Prisons around the country want the airspace above them to be declared a ‘no fly zone’ in order to stop people using drones to drops contraband over the fence.

Corrections ministers from state and territory governments have warned that criminals can use drones to smuggle drugs, weapons and other banned materials into prisons.

In March last year, a man was arrested for allegedly trying to use a drone to smuggle drugs into Melbourne's Metropolitan Remand Centre.

Victoria’s Corrections Minister Wade Noonan says it is not the first or last time.

“When it comes to drones, they are advancing quite significantly in terms of their technology,” he said.

“This problem will become larger, not smaller.

“We can put walls around our prisons but we don't control the airspace around those prisons.”

A recent meeting of prison ministers made an agreement to lobby the Commonwealth for tighter controls on the airspace above prisons.

New South Wales Corrections Minister David Elliott agreed that drones were becoming a serious threat to security.

“Unfortunately, criminals are getting smarter ... and my job as minister is to ensure we stay ahead of the game,” he said.

“This is a specific request to CASA [Civil Aviation Safety Authority] ... it shouldn't be seen as a difficult request.”

CASA says it is considering the proposal, which would also ban larger aircraft like helicopters from flying over jails without permission.

CASA spokesperson Peter Gibson says existing regulations already make it very difficult to fly a drone near a prison.

“Those rules are things like; ‘Keep them more than 30 metres away from people, don't overfly crowds, keep them in your line of sight’,” he said.

“All of those rules would be highly likely to be [breached] if you were flying a drone into or around a prison.

Mr Noonan said that an outright ban would ensure security.

“We're simply not going to go away on this,” he said.

“If anyone thinks down the road that this is going to get easier for the states and territories, they're kidding themselves.”