Firearms Reform

Welcome to Firearms Reform; an official WA Police Force Podcast.

This is the first full-length episode of the series. Commander Panaia and Claire discuss Parliamentary committee review, the everyday implications for license holders and WAPOL's transitional authority in implementing the new requirements and regulations for firearms licenses as stated in the Firearms Act 2024. 

For any questions or queries related to the topics discussed on this podcast please contact our Licensing Enforcement Division at: 1800 894 474

You can find out more at: Licensing Services (Firearms)

For registration or changes in licensing please visit the portal: Firearms Portal

Transcript

Claire: 0:00

Welcome to Firearms Reform, an official WA Police Force podcast. I'm Claire Ciantar and I'm joined by Commander Lawrence Panaia. Commander, thanks for joining us.

Lawrence: 0:13

Welcome. Thank you.

Claire: 0:14

The Firearms Reform Podcast is another effort by WA Police Force to communicate to the WA public some key information about some pretty important changes.

Lawrence: 0:24

Yeah, the new Act, the Firearms Act 2024, came into effect at the end of March this year and it's been a 50-year wait for this new Act. So yes, there will be quite a number of changes and quite a lot of communication we'll need to do.

Claire: 0:39

And can you explain what people can expect in those changes?

Lawrence: 0:43

So probably the most important aspect, and one I really want to highlight today is that under the new act, there is a transitional authority granted to the Commissioner, which allows everyone who currently holds a 1973 licence to transition into the new requirements for a 2024 licence.

Claire: 1:01

You might have heard the new Firearms Act and its regulations have been referred to the Legislative Council's Standing Committee on Legislation for review.

Lawrence: 1:09

Yeah, so that's a really important step. I think government have taken some steps here to make sure that the legislation is well worded, well written and achieves what they want it to achieve, which is at its core public safety. But while that's happening, the most important thing to understand is that even though it's under review by that committee, the law is still in place and we will continue to transition people into the new licence regime.

Claire: 1:37

Now, Commander Panaia, if you're listening to this at home and you are a licensed firearms owner in WA, what does it actually mean for you?

Lawrence: 1:45

Of course. So as I said, the old act is gone. The new act is in. There are new rules, particularly around the licensed types that are out there. So we've set up a transition centre out at Licensing Enforcement and what those people are there to do and what we're here to do is to help people understand exactly how to transition to the a new license type. One of the things we will do is we will write to you 90 days before your license expires and outline the things you need to do to become compliant.

Claire: 2:18

And you mentioned a really key word there is transition. This is kind of the whole process that we're in at the moment. What are some of the other steps that are involved in that transition process?

Lawrence: 2:29

Well, in the transition, there's the new act obviously has a whole bunch of new license types. So what you held before won't necessarily be what you will hold into the future. For an example, one of the things you'll need to do is to transition to a hunting licence if you previously held what we called a recreational licence. Club licences will remain the same, but we will be in touch with you and we will help people through that.

Claire: 2:51

And where can people go if they do need that further assistance and further information?

Lawrence: 2:56

Well, as I said, reality is they don't have to do anything right now. We will write to them. So we will actually contact them individually. But if they want to know and they want to talk to someone now, we've got a call centre there. The number for that is 1-300-894-474. And if you give us a call, we'll tell you exactly what you need to do next.

Claire: 3:16

So in summary, Commander Panaia, the transition is happening and we're here to guide you through it.

Lawrence: 3:21

Exactly. And always happy to help. And if anyone calls that number, they'll find that my team will assist them as much as we possibly can.

Claire: 3:28

Well, that's it for this episode of Firearms Reform. Stay safe and stay informed and we'll catch you next time.