Firearm licences

The NSW Firearms Registry will tell you if the decision can be reviewed by NCAT.

Before coming to NCAT, you must first ask the NSW Firearms Registry to review the decision. This is called an 'internal review'. You must request an internal review within 28 days of being told of the decision.

If you do not agree with the internal review decision, or you have not received a response within 21 days, you can apply to NCAT the decision reviewed.

In some cases, you can apply to NCAT without an internal appeal:

• a decision is exempt from an internal review; or
• an urgent review of the decision is needed to to protect you interests

Check with the NSW Firearms Registry if your decision is exempt from an internal review.

You can either present your own case to NCAT or have a lawyer or non-lawyer agent represent you. You will usually need to attend the hearing to give your instructions to your lawyer or agent.

• Your lawyer or agent needs to complete a Notice of Representation  and submit to NCAT in person or by post
• Send a copy of the Notice of Representation to the NSW Firearms Registry.

A non-lawyer agent needs to ask for permission to represent you from the Tribunal Member the next time the case is listed. You should attend with the agent in case NCAT does not allow the agent to appear for you. A lawyer does not need to ask for permission from the Member.

In most cases, you can apply to NCAT within 28 days from when you are notified of the internal review decision.

You will need to provide following information on your application form:

• Your name, address and telephone number
• Name of the government agency that made the decision you want reviewed
• The date the decision and the internal review decision, if any, were made
• A copy of the original decision
• A copy of the internal review decision (this is the letter sent to you by the Firearms Registry)
• A brief outline of why you think the decision is wrong

Do you need a stay of the decision?

While you wait for NCAT to review the original decision, the decision still applies and the agency can implement it.  You can complete the Application for stay or interim order and lodge with your Application for review form.

You will receive a letter from NCAT telling you that your application has been received. You will be given a date for a directions hearing.

You will also receive documents from the NSW Firearms Registry that it considers are relevant to the decision.

The purpose of a directions hearing is to agree on what the parties need to do to prepare the case for hearing.  

Normally you will be given a timetable to file your submissions and evidence with NCAT and give it to the Firearms Registry.

Look through the documents that the Firearms Registry has provided to you and decide what further information NCAT will need when hearing your case.

Comply with the directions made at the directions hearing:

• You may have been asked to file and serve a statement or affidavit from yourself or other witnesses. Learn more about evidence and witnesses.
• Other relevant information may be character references from people who know you well, medical reports and police reports or statements.
• You must give a copy of any statements or other documents you want to rely on to NCAT and to the other party by the deadline given to you at the directions hearing.

NCAT's hearings are less formal than court hearings. In most cases, the application will be heard by a single Tribunal Member.

When the Tribunal reviews administrative decisions, the respondent (the agency) will usually give its evidence first. After the agency has given its evidence, the applicant will present their evidence.

In these cases the Tribunal’s role is to decide whether the agency made the correct decision. 

In some cases, the Tribunal Member will be able to give you their decision at the end of the hearing. The Member will usually need time to consider the case and will give their decision at a later date. You will usually receive the decision in less than 3 months. Complex matters may take longer.

You will receive a letter telling you of the decision that NCAT has made.

The decision may also be available on the NSW Caselaw website. You will be notified by phone before the reasons are published.

NCAT does not generally make an order for one party to pay the costs of another party's lawyer. Learn more about legal costs.

Right of appeal

If you are not satisfied with NCAT's decision may have the right of appeal to the Appeal Panel, if you can establish that the Tribunal went wrong either in the procedure it followed, or the way it applied the law to the facts of your case.

In some instances there is also a right of appeal to the NSW Supreme Court. If you are not sure of your appeal rights you should seek legal advice.