Firearms Prohibition Order SA: Grounds, Offences and Review
Firearms prohibition orders in South Australia
Firearms prohibition order SA rules can bind you without a charge, without a conviction and without warning. An order does more than take your firearms: it bans you from clubs and ranges, from the company of anyone holding a firearm, and from premises where firearms are kept, including a house you share. Getting it wrong carries up to 15 years imprisonment. Every hour matters: book a same-day free 30-minute consultation or call (08) 7094 2021 now.
Firearms prohibition order: key facts
| Issue | Position in South Australia |
|---|---|
| What it is | An order under Part 8 of the Firearms Act 2015 (SA). While it is in force it suspends any licence or permit you hold and bans you from acquiring, possessing or using firearms, parts, sound moderators and ammunition, from firearms clubs, ranges and dealers, from the company of anyone who has physical possession or control of a firearm, and from premises where firearms are present. Not a charge, not a conviction. |
| Who issues it | A police officer, who issues an interim order under section 43 if the officer suspects on reasonable grounds that a ground exists; the Registrar of Firearms, who issues an order under section 44. A court can also make an order on a finding of guilt (section 66). |
| The grounds | Section 44(1): possession of a firearm by the person would be likely to result in undue danger to life or property, or the person is not fit and proper to possess a firearm, and in either case an order is in the public interest; or the person is a member of, or participant in, a criminal organisation, was a member of an organisation that is a criminal organisation when the order is issued, or is subject to a control order. |
| How long | An interim order expires 28 days after the Registrar is given written notice of your address for service (section 43(8)). A Registrar's order lasts until the Registrar revokes it by written notice (section 44(9)). |
| Breach penalties | $75,000 or 15 years for acquiring, possessing or using a firearm; $50,000 or 10 years for failing to surrender a firearm, being at prohibited premises, being in the company of a person who has physical possession or control of a firearm, or being present or residing where a firearm is; $20,000 or 4 years for failing to tell, and ask, the adults you live with (section 45). |
| Police search | Section 57(11): for an order issued by the Registrar or a court, police may detain and search you, stop and search a vehicle you are in charge of or travelling in, and enter and search premises you occupy or are or were present at, as reasonably required for compliance with the order. Under the predecessor provision, no prior suspicion of a breach was needed. |
| Review | Interim order: apply to the Registrar under section 46, which sets no time limit, and the order keeps operating meanwhile. Registrar's order: apply to SACAT under section 47 within 28 days of the decision, or within 28 days after written reasons you asked for; the Tribunal can extend time. |
| Reasons | A Registrar's order must come with a notice of reasons, but if the decision rests on information classified as criminal intelligence, the only reason required is that it was made on public interest grounds (section 44(6) and (7)). |
| Sentencing while under an order | An offence involving the use or possession of a firearm committed while subject to an order is a serious firearm offence, and so is supplying one to a person subject to an order (Sentencing Act 2017, section 49(1)(b)(iii) and (f)). Imprisonment must be imposed and can be suspended only on a declaration based on sworn evidence of exceptional circumstances (section 51). |
| Licence | Suspended while the order is in force (section 45(1)). While an order applies you are not a fit and proper person under section 7(1)(b), which blocks any new licence. |
| First step | Same-day free 30-minute consultation. Call (08) 7094 2021. |
What is a firearms prohibition order in SA?
A firearms prohibition order bans a person from having anything to do with firearms. A police officer can issue an interim order if the officer suspects on reasonable grounds that one of the grounds in section 43 exists. The Registrar of Firearms can then issue a full order. It is not a charge and not a conviction. You do not have to have been found guilty of anything.
The scheme sits in Part 8 of the Firearms Act 2015 (SA) (the Act), with review rights in sections 46 to 48. An interim order issued by police lasts until 28 days after the Registrar receives your address for service. The Registrar then decides whether to issue an order under section 44, which lasts until it is revoked by written notice.
This page explains who can issue an order, what it bans, what a breach costs, how police search a person under an order, and how review works. It sits within our guides to firearms offences in South Australia and our criminal defence practice. The law is stated as at October 2026 and the figures are current to the Act as in force 19 February 2026 and the Sentencing Act 2017 (SA) as in force 16 February 2026.
