Contraband and drone drops into prison: the offences in NSW and the ACT.

The news, and the point of law it raises.

Corrective services investigators have charged a man after a drone was located inside a correctional centre carrying a package said to hold methylamphetamine, a quantity of prescription drugs, a glass pipe, syringes, a mobile phone and a SIM card. The matter is in another state and is before the local court there, no one has been convicted, and any person charged is presumed innocent. This note is not about that case. It is about the question the report raises for anyone in NSW or the ACT: what are the actual offences when someone tries to get drugs, a phone or a drone into a jail, and how serious are they? The answer is a set of separate offences, and the drug charge can be far heavier than most people expect.

Is it illegal to fly a drone over a prison?

In NSW, yes, and the offence stands on its own. Section 253FA of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW) makes it an offence to be in possession of a remotely piloted aircraft, a drone, in a correctional centre or correctional complex, or in the residential and transitional facilities near a prison that the regulations name. The maximum is 20 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment, and a court that convicts can order the drone forfeited to the Crown. Section 253FB reaches a person who possesses or operates a drone in the prohibited airspace around a correctional facility.

These sections were added because drones became the delivery method of choice for getting drugs and phones over prison walls. The point worth grasping is that the drone offence does not require any successful delivery. Having the drone in the wrong place is enough. There is also a Commonwealth layer. Drones are regulated under Part 101 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (Cth), and the aviation regulator treats the airspace over prisons as a no-fly area, so a single flight can breach both the state criminal offence and the aviation rules.

What counts as contraband in a correctional centre?

Contraband is anything an inmate is not allowed to hold. In practice that covers prohibited drugs, alcohol, syringes, mobile phones and their parts, SIM cards and chargers, weapons, tobacco in a smoke-free centre, and now drones. The Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW) does not lump these together. It creates separate offences for the items that matter most, and each has its own maximum. That structure means a single plan to get a package inside can produce several charges at once, one for the drugs, one for the phone, one for the drone that carried them.

The offences reach the person on the outside as much as the inmate. Bringing an item in, attempting to bring it in, or giving it to an inmate is enough. A visitor, a delivery driver, a person flying a drone from a nearby street, or a corrupt staff member can all be charged, and so can the inmate found in possession.

What is the penalty for bringing drugs into a NSW prison?

This is where people misread the risk. Section 253C of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW) creates the contraband trafficking offences. Bringing liquor into a place of detention carries up to 10 penalty units or 6 months under section 253C(1). Bringing a poison carries up to 20 penalty units or 2 years under section 253C(2). Bringing a prohibited drug or plant carries up to 50 penalty units or 2 years under section 253C(4). In NSW a penalty unit is 110 dollars, so the fine on the drug offence runs to 5,500 dollars.

The trap is in the words "small quantity". Section 253C(4) only reaches a small quantity, measured against Schedule 1 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW). Once the amount passes that line, the conduct is charged as drug supply under section 25 of that Act, not as the contraband offence, and the maximum jumps by an order of magnitude. A commercial quantity carries 20 years, and a large commercial quantity carries life. So a package with more than a token amount of a drug in it is not a 2-year matter at all. It is a serious supply charge. Our page on possessing a prohibited drug in NSW sets out the quantity tiers that decide which charge applies.

Syringes, mobile phones and SIM cards.

Two more items carry their own offences. Introducing a syringe into a place of detention, or supplying one to an inmate, is an offence under section 253D, with a maximum of 2 years. Mobile phones are treated seriously because a phone lets an inmate keep running an enterprise from inside. Under section 253F it is an offence for an inmate to possess a mobile phone, any part of one, a SIM card or a charger, with a maximum of 2 years or a fine of 5,500 dollars, and section 253G picks up related conduct, including supplying those items to an inmate.

The package described in these drone cases usually holds a mix, drugs plus a phone plus a SIM. Because each item has its own offence, the charges add up. That is deliberate. The law is built so that the person cannot treat the whole delivery as one minor act.

Can you be charged when the delivery failed?

Yes. A drone found before anything reaches an inmate does not save the person who sent it. The contraband offences catch an attempt as well as a completed delivery, so a package intercepted on the perimeter is still an offence. Possessing the drone in the prohibited area is itself complete under section 253FA, delivery or no delivery.

The supply charge is wider still. Under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW), supply includes an agreement to supply and an offer to supply, not only the physical handover. So a person who arranged the drop, packed the drugs, or flew the drone can be liable for supply even though corrective services found the package first. The defence work in these cases is about identity and knowledge: who controlled the drone, who packed the parcel, and what the accused actually knew about its contents. That turns on the strength of the evidence, from drone flight data and phone records to CCTV and any account the accused gives, which is why the advice on staying silent in our note on the police interview and the ERISP matters from the first hour.

How does this work in the ACT?

