Queensland’s firearms register ‘unfit for purpose’

Queensland’s firearms register is stricken by chronic backlogs, out-of-date information, and risks public safety, undermining the push for an effective national gun database.

Queensland’s firearms register is stricken by chronic backlogs, out-of-date information, and risks public safety, undermining Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s push for an effective national gun database.

Queensland’s firearms register is stricken by chronic backlogs and out-of-date information, and risks public safety, undermining Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s push for an effective national gun database.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and state and territory leaders agreed at ­national cabinet this month to investigate a national register at the request of Ms Palaszczuk, following the shooting ambush deaths of two police constables and a neighbour at a remote Queensland property in December.

Advocates for a workable nat­ional register say police need to be able to track the movement of ­licensed firearm owners and their weapons across state lines in real time.

Queensland’s own weapons licensing system and state-based gun register, however, cannot effectively track the movement of weapons in the state, is not fit for purpose, and should be replaced, Auditor-General Brendan Worrall warned in late 2020.

Police can’t track the movement of weapons in real time, Mr Worrall said, because most dealers are required to send details of sales and transfers of ownership to the police’s Weapons Licensing Branch by registered post.

“It cannot be certain that firearms are not entering the illegal market,” the report says.

“The state’s firearms register is not accurate and up to date. The firearms register is no longer fit for purpose. It relies on inefficient manual data entry and cannot provide real-time information necessary to support a modern risk-and-intelligence-based regulatory function.”

Mr Worrall also warned “the community is not as protected as it should be”.

More than two years after the report, the register has not been replaced, and the WLB is still hamstrung by major delays.

It currently takes more than 40 weeks for an application for a firearms licence to be processed, The Australian has confirmed.

After the report, the QPS said it would look at options to provide a fit-for-purpose firearms register by the fourth quarter in 2023, “pending budget, resources and process challenges”.

Queensland Shooters Union president Graham Park said the 40-week delay risked driving ­people out of the system and into illicit guns. “We want to encourage people into the system, not to be outside it,” he said.

“If someone thinks it’s all too hard, and it takes forever, are we potentially encouraging people who might just go to the local pub and buy something stolen or smuggled or whatever?”

After questions from The Australian, Police Minister Mark Ryan said he was announcing a “newly restructured better resourced Weapons Licensing Group”.

“A workforce consisting of 50 personnel will be extended for an extra 12 months to assist in backlogs and reduce application processing times,” he said. “Six additional positions have been added … in areas that will assist with policy, and aim to expedite current approvals processes.”

Mr Ryan said Queensland was working towards a national firearms register.