaire next door.

You might like to consider your state based ‘surveillance legislation’ but that can be good, bad or indifferent depending on which state you’re in.  For example, some actions by drone operations can be considered criminal offences. In Queensland, it is illegal to record somebody without their consent if they are in a private place or conducting a private act.
A private act can include showering, going to the toilet, making love or getting dressed. It is also illegal to record somebody in a public place where privacy might be reasonably be expected, such as the change rooms of a public swimming pool.

However in Victoria, taking video footage, without recording audio, of what is happening out in the open in your neighbour’s backyard does not contravene the Surveillance Devices Act.
Go figure eh, and this lack of uniformity state by state on surveillance laws doesn’t make these laws helpful when it comes to the dreaded drones. Check your state based surveillance laws HERE to see whether they will be of any help to you.

 You could also look at whether anti-stalking laws can be applied, but if it’s just a creepy perving neighbour, that won’t be stalking.
The only authorities that will look at complaints in this regard are the police or the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner 



Pilots of larger drones must be registered
Pilots of commercial drones weighing 2kg or more need to be registered with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and have an operator’s certificate before their unmanned aerial vehicles go zipping through the public airspace.
But with smaller recreational drones – the ones you can now buy at retailers across Australia, no registration is required.
So if it’s a particularly large spaceship hovering over your house or pool, its pilot must be registered.

Does Trespass Apply?
If you want to pursue a civil claim through the courts, and you’ve got the money and the time, trespass is available without having to demonstrate you suffered any loss or damage as a result of any action by either the drone or its operator.
Trespass involves an interference with your rights to ‘private enjoyment’ to land (which includes your house and the land around it, like a backyard or acreage).
To prove a trespass you have to be able to prove the following:
Exclusive possession – this usually means that you are living or staying on the land and are lawfully able to stop other people from entering. Owners, renters and boarders are generally in exclusive possession. If the area is a public place such as a park next to your house, you may not have exclusive possession over the park.
Land – this includes the space above and below the physical ground. So a drone that repeatedly flies over your house can be a trespass unless it flies so high that it is unnoticeable.
Intentional or negligent – to be a trespass, the interference has to be either deliberate or careless (meaning the person was negligent). This depends on the actions of the drone operator and what you observe the drone doing.
Interference – this means that a trespass has to occur ‘directly’ and cannot be a result of something else happening. You also have to prove that the interference was unreasonable or that it continues to interrupt your normal enjoyment. A drone that flies over your house, hovers around your windows or breaches your privacy would probably be found to be unreasonable.

Under what circumstances can you complain to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority?
Well if the drone…
♦ was flying close to people or 
♦ flew over the top of you or
♦ was flying near an airport or
♦ was flying near a helicopter landing site or
♦ was flying at night or in fog or
♦ you believe the person flying the drone couldn’t see it or
♦ the drone was flying too high (above 120 metres)

Then CASA can handle this through their online complaint service. They are not interested in complaints about a drone’s noise (local council for that one) or sticky beak things. 
Here’s the LINK to file a complaint.



And finally if you think a drone is being piloted with little regard to the safety of your good self (or your fellow citizens), here are the rules for drone pilots:


• You must not fly your drone higher than 120 metres (400 ft) above the ground.
• You must not fly your drone over or near an area affecting public safety or where emergency operations are underway (without prior approval). This could include situations such as a car crash, police operations, a fire and associated firefighting efforts, and search and rescue operations.
• You must not fly your drone within 30 metres of people, unless the other person is part of controlling or navigating the drone.
• You must fly only one drone at a time.

If your drone weighs more than 100 grams:
• You must keep your drone at least 5.5km away from controlled aerodromes (usually those with a control tower)
• You may fly within 5.5km of a non-controlled aerodrome or helicopter landing site (HLS) only if manned aircraft are not operating to or from the aerodrome. 
• You must only fly during the day and keep your drone within visual line-of sight.
This means being able to orientate, navigate and see the aircraft with your own eyes at all times (rather than through a device; for example, through goggles or on a video screen).
• You must not fly over or above people. This could include festivals, sporting ovals, populated beaches, parks, busy roads and footpaths.
• You must not operate your drone in a way that creates a hazard to another aircraft, person, or property
• You must not operate your drone in prohibited or restricted areas.