Free Consultation. Do not wait to see what the Registrar does next. Book a same-day free 30-minute consultation or call (08) 7094 2021.
On this page
- Who can issue an order, and on what grounds
- What the order stops you doing
- Penalties for breach
- Police search powers under an order
- Family, housemates and visitors
- How similar matters tend to play out
- Appealing the order
- Decisions based on criminal intelligence
- Your licence
- How we run an order matter
- Case law in South Australia
- Frequently asked questions
Who can issue an FPO, and on what grounds?
Two people can issue one: a police officer, who issues a short-lived interim order, and the Registrar of Firearms, who issues the substantive order. The police test is suspicion based. The Registrar’s test is ground based and includes membership of a criminal organisation. A court can also make a person subject to an order when it finds them guilty of an offence involving a firearm (section 66).
Interim orders issued by police
Under section 43 of the Act, a police officer may issue an interim firearms prohibition order if the officer suspects on reasonable grounds that your possession of a firearm would be likely to result in undue danger to life or property, or that you are not a fit and proper person to possess a firearm.
A suspicion on reasonable grounds is all that section 43 requires. It does not require a charge to have been laid, let alone proved.
An officer below the rank of sergeant must first obtain the authorisation, oral or written, of an officer of or above that rank (section 43(2)). That is one of the few procedural checks at the interim stage, and one of the first to make.
The order applies to you as soon as it is issued, but it only comes into force against you when it is served on you personally (section 43(4)). Police may require you to stay where you are while it is prepared, or to go with them to the nearest police station to be served. If you do not comply, they may arrest and detain you for as long as is needed to serve it, up to 2 hours (section 43(5)).
You must give the Registrar written notice of an address for service (section 43(7)). The interim order expires 28 days after the Registrar is given that notice, and the Registrar may revoke it sooner (section 43(8) and (9)). Read that trigger closely. The clock starts when the Registrar is given your address in writing, not on the day you are served.
Orders issued by the Registrar of Firearms
Under section 44 of the Act, the Registrar may issue a firearms prohibition order if satisfied of either of two things:
- that your possession of a firearm would be likely to result in undue danger to life or property, or that you are not a fit and proper person to possess a firearm, and in either case that it is in the public interest for an order to apply to you
- that you are a member of, or a participant in, a criminal organisation, that you have been a member of an organisation that is a criminal organisation when the order is issued, or that you are subject to a control order under the Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act 2008 (SA)
The second ground catches people never charged with anything. It looks at membership, not at what you did with a firearm. A person displaying the insignia of a criminal organisation, whether on clothing, as a tattoo or otherwise, is presumed to be a member unless the contrary is proved (section 44(10)).
Association matters under the first ground too, because in deciding fitness regard may be had to the reputation, honesty and integrity of the people with whom you associate (section 7(4)(a)). Under the equivalent 1977 provision, the District Court read “associates” purposively, as something less demanding than proof of specific associations with specific people on specific occasions, and found association established from the structure of a motorcycle club whose rules required attendance at meetings: Pepper v Registrar of Firearms [2016] SADC 38 at [32] to [34].
A Registrar’s order also comes into force on personal service, but if an interim order is in force against you, service by registered post to your address for service counts as personal service (section 44(3)). The order must be accompanied by a notice of the Registrar’s reasons (section 44(6)), with one large exception dealt with below. If you have not already given an address for service, you must give one within 48 hours of a request by the Registrar or a police officer, with a maximum penalty of $10,000 (section 44(8)).
What “not fit and proper” means
Fit and proper is defined in section 7 of the Act.
Some things make you automatically not fit and proper: being prohibited from firearms by a court order, being subject to a firearms prohibition order, or having a physical or mental illness, condition or disorder, or other circumstances, that would make firearm possession unsafe (section 7(1) and (2)).
Other things may be treated that way under section 7(3). They include not complying with the requirements for safe handling, use, storage or transport, findings of guilt for firearms offences or offences involving actual or threatened violence, fraud or deception to obtain a licence or permit, and being or having been subject to an intervention order. The reputation, honesty and integrity of you, your close associates and the people you associate with may also be considered, and the risks of unlawful use, self-harm, harm to others and losing continuous and responsible control of a firearm must be (section 7(4)). A record does not automatically disqualify, but public safety carries substantial weight: Coff v Registrar of Firearms [2016] SADC 140 at [54]. Our guide to firearms licence refusals, cancellations and appeals carries the cases on the test.
