Who Cannot Hold a Firearms Licence
A ‘prohibited person’ is not permitted to hold a firearm licence. A ‘prohibited person’ is a person who has been:
- imprisoned for a serious offence, assault or drug offence anywhere in Australia (ban of five years if the sentence is under five years, ban of 15 years if sentence is five years or more), or for a conspiracy offence under the Crimes Act 1958 (ban of ten years); or
- subject to an Intervention Order under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 or Stalking Intervention Orders Act 2008 or its equivalent in other states (where they are sometimes referred to as AVOs). The ban is five years from the end of the order; or
- placed on a Community Based Order by a court (five year ban) or found guilty by a court of an indictable offence or an offence against the Firearms Act 1996, or other similar Acts where it was open to the court to impose a prison sentence (12 month ban).
In some cases, a Magistrates’ or County Court can lift the ban and declare a person to be ‘non-prohibited’. Section 189 of the Firearms Act 1996 outlines the circumstances in which a person may be eligible to be declared 'non-prohibited'. However, check with the Registrar or Clerk of Courts at your local court.
These are general descriptions only. See section 3 of the Firearms Act 1996 for the precise definition.