NSW Ombudsman and licence application delays?

Questions about New South Wales gun and ammunition laws. NSW Firearms Act 1996.

NSW Ombudsman and licence application delays?

Post by jwai86 » 16 Jan 2022, 1:41 pm

I applied for my PPL during December 2020, and Category A/B in March 2021, but have received no decision about my applications from the Firearms Registry since that time. I have called the Registry on several occasions, and I keep getting the same response that it is still in adjudication. I also got the SSAA NSW to write to the Registry last year, but I haven't received anything back from them either.

I visited a firearms dealer in Sydney yesterday, and they suggested contacting the state Ombudsman regarding the delay. A club officer at my pistol club also said something along similar lines to me last year. However, I just checked the NSW Ombudsman website, and it says that they can't handle complaints about the NSW Police Force. Am I missing something here?
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Re: NSW Ombudsman and licence application delays?

Post by Bugman » 16 Jan 2022, 1:54 pm

There must be a reason why you have not received your PPL. The SSAA ,in my opinion, are really just a waste of time in incidences like these, unless you shoot with the SSAA pistol club etc. With you PPL you should be talking to your club secretary for further advice and possibly assistance, although all that person can do is confirm you are a member of regular attendance. A long time ago when I applied for my PPL after 6 months probation, it took another 3 months before I received it from FAR. Now with all the upheaval from certain enquiries, COVID impacting staff etc etc I think you might find that these problems play a big part in delays. A bit of advice, the more you ring FAR the more likely they will get a bit peeved (inside info on this). You will have to be patient.
I know this is not the answer you were looking for, but in the end, I am sure it will work out for you.
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Re: NSW Ombudsman and licence application delays?

Post by jwai86 » 16 Jan 2022, 2:07 pm

Bugman wrote:There must be a reason why you have not received your PPL. The SSAA ,in my opinion, are really just a waste of time in incidences like these, unless you shoot with the SSAA pistol club etc. With you PPL you should be talking to your club secretary for further advice and possibly assistance, although all that person can do is confirm you are a member of regular attendance. A long time ago when I applied for my PPL after 6 months probation, it took another 3 months before I received it from FAR. Now with all the upheaval from certain enquiries, COVID impacting staff etc etc I think you might find that these problems play a big part in delays. A bit of advice, the more you ring FAR the more likely they will get a bit peeved (inside info on this). You will have to be patient.
I know this is not the answer you were looking for, but in the end, I am sure it will work out for you.


I declared issues with depression and anxiety in my applications, so as expected, the Registry requested further information from my psychiatrist which I duly had him provide. Since then, I only know that my application for a PPL (and by extension the Cat A/B) has not been rejected because if it has, my pistol club would also be informed and they haven't received anything of the sort.

I was advised by others on not ringing too often for the reason you mention. I've also heard rumours about the Registry simply sitting on an application in the hope that the applicant eventually gives up and withdraws the application. I sure hope that isn't what they are trying to do here.
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Re: NSW Ombudsman and licence application delays?

Post by Communism_Is_Cancer » 16 Jan 2022, 2:28 pm

From my personal experience the squeaky wheel does get greased. I would not worry about getting put to the bottom of the pile because in life the more you exercise your right to complain, the more you get what you want.

Email the police minister, police commissioner, your local mp and the premier. Also a firearms lawyer can't really do anything until a decision has been made on your application but he can contact the aforementioned on your behalf to find out why a paid service is taking over a year. That is beyond reasonable.
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Re: NSW Ombudsman and licence application delays?

Post by Communism_Is_Cancer » 16 Jan 2022, 2:36 pm

I believe the wait is to do with funding. They drag out the process, so a lot of people make complaints to the minister. The minister asks the commissioner why the department is receiving so many complaints and the commissioner replies with there is to many applicants we are overwhelmed, in the name of public safety we need more money.

Then they get the extra funding but it it is a never ending cycle because the public servants always stay in the job longer than an elected official.
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Re: NSW Ombudsman and licence application delays?

Post by Bugman » 17 Jan 2022, 7:09 am

Communism_Is_Cancer wrote:I believe the wait is to do with funding. They drag out the process, so a lot of people make complaints to the minister. The minister asks the commissioner why the department is receiving so many complaints and the commissioner replies with there is to many applicants we are overwhelmed, in the name of public safety we need more money.

Then they get the extra funding but it it is a never ending cycle because the public servants always stay in the job longer than an elected official.

Funding could well be part of the problem. I did work in the public service sector many years ago and it was a big boo boo not to spend the allocated budget and overspend in some cases to minimise the penny pinchers from above decreasing our next years budget expenditure.
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Re: NSW Ombudsman and licence application delays?

Post by jwai86 » 18 Jan 2022, 2:27 pm

I rang the NSW Ombudsman's Office today to confirm if they handle complaints about the Firearms Registry. They don't, but they said to try the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission. The LECC is meant to address serious misconduct or maladministration by the NSW Police Force, but I don't know if what the Registry is doing (or not doing) with my applications is maladministration or business as usual :P
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Re: NSW Ombudsman and licence application delays?

Post by geoff » 18 Jan 2022, 6:51 pm

jwai86 wrote:I rang the NSW Ombudsman's Office today to confirm if they handle complaints about the Firearms Registry. They don't, but they said to try the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission. The LECC is meant to address serious misconduct or maladministration by the NSW Police Force, but I don't know if what the Registry is doing (or not doing) with my applications is maladministration or business as usual :P


There's a valid argument to be made that the "business as usual" conduct of the average state firearm registry in Australia is in fact maladministration.
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