Notice the loop. Once an interim order applies to you, section 7(1)(b) treats you as not fit and proper. On the words of the Act, that status can then support the fit and proper limb of section 44(1)(a), although the Registrar must still be satisfied that an order is in the public interest.
What does a firearms prohibition order actually stop you doing?
An order suspends your licence and bans you from acquiring, possessing or using firearms, parts, sound moderators and ammunition, all of which must be surrendered immediately. It also bans you from firearms premises and clubs, from the company of anyone who has physical possession or control of a firearm, and from premises where firearms are present.
The full list is in section 45 of the Act. While the order is in force:
- your firearms licence or permit is suspended
- you cannot acquire, possess or use a firearm, a part, a sound moderator or ammunition, and you must immediately surrender to the Registrar all of them that you own or possess
- you cannot be at the grounds of a firearms club or paint-ball operator, a commercial range, a shooting gallery, an arms fair, or a place where firearms are sold, hired out, repaired, modified, tested or manufactured, and you cannot become or remain a club member
- you cannot be in the company of a person who has physical possession or control of a firearm
- you cannot be present or reside at premises on which there is a firearm, part, sound moderator or ammunition
- you must tell each adult who lives, or proposes to live, with you about the order and ask whether they have or plan to have firearms or related items there, and you must notify the Registrar in writing of a change of address within 7 days
Several of those bans can be broken by someone else’s decision rather than yours, which is why section 45(5) and (7) provide defences that turn on what you knew and could reasonably be expected to have known. Section 45(12) gives a similar defence to other people charged with supplying you or keeping firearms around you.
Section 45(16)(a) adds a deeming rule of its own. If you are on or in premises, or a vehicle, vessel or aircraft, that the public are not admitted to, when a firearm, part, sound moderator or ammunition is on, in or in the immediate vicinity of it, or you were there immediately before it was, you are taken to possess the item unless you prove that you did not know, and could not reasonably be expected to have known, that it was there. That turns presence into possession, and possession of a firearm under an order carries $75,000 or 15 years.
The two bans that catch people out
Being in the company of a person who has physical possession or control of a firearm is the first. The firearm need not be yours, and you need not touch it. A passenger seat in a ute with a rifle behind it raises the question, and the deeming rule in section 45(16)(a) raises a bigger one.
Being at premises where a firearm is present is the second. It reaches homes, farms, sheds, workplaces and shacks. If your brother keeps a registered shotgun in the house you have moved into, your presence there is the issue.
Storing it properly does not answer that. The code of practice made under section 35 of the Act governs how firearms are secured, but the section 45 offence turns on presence, not on how well the firearm is locked away.
Possession is defined widely in section 6 of the Act. It extends beyond holding something to control, access, control of access, and occupying or managing premises where a firearm is found, subject to the defences in section 6(3). Under the equivalent 1977 provision the Court of Criminal Appeal held that a voluntary driver is in charge of the vehicle: R v Marafioti [2014] SASCFC 8 at [31].
So firearms have to leave the places you live and visit, or you have to leave them.
Two duties that are easy to forget
You must tell each person aged 18 or over who lives, or proposes to live, at the same premises that the order is in force, and ask each of them whether they have, or propose to have, a firearm, part, sound moderator or ammunition there (section 45(8)). Failing to do so carries up to $20,000 or 4 years imprisonment. Keep a note of when you told them and what they said.
You must also give the Registrar written notice of a change of address within 7 days (section 45(15)). The maximum is $10,000. Police who suspect on reasonable grounds that an order is in force against you may also require your name, address and date of birth and the names of the people you live with, and refusing without reasonable excuse carries $10,000 or 2 years (section 45(13) and (14)).
Book a same-day free 30-minute consultation. If firearms are stored anywhere you live or visit, get advice before you go back. Call (08) 7094 2021.
What are the penalties for breaching a firearms prohibition order?