So the next time you’re out by the pool and you suddenly find a mini spaceship giving you a wink, you’ve got all the information to work out what is best to do.
Of course you could also have a chat to your neighbour as to why they find your speedos so fascinating.

………………………………………………..

Noisy dogs? Crazy neighbours? Bad smells next door? Tree problems?
Find out more about dealing with difficult neighbours HERE

What started out as a simple neighbours’ quarrel over garbage disposal and noise in a remote Chinese village two decades ago, recently resulted in the shooting death of 68 year old Mr Yingguan Chen in New York.

A dispute in a remote Chinese village… that led to a murder twenty years later in New York I hear you say?

Vicki Chen, the victim’s daughter, revealed that Wu Long  and her father were neighbours in China some two decades ago and would get into arguments over noise and refuse. Apparently, Wu Long got into the habit of tossing trash into her family’s yard and making noise late into the night. Confrontations and fights ensued and nothing was ever resolved.  However, it was thought that after all this time enough water had passed under the bridge and bygones had been forgotten.

But apparently Wu Long never did relinquish his animosity towards his former neighbour, and twenty years on a chance spotting of Mr Chen leaving a wedding in New York was all it took for his anger and vengeance to come flooding back. Later that day, after stalking Mr Chen through the streets of Brooklyn, he cornered him outside a Popeye’s Eatery in Sunset Park and shot him numerous times at point blank range.

And despite the horror of such an incident as this, it seems that a quick check with Professor Google of “solutions for noisy neighbours”, regretfully reveals an unfortunate list of angst (masked as solutions) which includes:

• Putting up embarrassing “shame notes” on apartment noticeboards about the perpetrator’s noisy habits (specifically mentioning things like, the neighbour’s late night sexcapades; their appalling taste in music; and advice for them to register for an alcoholics ‘unanimous’ group).
• Putting your stereo speakers up against the dividing wall and blasting your offending neighbour with hours of One Direction …or perhaps Barry Manilow.
• Banging on your neighbour’s door with all the rage you can muster and then heaping large dollops of abuse on them.
• And finally, the one that caught my eye…’throwing a cup of piss on them’.

I imagine that last one might warrant a eventual trip to the Magistrates’ Court.

So it seems that revenge is a dish best served any damn way you care to deliver it.

But all this aggressive tit for tat stuff never achieves solutions to noise problems, and mostly results in more fuel poured onto the flames of the dispute. So what might be a better way to address noise problems and lead to better harmony with neighbours?

Well, there is a vast array of legislation that exists across the world and here in Australia to deal with neighbourhood noise. Whether it’s the various Australian State laws like the Protection of the Environment Operations Act (NSW), the Public Health and Wellbeing Act (Vic), the Environmental Protection Act (WA & Qld); the innumerable “Dog Acts” to deal with canine noise; the local government regulations and ordinances on nuisance and noise etc …. The list is positively mind numbing, but the legislation rarely solves the ongoing problem.

Of course, government agencies are quick to give advice that suggests you talk to your neighbour about the noise problem, but never state how you should approach such conversations. So for those of you who aren’t familiar with one man who became a master at such conversations, let me introduce you to Mr Dale Carnegie author of one of the biggest selling books of all time, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”.

Carnegie (pictured above) noted that: “When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivate pride and vanity.”

He would of believed that attacking and criticising a neighbour over noise was futile, as it puts that person on the defensive and simply leads to them striving to justify themselves. On top of which it wounds pride, hurts one sense of importance and arouses resentment. Smells like more fuel on that fire eh?

He suggested that the one secret of success lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own. Perhaps your neighbour is a shift worker, or hard of hearing or is drowning in his music after a particularly bad day. What if the neighbour isn’t even aware that you can hear the noise. If you never get their point of view because you’re reacting with simmering anger it’s all going to come off looking a bit one sided. So don’t react, and instead find the appropriate time to have a two way conversation about the noise.
As Edward De Bono notes:

“Make a real effort to see where the other person is coming from. Explore that person’s logic bubble”

Mr Carnegie was an astute character and knew that most people are not interested in you or me, but rather they are interested in themselves – morning, noon and night! So with any conversation you might wish to have about a noise problem, it’s better to start off by getting to know your neighbour and engaging them in things they like talking about.

Sick of hearing Jon Bon Jovi at midnight? Find an interesting tidbit about Mr Jovi, smile, engage your neighbour when you next see them and eventually get to talking about the noise.

