Powered Drudging maybe illegal and yes there maybe a risk of being caught.
But let's face the facts some people are GREEDY and the risk is very minimal.
Who police's the use of dredges ?
Spotted 2 Grabs using a drudge in the creek at ophir/national park. I took a couple of photos and some video footage.
Reported it to;
Police . They said "so what, What do you want us to do"
National Parks . They said "not our problem, ask waterways"
Waterways. They said "not our problem, ask fisheries"
Fisheries. They said "If they are fishing we can do something, otherwise try national Parks or ophir trust or heritage maybe"
I'm not going to say what the ophir trust said.
Heritage council " Can't help, Goodbye"
So if you are Greedy grub Ophir is a good place use a drudge with minimal risk.
I do not own a drudge and i do not condone the use of them. Grubs who do are stealing every other prospectors gold.