Breaching an order is a criminal offence, not an administrative issue. The maximum is $75,000 or 15 years imprisonment for acquiring, possessing or using a firearm while an order is in force, and several other breaches carry $50,000 or 10 years. These are maximums; the sentence is a matter for the court.
| Conduct in breach of the order | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|
| Acquiring, possessing or using a firearm | $75,000 or 15 years imprisonment |
| Acquiring, possessing or using a firearm part, sound moderator or ammunition | $35,000 or 7 years imprisonment |
| Failing to surrender a firearm | $50,000 or 10 years imprisonment |
| Failing to surrender parts, a sound moderator or ammunition | $20,000 or 4 years imprisonment |
| Being at prohibited premises, or becoming or remaining a firearms club member | $50,000 or 10 years imprisonment |
| Being in the company of a person who has physical possession or control of a firearm | $50,000 or 10 years imprisonment |
| Being present or residing at premises where there is a firearm | $50,000 or 10 years imprisonment |
| Being present or residing at premises where there are parts, a sound moderator or ammunition | $20,000 or 4 years imprisonment |
| Failing to tell, and ask, an adult who lives with you | $20,000 or 4 years imprisonment |
| Supplying a firearm to a person subject to an order, or letting them gain possession of one | $75,000 or 15 years imprisonment |
| Supplying parts, a sound moderator or ammunition to that person | $35,000 or 7 years imprisonment |
| Having a firearm while in the company of a person subject to an order | $20,000 or 4 years imprisonment |
| Bringing a firearm onto, or having one on, premises where a person subject to an order lives | $50,000 or 10 years imprisonment |
| The same for parts, a sound moderator or ammunition | $20,000 or 4 years imprisonment |
| Failing to give police your name, address, date of birth or co-residents | $10,000 or 2 years imprisonment |
| Failing to give an address for service within 48 hours of a request | $10,000 |
| Failing to notify a change of address | $10,000 |
Maximum penalties under sections 44(8) and 45. Current to the Act as in force 19 February 2026.
Compare an ordinary charge. Possessing a category A or B firearm without a licence under section 9 of the Act carries a maximum of $20,000 or 4 years, with the tiers rising by the firearm category set in section 5. The same firearm, possessed while an order is in force, carries $75,000 or 15 years. That offence is covered in our guide to possessing a firearm without a licence.
Under section 51 of the Sentencing Act 2017 (SA), when a serious firearm offender is sentenced for a serious firearm offence, imprisonment must be imposed where the maximum includes it. The sentence cannot be suspended unless the offender proves, by evidence on oath, personal circumstances so exceptional that they outweigh the paramount consideration of community safety and deterrence. An offence under the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 or the Firearms Act involving the use or possession of a firearm, committed while the defendant is subject to a firearms prohibition order, is a serious firearm offence (section 49(1)(b)(iii)). So is supplying a firearm or related item to a person subject to an order, or letting them gain possession of one (section 49(1)(f)). A person convicted of a serious firearm offence becomes a serious firearm offender (section 50).
A breach charge follows the ordinary criminal path. Offences with a maximum above 5 years imprisonment, which covers most of section 45, are major indictable offences tried in the District Court (Criminal Procedure Act 1921 (SA), section 5). Lesser charges are usually dealt with in the Adelaide Magistrates Court or a suburban court. Where a plea is the right course, our guide to avoiding a conviction being recorded covers the sentencing questions.
Key points
- Possessing a category A or B firearm under an order carries 15 years, nearly four times the 4 year maximum for possessing it without a licence.
- Being at premises where a firearm is present, or in the company of a person who has physical possession or control of one, carries 10 years and needs no firearm of your own.
- An offence involving the use or possession of a firearm while under an order is a serious firearm offence: imprisonment must be imposed, and suspension needs a declaration based on sworn evidence of exceptional circumstances.
What can police do to a person under an order?
An order issued by the Registrar, or imposed by a court, brings its own search power, separate from the general powers in the Act. Under section 57(11), a police officer may, as reasonably required for compliance with the order, detain and search the person, stop, detain and search a vehicle the person is in charge of or is or was a passenger in, and enter and search premises the person occupies or manages, or is or was present in, other than places open to the public. Section 57(12) limits the power to people, vehicles and premises the officer suspects on reasonable grounds are connected with a person subject to such an order, and section 57(13) allows reasonable force to enter. The power does not extend to an interim order issued by police.
