Will I lose my firearms licence in the Northern Territory because of my prescription?

What the law actually says

Firearms Act 1997 (NT), as in force at 30 June 2026.

The licensing test. s 10 provides that the Commissioner must not grant a licence unless satisfied the applicant “(a) is at least 18 years of age…; and (b) is a fit and proper person; and (c) has completed an approved firearms training and safety course; and (d) is able to meet the storage and safety requirements under this Act; and (e) resides in the Territory…; and (f) has not, within the period of 10 years before the application” been found guilty of a disqualifying offence. Like Victoria, the NT does not define fit and proper by a list of criteria, and health is not named in the grant provision.

But health is named in the suspension power. s 42(1) lets a police officer in charge of a station, or of the rank of senior sergeant or higher, suspend a licence by written notice “(c) if the officer believes on reasonable grounds that the holder is suffering from a physical or mental infirmity or incapacity and, as a result of possessing a firearm, may be a danger to the safety of the person or to another person, or to property”, or “(d) after receiving a report under section 101”.

Read those two together. The test is not the condition. It is the condition and a resulting danger — the same two-step every jurisdiction checked uses, expressed here about as plainly as it gets.

Section 101 is the widest practitioner duty in the country. s 101(1): “A health practitioner or a professional counsellor or social worker who believes on reasonable grounds that, in the interests of public safety, a person is not a fit and proper person to have a firearm in his or her possession or control must report to a police officer the belief and the material facts on which the belief is based.”

Three things about it. It is a duty, not a permission — as in Tasmania, and unlike WA, Queensland, the ACT and Victoria. It reaches counsellors and social workers, not just registered practitioners. And s 101(6) defines health practitioner as anyone registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law to practise in a health profession, with only diagnostic radiographers and students carved out — which is every registered health profession there is.

s 101(2) protects the reporter: a report made in good faith “is not to be taken to be a breach of confidence or of professional etiquette or ethics or of a rule of professional conduct”, and no civil or criminal liability is incurred by reason only of making it.

Clubs have a duty too, and theirs carries a penalty. s 101(3): a firearms club or historical firearms collector's society must report “without delay” any concern that a member is not a fit and proper person. s 101(4): it must report an expulsion, and the reasons for it, within 2 days. Maximum penalty 500 penalty units. Note that the penalty is attached to subsections (3) and (4) — the club obligations — and not to the practitioner duty in subsection (1).

Nothing here names a medicine, a prescription or cannabis. The question is infirmity or incapacity plus resulting danger, and who forms that view is a police officer or a practitioner.

What we did not check. Whether the NT Police Firearms Policy and Records Unit publishes a health declaration form, or a policy about prescribed medicines, is not covered here. Everything above comes from the legislation named at the foot of this page. A registry's own form is often more informative about how a discretion is exercised in practice, and it is worth asking for one before you apply.

What happens if it goes wrong

Read off the Act as in force at 30 June 2026:

• Suspension under s 42(1)(c) or (d), by written notice. s 42(2): on service you must deliver the licence and the firearm immediately, or within the period the notice specifies — maximum penalty 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months. s 42(3): if you do not, a police officer may enter without a warrant any place the officer reasonably believes the firearm may be found, search it and seize the firearm.
• On suspension or revocation a notice must be served personally, and s 40(2) lets a police officer, at the time of service and without a warrant, enter and search for and seize any firearm or ammunition in the person's possession.
• Review is to NTCAT, and the decision that matters here is expressly listed. Schedule 7 sets out the reviewable decisions for s 50, and item 8 is “a decision of a police officer under section 42(1) to suspend a licence, permit or certificate of registration”, with the affected person being the holder. A refusal to grant a licence under s 10 is item 1, and a revocation under s 40 is item 7.

The dollar value of an NT penalty unit is set separately and is indexed, so read the current figure rather than converting from this page.