Will I lose my firearms licence in Tasmania because of my prescription?

What the law actually says

Firearms Act 1996 (Tas), No. 23 of 1996, authorised version as at 1 December 2024.

Condition is a mandatory consideration. s 29(2): in deciding whether a person is a fit and proper person, the Commissioner “is to take into account” a list which includes “(a) any likelihood of the person using a firearm — (i) for an unlawful purpose; or (ii) to harm himself or herself; (b) the mental and physical condition of the person… (e) the ability of the person to exercise reasonable and responsible control over a firearm”.

The Commissioner can ask for a report, and then go back to its author. s 29B(1)(b) allows the Commissioner to require further information reasonably needed to be satisfied about “the applicant's identity or physical or mental health”, including “a report from a medical practitioner about the applicant's physical health” and “a report from a medical practitioner or psychologist about the applicant's mental health”. s 29B(4) then lets the Commissioner give that practitioner information the Commissioner holds and ask for a further report — but only where the Commissioner reasonably considers the practitioner was not aware of it and it may influence their opinion (s 29B(5)), and s 29B(6) requires the Commissioner to tell the applicant it is being supplied. s 29B(7): this may be done “despite the provisions of any other Act”.

That notice requirement in s 29B(6) is worth knowing. Tasmania is the jurisdiction that tells you when police have gone back to your doctor.

Refusing ends the application. s 29B(3): an applicant who refuses or fails to provide the information reasonably required, within a period the Commissioner specifies, “is taken to have withdrawn the application”.

Your practitioner's duty is not discretionary. s 148(1): a prescribed person “is to inform the Commissioner, by notice in writing”, if they reasonably believe that “(a) a patient or client is likely to possess or use a firearm; and (b) such possession or use would be unsafe, for the patient or client or another person — (i) because of the patient's or client's mental or physical condition; or (ii) because the patient or client would be a threat to public safety.” The notice must give the patient's name and address and the reason for the opinion (s 148(2)). s 148(5): giving that information in good faith gives rise to no criminal or civil action. s 148(6) defines prescribed person as a medical practitioner, a registered nurse, a registered psychologist, or any other person the Minister determines by Gazette notice.

Compare Western Australia (s 148(7): a practitioner may) and Queensland (s 151: a professional carer may). Tasmania's is expressed as an obligation. The trigger is the same in all three and it is not a diagnosis or a prescription — it is a belief that firearm possession or use would be unsafe.

How it bites on a licence you already hold. There is no standalone duty to report a change in your health, as there is in Queensland. Instead s 51(2) lets the Commissioner cancel a licence “(a) if a further licence of the same kind would be refused to the holder” or “(f) if the Commissioner is satisfied that the holder is no longer — (i) a fit and proper person to hold the licence”, and s 51(3A) lets the Commissioner take into account the same s 29(2) matters that apply to a new applicant. The fitness test therefore runs for the life of the licence, through the cancellation power rather than through a reporting duty.

Nothing here names a medicine, a prescription or cannabis. The question is condition and safe control, and the Act leaves both to the Commissioner and the practitioner.

What we did not check. Whether Tasmania Police Firearms Services 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 at 1 December 2024:

• Cancellation under s 51(2)(a) or (f), where a fresh licence would now be refused or the Commissioner is satisfied the holder is no longer fit and proper. s 52 requires notice of a cancellation.
• An application simply ends if the health information asked for is not provided — it is taken to have been withdrawn under s 29B(3), which is not the same as a refusal and does not produce a decision to argue with.
• Review. s 141(1) allows an application to the Magistrates Court (Administrative Appeals Division) for review of a refusal or failure to grant a licence or permit (s 141(1)(a)), a condition imposed (s 141(1)(b)), or the cancellation of a licence (s 141(1)(c)). s 141(2) fixes the date the decision was made for the purpose of the time limit, which is where the clock starts.

Tasmania sets its firearms penalties in penalty units. The dollar value of a penalty unit is fixed under the Penalty Units and Other Penalties Act 1987 (Tas) and is adjusted, so read the current figure rather than converting from this page.