Under the predecessor provision, the District Court held that the search must be reasonably required in the mind of a person thinking reasonably about the need, not only in the officer’s mind ([46]), judged on the circumstances as they existed at the time ([48]). Because firearms, parts and ammunition are easily concealed on the person or in bags, the power is drawn widely ([47], [48]), and police need not suspect a breach before searching. A search at 2 am of a person in a car with someone wanted for questioning was held to be reasonably required: R v Ioannidis [2014] SADC 198 at [49].
The general seizure and search powers in section 57 apply as well, and they turn on the officer suspecting on reasonable grounds. A suspicion on reasonable grounds and a reasonable suspicion are different concepts: R v Riera [2016] SADC 108 at [72]. Under the predecessor entry power, the suspicion had to exist at the time of each activity the power authorises, so a search could not continue once the suspicion was dispelled: Yuen v Police [2012] SASC 149 at [16] and [22]. The officer had to suspect that a firearm was on the premises, not merely that one might be: Holder v State of South Australia [2018] SADC 83 at [235]. In reading the order search power widely, the District Court relied on the observation in Marafioti at [24] that the danger posed by unregulated firearms is notorious: Ioannidis at [44] and [45].
Under section 55, police may also require a person they suspect on reasonable grounds has knowledge of matters relevant to the administration or enforcement of the Act to answer questions, and may require people found with a firearm, or in the company of someone who has one, to answer questions about it. Refusing without reasonable excuse carries up to $20,000 or 4 years, or $10,000 or 2 years if prosecuted summarily (section 55(5) and (6)). If you have been searched or questioned under an order, note the time, the place, who was present and what was said, because whether the search was reasonably required is decided on those facts.
Family, housemates and visitors can commit offences too
The order does not only bind the person named in it. Section 45 creates offences for third parties. Supplying a firearm to a person subject to an order, or letting them gain possession of one, carries up to $75,000 or 15 years imprisonment, and supplying parts, a sound moderator or ammunition up to $35,000 or 7 years (section 45(9)).
Bringing a firearm onto premises where that person lives, or having one there, is also an offence, with a maximum of $50,000 or 10 years (section 45(11)). A person who has physical possession or control of a firearm must not be in that person’s company, with a maximum of $20,000 or 4 years (section 45(10)). Each of those offences has a defence where the accused did not know, and could not reasonably be expected to have known, that an order applied to the person (section 45(12)). So a father who brings his firearms home to a house where his son is under an order has a problem of his own. Depending on how the firearm changed hands, a supply can also raise questions under section 22 of the Act, which deals with firearms trafficking.
If someone in your house is under an order, the licence holder needs advice as much as the person named. We act for both, subject to conflict checks.
How similar matters tend to play out
Three illustrations of how Part 8, the review provisions and the cases combine on ordinary facts. They are not predictions. Outcome depends on the facts, the record, the material put before the Registrar or the Tribunal, and the deadlines.
The shared house. A person is served with an interim order after a domestic incident. They live with a brother who holds a licence and keeps two registered rifles in a safe in the shed. From the moment the order comes into force the person is residing at premises on which there are firearms, an offence carrying $50,000 or 10 years, and the brother risks an offence of his own for having firearms on premises where the person lives (section 45(11)). The first day’s work is moving the firearms or the person. Then comes the section 46 application to the Registrar, which has no fixed time limit but does not pause the order, supported by the storage history, the incident’s outcome and references that can be checked.
The passenger. A person under a Registrar’s order is a passenger in a friend’s ute, and police stop the vehicle under section 57(11). A rifle is behind the seat. The person is in the company of a person who has physical possession or control of a firearm (section 45(4)(c)), and under section 45(16)(a) is taken to possess the rifle, which carries $75,000 or 15 years. The search needed no suspicion of a breach. The knowledge defences in section 45(5) and 45(16)(a) are the case, and what was said at the roadside decides whether they are open.
