Know Your Script
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New South Wales

Will I lose my firearms licence in New South Wales because of my prescription?

There is no law on this

The short answer

No Australian firearms Act names medicinal cannabis. Every one of them has a fit-and-proper-person test and a health or public-safety discretion broad enough to consider it, which is why outcomes differ between states and between applicants.

General information, not advice. This page describes the law as at the last-checked date shown at the foot of it. It does not take your circumstances into account, and small differences in circumstances change outcomes. If a decision turns on this, speak to someone qualified about your own situation.

What the law says here — and what is still to be confirmed

The material below has not been checked against the instruments it describes. It is set out rather than withheld so you can see exactly what is open, and so a professional reviewing this page knows what to check.

  • Open the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW) and identify (a) the fit-and-proper-person test, (b) any provision permitting the registrar to consider the applicant's physical or mental health, (c) any obligation to notify a change in health, and (d) the review or appeal route from a refusal or revocation. Then check whether the NSW Firearms Registry publishes a policy or a health-declaration form that addresses prescribed medicines. Record section numbers for each.

What is still to be confirmed about the consequences

The material below has not been checked against the instruments it describes. It is set out rather than withheld so you can see exactly what is open, and so a professional reviewing this page knows what to check.

  • Record what happens on refusal or revocation in NSW: surrender obligations, the timeframe, and the review route.

What to say

  • Answer any health question on a licence application accurately. A false declaration on a firearms application is a separate and more serious problem than the answer would have been.

What not to do

  • Do not omit it from a health declaration on the assumption nobody will check.
  • Do not assume another state's outcome transfers. These are eight separate schemes.

Sources

No sources recorded yet. This is one reason the page is still unchecked — a legal statement without a source is an opinion.

Cite this page

Know Your Script, ‘Firearms licence and medicinal cannabis prescription in NSW’ (New South Wales), https://www.knowyourscript.com.au/firearms/firearms-licence-prescription/nsw/ (not yet checked against primary sources — not for citation).

This page has not been checked by anyone. Please do not cite it.

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Status: not yet checked against primary sources — general information, not legal advice

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