There is an “urgent need for comprehensive reforms” to how police handle regulation of the firearms industry, according to the Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia (SIFA), which has released its annual Regulator Performance Survey report.
The report shows police regulatory performance is pretty dire across the country — with the exception of NSW, which is demonstrating how to efficiently regulate the gun industry without threatening public safety.
The report surveyed firearms dealers and industry representatives across the country on their satisfaction with the firearms licensing department in their state or territory.
“Businesses report under-resourced departments, poor communication, substandard customer service and lengthy delays that directly impact productivity, cash flow, and operational viability,” SIFA CEO James Walsh said.
To the surprise of absolutely no one at all, Western Australia fared the worst in the survey with a gargantuan 75% of respondents reporting they were “completely dissatisfied” with WAPOL’s Firearms Licensing Services branch, 92% being some form of dissatisfied, and absolutely no-one reporting being any degree of satisfied with its overall performance.
As the report notes: “These results were not unexpected given the well reported disastrous failings of the Western Australia firearms reform project, and the complete disregard experienced by legitimate law-abiding businesses throughout this endeavour.”
Queensland and South Australia also had abysmal results.
In Queensland, 78% of respondents said they were “completely”, “mostly” or “somewhat” dissatisfied with the overall performance of Weapons Licensing Group. Processing times were a particular concern, attracting a 69% “dissatisfied” response rate.
South Australia had previously been absent from the report due to insufficient industry respondents in the state, but is included this year – although the SAPOL Firearms Branch may wish it wasn’t, given that 72% of respondents reported varying degrees of dissatisfaction with the branch’s overall performance and a staggering 91% were dissatisfied with the processing times from the branch.
Victoria’s results improved slightly on last year, with a near-even split between those respondents satisfied and dissatisfied with the overall performance of the Licensing and Regulation Division (LRD), although 89% of respondents were dissatisfied with LRD processing times.
New South Wales, however, led the nation, with no respondents saying they were “completely dissatisfied” with the overall performance of the regulator; 11% saying they were “somewhat dissatisfied”, 32% “neither dissatisfied nor satisfied”, 26% being “mostly satisfied” — and rounding out with 11% who were “completely satisfied”.
Nationally, the report noted widespread dissatisfaction with firearm registries across the industry, continuing a trend since the surveys began in 2023.
“With the exception of NSW, all published weighted average scores fall below a neutral response across every surveyed category.
“These findings underscore the urgent need for comprehensive reforms targeting customer service and overall regulatory performance,” the report noted.
Mr Walsh said the 2025 results painted a troubling national picture.
“One clear exception is the New South Wales Police Firearms Registry, which again topped the results across all criteria,” he said.
“Targeted investments in digital infrastructure, open consultation, improved communication and the removal of unnecessary policy have positioned NSW as the national benchmark for regulatory excellence, proving that efficiency can be improved without compromising public safety.
“The results highlight an urgent need for reform and better service delivery nationwide.”
Tasmania, the NT and ACT were not included in the report because the number of responses received not being high enough to “accurately assess the data and guarantee respondent anonymity”, but SIFA has said the data collected “will be used in direct discussions with these jurisdictions on how their firearm regulators are performing and where improvements are needed”.
A full copy of the SIFA 2025 Regulator Performance Survey Report is available here: https://sifa.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2025-SIFA-Regulator-Performance-Survey-FINAL.pdf
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