Another thing that I find works after having a pleasant exchange with your neighbour, is to state any concern you have in a way where you put your neighbour in the best possible light and assume there must be a mistake. For example you could say, “You seem like such a lovely person you probably had no idea the music was affecting our sleep”. Here, you didn’t demand or request anything, all you did was compliment your neighbour and bring the noise to his or her attention.

Winning arguments with neighbours over noise may make you feel great but as Carnegie states: ” You have made the person feel inferior and have hurt their pride. In the end people just resent your triumph”.

On the other hand, if you would prefer to engage with your neighbour with an impartial third party sorting things out between the two of you, there are great places like the Community Justice Centres in NSW  that can organise a dispute resolution (mediation) process. Contact your Community Legal Centre  for more details on what is available in your part of the world.

At the end of the day, if despite your best efforts the noise does not abate and becomes such a nuisance it is affecting your well being, call the police and for heaven’s sake let them deal with the situation.

For some neighbours surely are, the devil incarnate.

Neighbours – you can’t live without them

I guess you’ve landed on this page because someone or something in your neighbourhood is driving you crazy and you want to know what you can do about it. There are many laws relating to neighbour noise, smells, fences, trees, trespass and abusive behaviour which protect your rights to being able to enjoy your home. These laws are mostly made by state, territory or local government, which means the exact same laws don’t apply across Australia.
So below you just need to click the link to your problem and then your state (or territory) to get the specifics on the law.

NOISY NEIGHBOURS

ANIMAL NOISE AND ANIMAL ISSUES

STRANGE AND YUCKY SMELLS

FENCES AND TREES

TRESPASSING AND STICKY BEAKS

ABUSIVE NEIGHBOURS 

GOOD COMMUNICATION TO SOLVE PROBLEMS

Remember while there is more than one way to approach neighbourly dilemmas, you should choose an approach to solve your problem, not make it worse. if you get into a major fight with your neighbour it has the potential to impact on you and your family’s health and wellbeing for many years. Above all, you should ensure that you use the law to solve your problems, rather than taking the law into your own hands.
With this in mind, I want to tell you a short story. 

Once upon a time we lived in communities where it really paid dividends to be kind and considerate to your neighbours. There was an abundant community spirit that often extended to looking out for your elderly or infirm neighbours; keeping an eye on a neighbour’s house if they were away; occasionally babysitting their kids; and the mutual celebrating of birthdays and public holidays with neighbourhood parties. It was an age where people seemed to have more time and less pressure in their lives.

Now don’t get me wrong, wonderful things like this still happen in many neighbourhoods across the country but neighbourhood anger seems to be definitely on the rise. People are working longer hours, paying off bigger mortgages and collecting more ‘stuff’ and status. Our media is never far away from lecturing us about our right to entitlement. The catch cry “you can have it all” is everywhere in today’s world but the end result of this is often a self-centred attitude that results in big problems with neighbours, whether it’s in high rise apartments or country farms.

The moral here, before we get to the info and the attack plan, is that taking a little time to get to know your neighbours can often built bridges that really help smooth the communication lines when a problem arises. Judging from a distance is a very easy game plan but getting to know someone you live next to can be very beneficial to your health and happiness. We are all diverse and can learn a lot from each other.

If you want to be involved in some mediation to work out a problem with your neighbour here are your state wide contacts:

Community justice/neighbourhood mediation centres

New South Wales

Community Justice Centres

Freecall: 1800 990 777
Website: www.cjc.nsw.gov.au

Queensland

Dispute Resolution Branch
Department of Justice & Attorney General
Phone: (07) 3239 6007
Website: www.justice.qld.gov.au

Northern Territory

Community Justice Centre

Phone: 1800 000 473
Website: www.cjc.nt.gov.au

Victoria

Dispute Settlement Centre
Freecall: 1800 658 528
Website: http://www.disputes.vic.gov.au/

ACT

Conflict Resolution Service

Phone: (02) 6162 4050
Website: www.crs.org.au

Western Australia

Citizen’s Advice Bureau

Phone: (08) 9221 5711

Website: http://www.cabwa.com.au/index.php

South Australia

Southern Community Justice Centre
40 Beach Road
Christies Beach SA 5165

Phone: (08) 8384 5222
Website: http://www.scjc.com.au

For Tasmania, try your local Community Legal Centre