Apply for a new licence

When you submit your application, you will need to tell us why you want to be able to use a firearm and will need to provide appropriate and sufficient evidence to support your request.

Your genuine need will need to be supported by the provisions under the Firearms Act 1996. Each type of licence category has different evidence requirements. You should familiarise yourself with the evidence requirements relevant to the licence category you are seeking to be licenced for.

View the genuine reasons.

You will need to complete the Victorian Firearm Safety Course relevant to the type of firearm licence before you submit your application.

If you successfully complete this course, you will be issued a completion certificate. Ensure to keep this certificate as you will need to provide a copy when you submit your application.

You still have to complete the firearm safety course before you submit a new application even if you have:

• Previously held a licence in Victoria or in another state.
• Have had a licence cancelled.
• Your previous licence expired more than 12 months ago.

Some categories of a firearm licence requires a full set of fingerprints to be taken as a part of the application process.

If the type of licence you are applying for requires fingerprints, you will need to arrange to have a full set of your fingerprints taken. You can find more information on fingerprinting on the national police checks and fingerprinting page. 

You must have a full set of fingerprints taken when applying for a:

• Category D Longarm Licence
• Category E Longarm Licence
• Category 1 Collectors Licence
• General Category Handgun Licence
• Category E Handgun Licence
• Licensed Firearm Dealer Licence (all employees and close associates must be fingerprinted)
• Corporate Licence of any category other than an Antique Handgun Collectors Licence (all responsible officers of the body corporate must be fingerprinted).

When making your appointment:

• You must inform the customer service officer that the reason you require a full set of fingerprints is for your firearm licence application.
• If you are applying for a general category handgun licence for armed guard or cash-in-transit purposes, and you wish to apply for a private security licence either concurrently or in the near future, please advise the customer service officer the of this requirement so that two sets of fingerprints can be taken at the same time for the one fee.

You are required to supply 100 points of certified identification compromising of:

• at least one primary identification document. e.g. passport or birth certificates and;
• at least one secondary document showing your current residential address. e.g. drivers licence.

You are required to supply an identification reference from an acceptable referee who:

• has known you for at least 12 months and;
• is not related to you by either birth or marriage.

The person who provides your identification reference must be the same person who certifies your 100 points of identification.

Examples of acceptable referees include people such as:

• registered medical practitioner (eg. your GP), or dentist
• registered and employed nurse
• registered primary or secondary school teachers employed full-time
• primary or secondary school principal employed full-time
• minister of religion who is registered as a marriage celebrant
• Justice of the Peace
• bank employee who has the authority to open accounts (eg. bank branch manager)
• accountant who is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants, or the National Institute of Accountants

You can read more about acceptable referees here.

A certified document is a copy of a document or record signed and certified as a true copy of an original by an authorised person. The person certifying a document must sight a copy of the original at the time they are certifying the copy.

Certification should be made on the same side as the copy of the document being certified (not on the back of the copy).

These forms are used when the Licence holder or applicant answers ‘yes’ to a medical question within the firearm licence application. The treating Health Professional is to complete a Reporting Notice and return the document back to LRD.

Quick Guide (Firearms): Information for the Role of the Health Professional: provides the Health Professional the information LRD is seeking within the report.

Reporting Notice:  is a fillable online form that is to be completed by the Health Professional. The Health Professional is to email or post the completed  Reporting Notice to LRD.

If your application is incomplete or missing information, it will not be finalised. This could delay the final decision on your application.

Occasionally,  the Licensing and Regulation Division will require additional information from you. We will write to you and outline what we need.

If you fail to provide that information within the specified amount of time, the Licensing and Regulation Division may refuse to make a decision on your application.