[2025] NSWCATAD 110
General information, not legal advice.
NCAT Administrative and Equal Opportunity
2025-05-19
Original judgment source is linked above.
Pursuant to ss 64(1)(c) and 64(1)(d) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013, the contents of all paragraphs in these reasons marked NOT FOR PUBLICATION are not to be published or disclosed to the Applicant or the public.
Pursuant to ss 64(1)(a) and (c) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013, the publication or broadcast of the names or addresses of the Applicant and his wife contained in evidence is prohibited.
Pursuant to s 64(1)(c) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013, the publication or broadcast of the content of any document provided to the Tribunal in confidence is prohibited.
(1) the Applicant had a previous psychiatric admission in 1995;
(2) the Applicant had been diagnosed with "paranoid schizophrenia" more than 17 years ago and that delusions were present for at least 17 years prior to 2023;
(3) the Applicant in February 2023 had admitted to one of the people treating him that he drank too much and "has to drastically reduce his consumption of alcohol" (Tasmanian "Exported Medical Record" of 17 February 2023).
(1) In determining an application for an administrative review under this Act of an administratively reviewable decision, the Tribunal is to decide what the correct and preferable decision is having regard to the material then before it, including the following:
(a) any relevant factual material,
(b) any applicable written or unwritten law.
(2) For this purpose, the Tribunal may exercise all of the functions that are conferred or imposed by any relevant legislation on the administrator who made the decision.
(3) In determining an application for the administrative review of an administratively reviewable decision, the Tribunal may decide:
(a) to affirm the administratively reviewable decision, or
(b) to vary the administratively reviewable decision, or
(c) to set aside the administratively reviewable decision and make a decision in substitution for the administratively reviewable decision it set aside, or
(d) to set aside the administratively reviewable decision and remit the matter for reconsideration by the administrator in accordance with any directions or recommendations of the Tribunal.
Principles and objects of Act
(1) The underlying principles of this Act are -
(a) to confirm firearm possession and use as being a privilege that is conditional on the overriding need to ensure public safety, and
(b) to improve public safety -
(i) by imposing strict controls on the possession and use of firearms, and
(ii) by promoting the safe and responsible storage and use of firearms, and
(c) to facilitate a national approach to the control of firearms.
(a) to prohibit the possession and use of all automatic and self-loading rifles and shotguns except in special circumstances,
(b) to establish an integrated licensing and registration scheme for all firearms,
(c) to require each person who possesses or uses a firearm under the authority of a licence to prove a genuine reason for possessing or using the firearm,
(d) to provide strict requirements that must be satisfied in relation to licensing of firearms and the acquisition and supply of firearms,
(e) to ensure that firearms are stored and conveyed in a safe and secure manner,
(f) to provide for compensation in respect of, and an amnesty period to enable the surrender of, certain prohibited firearms.
(a) the Commissioner is satisfied that the applicant is a fit and proper person and can be trusted to have possession of firearms without danger to public safety or to the peace, and
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(c) the Commissioner is satisfied that the storage and safety requirements set out in Part 4 are capable of being met by the applicant,
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(4) Without limiting the generality of subsection (3) (a), a licence must not be issued if the Commissioner has reasonable cause to believe that the applicant may not personally exercise continuous and responsible control over firearms because of -
(a) the applicant's way of living or domestic circumstances, or
(b) any previous attempt by the applicant to commit suicide or cause a self-inflicted injury, or
(c) the applicant's intemperate habits or being of unsound mind.
.......
(7) Despite any other provision of this section, the Commissioner may refuse to issue a licence if the Commissioner considers that issue of the licence would be contrary to the public interest.
"The expression 'public interest' is not defined in s 11(7), nor elsewhere in the Act, and a decision in relation to the public interest in this context is particularly informed by the underlying principles and objects of the Act and the strict controls under the Act in relation to licensing. In Commissioner of Police v Toleafoa [1999] NSWADTAP 9, at [25], the Appeal Panel said that the 'public interest' is an inherently broad concept giving the Commissioner (and hence the Tribunal on review) the ability to have regard to a wide range of factors in deciding whether to exercise a discretion adversely to an individual. Public safety is to be given paramount consideration: Hill v Commissioner of Police, New South Wales Police Service [2002] NSWADT 218 at [24]".
"... public interest is a term embracing matters against others, of standards of human conduct and of the functioning of government and government instrumentalities et cetera established and accepted to be for the good order of society and for the well being of its members. The interest is therefore the interest of the public as distinct to the interest of the individual or individuals.
...
The 'public interest' is an inherently broad concept giving the appellant the ability to have regard to a wide range of factors in choosing whether to exercise a discretion adversely to an individual. As the possibility of refusing an application on the ground of character is dealt with elsewhere in the same section, it is reasonable to infer that the Parliament intended that the public interest discretion operate in areas to which the character ground was not relevant or, possibly, in circumstances where an objection on character grounds would not be sufficient in its own right to warrant refusal... ".
(1) The administratively reviewable decision of the Respondent under review is affirmed.
(2) Pursuant to ss 64(1)(c) and 64(1)(d) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013, the contents of all paragraphs in these reasons marked NOT FOR PUBLICATION are not to be published or disclosed to the Applicant or the public.
(3) Pursuant to ss 64(1)(a) and (c) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013, the publication or broadcast of the names or addresses of the Applicant or his wife contained in evidence is prohibited.
(4) Pursuant to s 64(1)(c) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013, the publication or broadcast of the content of any document provided to the Tribunal in confidence is prohibited.
I hereby certify that this is a true and accurate record of the reasons for decision of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal of New South Wales.
GZX
Commissioner of Police, New South Wales [2025] NSWCATAD 110