Applying for a firearms licence (NSW).

Are you unsure of where to start with your NSW firearms licence application? This guide will walk you through the process, step-by-step.

Before I start, one quick caveat – This guide applies to Category A/B firearms licences in NSW. There may be slight discrepancies between each state’s application process. Therefore, I recommend that you check with your state firearms authority to confirm your individual requirements, prior to lodging your application. This will ensure that you don’t miss out on any key information which may unnecessarily delay your application.

Section 1. Am I eligible?

Before you put time, money, and effort into lodging an application, you should check to see if you are an eligible candidate. The minimum requirements to obtain a licence are listed below:

Minimum requirements

Each applicant must:

Be considered a fit and proper person,
Complete a NSW firearm safety handling course,
Be a current resident of NSW, or in the process of becoming one, and;
Provide evidence of their genuine reason to own a firearm.

Fit and proper person – what does that mean?

Simply put, a ‘fit and proper person’ is someone who does not pose an immediate threat to the general public. In order for the NSW firearms registry to determine your ability to meet this requirement, they need to conduct a personal history check. This check will cover your criminal history and mental health.

If you’ve previously had a mental health incident that involved the police, it does not mean that you are automatically excluded from obtaining a firearms licence. A panel – which consists of NSW firearms registry personnel, will assess your situation, and determine if your application should proceed. If you are deemed to be low risk, this panel will request that you obtain an independent mental health report from a qualified Psychologist or Psychiatrist. Please note – more than one visit may be required for this professional to make a determination on your claim, and you are required to cover the full cost of each visit.

Criminal history – What are they looking for?

Part of your application involves a criminal history check. Certain criminal acts can exclude you from obtaining a licence, these include:

A current Apprehended Violence Order (AVO), or an AVO that has expired less than 10 years ago (unless revoked).
Injunction Order issued by the Family Law Court.
Interim Apprehended Violence Order.
Provisional Apprehended Violence Order.
Firearms or Weapons Prohibition Order.
A registered person under the Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000.
Convicted within the last 10 years of an offence prescribed by the regulations.
Subject to a good behaviour bond, a community correction order, or a conditional release order for an offence prescribed by the regulations.

A prescribed offence is a conviction for offences involving firearms or weapons, prohibited drugs/plants, violence, public order, assaults against law enforcement officers, offences of a sexual nature or involving fraud, dishonesty, stealing, robbery, organised criminal groups and recruitment, riot, affray or offences relating to terrorism.

If you’ve satisfied the above criteria, congratulations! It’s now time to determine your “genuine reason” and learn about your compliance obligations.

Section 2. Purpose of firearms ownership and your obligations.

Why do you need it? – Your “genuine reason”.

In order to obtain a firearms licence, you’ll need to register at least one genuine reason on your application. Each genuine reason has different criteria and obligations that you are required to maintain on a yearly basis. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll focus on the two most common choices:

Sport / Target shooting – participate in target shooting activities as a member of a club, on an approved shooting range.
Recreation hunting / Vermin control – participate in hunting and pest control activities as a member of a club, or with written permission from a rural landholder, land manager, or a government department.

Unfortunately, self-defence is not considered to be a genuine reason for firearms ownership in Australia. This is unlikely to change at any point in the future.

Proof of your “genuine reason”.

In order to prove that your genuine reason is true and valid, you will need to attach a copy of the following supporting documents to your application.

Sport / Target shooting:

A membership card from a Sport / Target shooting club that is registered with the NSW Firearms Registry.

Recreational hunting / vermin control, either:

A membership card from an Approved Hunting Organisation (AHO) that is registered with the NSW Firearms Registry.
Written permission to shoot on land by a rural land holder, rural land manager, or a government department – e.g., holding a current NSW Restricted (R) licence issued by the NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI), OR;
A copy of your certificate of ownership or occupation of rural land (e.g., a lease agreement).

Attendance requirements

Each genuine reason has differing attendance requirements. These have been listed below:

Sport / Target shooting – Minimum 4 club events or range attendances per year.
Hunting, with an AHO (club) membership – Minimum 2 club events or range attendances per year.
Permission to shoot on land under the NSW Restricted (R) licence scheme – No minimum club attendance.
Permission to shoot from a land holder/land manager, or a certificate of ownership or occupation of rural land – No minimum club attendance.

Section 3. The application process.

Complete a NSW firearms safety course.

Prior to submitting your application, you are required to complete an approved NSW firearms safety course. Don’t stress, the course is relatively straightforward. It’s not about providing you with advanced knowledge or skills, it’s an introduction to firearms safety and use. Before undertaking this training, I recommend that you familiarise yourself with a learner’s handbook, such as the one from SSAA. This will help you to understand the fundamental knowledge that’s required to pass this course.

Applying for your licence.

Once you’ve successfully completed your firearms safety course, you are ready to submit your application. In order to avoid delays, it’s recommended that you apply online. To do this, you’ll need:

A Service NSW account.
Proof of ID documents
Your firearms safety training certificate.
Supporting documentation for your genuine reasons (as listed above).
A VISA/ Mastercard to pay your licence application fee.

Simply log into your “Service NSW” account, and find the tab that says ‘apply for a firearms licence‘. It’s then a simple matter of filling out the online forms and uploading your supporting documents.

Note: All documents should be uploaded in a PDF file format. When scanning documents, e.g., a NSW Drivers licence, make sure that you include both sides of the card.

The wait.

At the time of writing this – Nov 2021, the NSW firearms registry claims to have reduced the backlog of applications and streamlined the application process. Hopefully, for your sake, this is an accurate statement. No doubt you’ll be eager to check the status of your application. To do this, log in to the Firearms Internet Register with the number that is provided to you by the NSW Firearms Registry upon receipt of your application.

If your application is approved, you will be sent a “photograph advice” letter in the mail. Take this letter to a services NSW office along with documents that make up 100 points of identity. This letter is only valid for a period of 60 days. If you miss this window, you will need to go through the entire application process again.

After the photo is taken.

Congratulations! Your licence will be sent out in the mail. To obtain a firearm, you first need to apply for a permit to acquire through Service NSW. We’ll post an article on that process in the near future. In the meantime, sign up to our website and browse through the classifieds section and our other articles.