The ACT uses a single prohibited-thing offence. Section 145 of the Corrections Management Act 2007 (ACT) makes it an offence to take a prohibited thing into a correctional centre, or to give one to a detainee, without authority. What is prohibited is set out in a declaration made under the Act, and it includes drugs, mobile phones and weapons. The maximum penalty for these prohibited-thing offences is 50 penalty units, imprisonment for 6 months, or both, and in the ACT a penalty unit is 160 dollars.

As in NSW, the prohibited-thing charge is not the ceiling where drugs are involved. A real quantity is charged as a trafficking offence under Chapter 6 of the Criminal Code 2002 (ACT), which carries far heavier penalties. Where a drone is used, the person also faces the aviation rules that treat the ACT's correctional centre as a no-fly area. So the ACT position mirrors NSW in substance: a light prohibited-thing offence for small items, and a serious drug charge once the quantity is real.

What the courts do with these cases.

The courts treat getting drugs, phones or weapons into a jail as a serious matter, because contraband inside a prison fuels debt, standover conduct and violence, and a phone lets serious offending continue from a cell. Where the charge is supply of a real quantity rather than the small-quantity contraband offence, a full-time custodial sentence is the ordinary starting point. It is not automatic. The person's role in the plan, the quantity, whether the conduct was organised or a one-off, an early guilty plea, and personal circumstances all shape the result.

Bail is usually the first fight where the alleged conduct is organised, because the prosecution points to planning and to the risk of further offending. Getting the charge right at the start also matters, because the difference between a contraband offence and a supply charge changes the whole shape of the case. Our note on the first thirty days of a serious matter sets out what happens early and why the initial decisions carry weight.

Primary sources: the contraband and drone offences are in Part 13A of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW), including sections 253C, 253D, 253F, 253FA and 253FB; the drug supply framework is in the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW). The ACT offence is section 145 of the Corrections Management Act 2007 (ACT). A worked example of a drone contraband prosecution is in the NSW Department of Communities and Justice media statement, and the offence text can be searched on JADE.

Common questions

Is it illegal to fly a drone over a prison in NSW?

Yes. Under section 253FA of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW) it is an offence to possess a drone in a correctional centre or complex, or in nearby facilities the regulations prescribe, with a maximum of 20 penalty units or 2 years and forfeiture of the drone. Section 253FB reaches possessing or operating a drone in the prohibited airspace around a prison. Commonwealth aviation rules under the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 also treat prisons as no-fly areas.

What counts as contraband in a NSW correctional centre?

Anything an inmate is not allowed to hold, including prohibited drugs, alcohol, syringes, mobile phones and their parts, SIM cards, chargers, weapons and drones. The Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW) creates separate offences for the most serious items: drugs under section 253C, syringes under section 253D, phones under section 253F, and drones under sections 253FA and 253FB. Bringing an item in, or attempting to, is an offence in its own right.

What is the penalty for bringing drugs into a prison in NSW?

It depends on quantity. A small quantity is an offence under section 253C(4) of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW), with a maximum of 50 penalty units or 2 years. But that section only reaches a small quantity measured against Schedule 1 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW). A larger amount is charged as supply under section 25 of that Act, which carries up to 20 years for a commercial quantity and life for a large commercial quantity.

Can you be charged if the drone was intercepted and nothing reached an inmate?

Yes. The contraband offences reach an attempt as well as a completed delivery, so a package located before it reaches an inmate can still found a charge, and possessing the drone in the prohibited area is itself complete under section 253FA. A supply charge can also apply, because supply under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW) includes an agreement to supply and an offer to supply, not only the physical handover.

How does the ACT deal with prohibited things in a correctional centre?

The offence is section 145 of the Corrections Management Act 2007 (ACT). It is an offence to take a prohibited thing into a correctional centre, or to give one to a detainee, without authority. Prohibited things are set out in a declaration under the Act and include drugs, phones and weapons. The maximum for these prohibited-thing offences is 50 penalty units, 6 months, or both, and an ACT penalty unit is 160 dollars. A real drug quantity is charged as trafficking under the Criminal Code 2002 (ACT).

What sentence do prison contraband offences attract?

The courts treat getting drugs, phones or weapons into a jail as serious, because contraband fuels debt, standover conduct and violence inside. A supply charge for a real quantity, rather than the small-quantity contraband offence, can attract a full-time custodial sentence. The person's role, the quantity, whether the plan was organised, an early guilty plea and personal circumstances all bear on the result, and bail is often the first issue.

To speak to a criminal defence lawyer, call Aaron Kernaghan on 0421 717 019.

This article is written by Aaron Kernaghan, criminal defence lawyer at Good Legal Lawyers, as at 25 August 2026. It is commentary and reflects the personal opinion of the author only. It is not legal advice, it is not a substitute for advice on your own matter, and it does not purport to be accurate or complete. Any matter referred to may be before the court and any person charged is presumed innocent. For advice on a specific matter, contact Aaron Kernaghan on 0421 717 019 or contact the firm.

More criminal-law commentary by Aaron Kernaghan.

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