The association ground. A person with no firearms charges is served with a Registrar’s order on the criminal organisation ground, with only public interest grounds given because the decision rests on criminal intelligence. There is no allegation to rebut. The SACAT review, which must be sought within 28 days, is an affirmative case: record, work, storage history and referees, together with the process points that can still be seen, such as the date of personal service and whether the notice complied with the Act. The Tribunal must, on the Registrar’s application, take steps to keep the criminal intelligence confidential (section 48(1)).
Can you appeal a firearms prohibition order?
Yes, but the route depends on who made the order. An interim order issued by police can be reviewed by the Registrar under section 46. An order issued by the Registrar can be reviewed by the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal under section 47, and that application must be made within 28 days.
Interim orders: review by the Registrar
Under section 46 of the Act, a person to whom an interim order applies may apply to the Registrar for review of the decision to issue it. The section sets no time limit, but making the application does not affect the operation of the order (section 46(2)), and an interim order lasts only until 28 days after the Registrar receives your address for service, so the application belongs in the first days. On the review the Registrar may affirm the decision or revoke the interim order (section 46(3)).
A review is not just an objection. It is your chance to put your history, your storage arrangements and your living situation before the decision maker. Under the 1977 Act, the District Court held that a Registrar cancelling a licence must be reasonably satisfied of the material facts, and that suspicion or speculation is not enough: Coff at [50].
Orders made by the Registrar: review by SACAT
Under section 47 of the Act, a person aggrieved by a decision of the Registrar to issue a firearms prohibition order may apply to the Tribunal for review under section 34 of the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (SA). The application must be made within 28 days of the decision. If the Registrar did not give written reasons at the time, you can ask for them within 28 days, and the application is then due within 28 days after you receive them. The Tribunal can extend time, even after it has run out (section 47(2), (5) and (6)). Count from the date of the decision, not the date you read it.
SACAT conducts merits review. It rehears the decision and must reach the correct or preferable decision, giving appropriate weight to the Registrar’s decision, and it can consider material that was not before the Registrar (South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013, section 34(3) to (5)). That is why the material gathered early matters.
Under the predecessor Act the route ran through a review committee and then to the District Court, and the Full Court held in Registrar of Firearms v Marksman Training Systems Pty Ltd (No 2) [2016] SASCFC 72 at [306] that the right of appeal from the Registrar was conditioned on the committee having first reviewed and affirmed the decision. That is the history of the route, not the current one.
Where the decision is about your licence rather than an order about you personally, the pathway differs again. The Registrar’s power to vary, suspend or cancel a licence sits in section 20 of the Act, and that route is set out in our guide to firearms licence refusals, cancellations and appeals.
Can the order be paused while the review runs?
Not automatically. Applying for review does not affect the operation of the decision: section 46(2) of the Act says so for an interim order, and section 36(1) of the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 says so for Tribunal review. Once Tribunal review proceedings have started, the Tribunal or the Registrar may stay the operation of the decision if satisfied that it is just and reasonable in the circumstances (section 36(2) of that Act). Until you are told otherwise in writing, treat every prohibition as fully operative.
Key points
- An interim order is reviewed by the Registrar under section 46, with no fixed time limit, but the order keeps operating while the review runs.
- A Registrar’s order goes to SACAT under section 47 within 28 days of the decision, or 28 days after written reasons you asked for, and the Tribunal can extend time.
- SACAT decides the question again on the merits. What you gather in the first fortnight is what the Tribunal sees.
What happens when the decision is based on criminal intelligence?
This is the hardest feature of the scheme. Section 44(6) requires a Registrar’s order to come with a notice of reasons. If the decision was made because of information the Registrar has classified as criminal intelligence, the only reason required is that it was made on public interest grounds (section 44(7)). The same rule applies to written reasons for decisions reviewable by SACAT (section 47(3)) and to the Tribunal’s own reasons (section 48(3)). Criminal intelligence is information about actual or suspected criminal activity whose disclosure could reasonably be expected to prejudice criminal investigations, reveal a confidential source, or endanger someone’s life or physical safety (section 4).
In Tribunal proceedings, the Tribunal must, on the Registrar’s application, take steps to keep criminal intelligence confidential, including hearing evidence and argument about it in private without the parties or their representatives, and it may receive the material by affidavit of a police officer of or above the rank of superintendent (section 48(1)).
