Firearms Licences

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (14:27): My question is to the Minister for Police. Can the minister please clarify the current process and expected timeframes for applying for a permit to acquire a new firearm licence and renewals in South Australia, given reports that wait times have increased up to 62 days and, in some cases, up to nine months? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain further.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: I understand that previously, applications for a PTA (permit to apply) for a firearm licence in South Australia can be completed in approximately 20 minutes. Recent reports indicate that wait times have now extended very significantly, commonly exceeding 62 days, and in some areas reaching up to nine months. This delay is causing considerable concern among pastoralists or licence holders, and in particular pastoralists in the northern areas of my area.

The delays are creating operational challenges, including the inability to manage feral animals, which impacts livestock and land substantially. Firearm dealers are also affected as prolonged processing times disrupt business operations, stock turnover and customer confidence. Similarly, shooting clubs face difficulties in maintaining memberships, engagement and compliance as new members and renewals are waiting.

The SPEAKER: The start of that question was so long ago I have forgotten who it was asked to. I think it might have been the Minister for Police.

The Hon. B.I. BOYER (Wright—Minister for Education, Training and Skills, Minister for Police) (14:29): I thank the member for Stuart for his question. I am aware, because I have had a number of pieces of correspondence and representations from members of parliament—other than the member for Stuart—that there are some delays in terms of approvals for PTAs, or permits to acquire.

The data I have that I can give to this place is that the current wait time for a PTA is 46 days. It is important to remember, too, that within the Firearms Act—and it is there for a very good reason—there is a legislative requirement that SAPOL cannot approve a PTA until 28 days after the point of application. I am confident that this current 46-day wait will continue to drop.

One of the reasons that we have previously seen an increase in the number of days is due to a pretty substantial increase in the number of PTAs since 2019. There has been a 55 per cent increase in applications for permits to acquire since 2019, which obviously puts more pressure on SAPOL to assess those applications and do all the kinds of checks that we would expect and people outside this place would expect as well.

There are also some pretty senior staff who I understand have retired. There is a fair bit of training required. Some of the requirements actually around the training and skills those people need to have to be able to approve has also changed, which has made that process of bringing more staff on to replace the ones who have gone a little bit slower as well.

I do, however, accept the points, particularly that the member for Stuart made, around the need for pest control and things like that. In so many cases these are examples of where firearms are being used legally and for important purposes. I will seek more information from SAPOL, but because I have had other people contact me we have been seeking pretty regular information around what is being done, what the current wait times are and what is being done to see if we can't get those wait times down in the future. I am confident that we can. I thank the member for Stuart for his question.