The practical effect is that you may never be told what you are said to have done, who said it, or when. You may receive a document saying only that the order is in the public interest.
That changes the shape of a challenge. You cannot rebut an allegation you have not been shown. What is left is an affirmative case: proving who you actually are, with material that can be checked. Your record, your work, your licence and storage history, and references from people with something to lose by vouching for you.
The process questions carry more weight, because they are the parts you can still see. For an interim order, was it authorised at the right rank? Was the order served personally, and when? When was your address for service given to the Registrar? Did the notice comply with the Act?
Where criminal intelligence is involved, a challenge is harder and some material stays out of reach. That is a reason to prepare carefully, not to give up.
What an order does to your licence and any future application
While an order is in force, any licence or permit you hold is suspended (section 45(1)). The longer problem is section 7. While an order applies to you, you are not a fit and proper person (section 7(1)(b)), which is the gateway to holding a licence at all.
Under section 15 of the Act, the Registrar may refuse a licence to a person who is not fit and proper, and the public interest is a separate refusal ground. Until the order is revoked, that gateway stays shut. A breach of section 45 is also a prescribed offence: a finding of guilt bars the grant of a licence for 5 years (section 15(5)) and requires the Registrar to cancel any licence you hold (section 20(7)).
How we run a firearms prohibition order matter
We start with the paperwork and the dates: what you were served, when the order was made and served, whether the authorisation requirement was met, and what deadline applies. That is same-day work. We then deal with the immediate risk, arranging lawful surrender or disposal so no breach happens while the order is challenged.
From there we build the review material, and prepare the SACAT application where the Registrar has issued an order. If police have searched you or a vehicle under the order, we test whether the search was reasonably required on the facts as they stood.
We do not promise outcomes, because the Registrar and the Tribunal have discretion. These matters turn on the quality of the material and on meeting the deadlines, both within your control right now.
Every hour matters. If you have been served, the clock is already running. Call (08) 7094 2021 or book your free case review online.
Firearms prohibition order case law in South Australia
The authorities below decide the points that arise on an order in practice. Each is linked to AustLII where AustLII holds the judgment, with the paragraph where the point is made. All were decided under the Firearms Act 1977, and each note says how the point carries across.
| Case | Court | Principle | Pinpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pepper v Registrar of Firearms [2016] SADC 38 | District Court | "Associates" read purposively; association inferred from a club structure requiring attendance at meetings | [32] to [34] |
| R v Marafioti [2014] SASCFC 8 | Court of Criminal Appeal | The danger of unregulated firearms is notorious; a voluntary driver is in charge of a vehicle | [24], [31] |
| Coff v Registrar of Firearms [2016] SADC 140 | District Court | Reasonable satisfaction of the material facts, not suspicion; substantial weight on public safety | [50], [54] |
| R v Ioannidis [2014] SADC 198 | District Court | Search under an order: reasonably required, judged at the time; no suspicion of breach needed | [46] to [49] |
| R v Riera [2016] SADC 108 | District Court | Reasonable suspicion and suspicion on reasonable grounds are different concepts | [72] |
| Yuen v Police [2012] SASC 149 | Supreme Court | Suspicion needed at the time of each authorised activity; search cannot continue once it is dispelled | [16], [22] |
| Holder v State of South Australia [2018] SADC 83 | District Court | The officer must suspect a firearm is there, not that one might be | [235] |
| Registrar of Firearms v Marksman Training Systems Pty Ltd (No 2) [2016] SASCFC 72 | Full Court | The predecessor review route: appeal conditioned on the committee affirming the Registrar's decision | [290], [306] |
Case notes
Pepper v Registrar of Firearms [2016] SADC 38
Judge Tilmouth held at [32] that “associates”, in the provision allowing regard to the reputation of the people with whom a person associates, must be construed purposefully in a scheme aimed at curbing and pre-empting the unregulated possession of firearms, and that Parliament intended something less demanding than proof of specific associations with specific people on specific occasions. At [33] and [34] he found association established from the nature and structure of a motorcycle club whose arrangements mandated attendance at meetings. Decided under the 1977 Act; the current provision is section 7(4)(a).
R v Marafioti [2014] SASCFC 8
Kourakis CJ, with whom Vanstone and Stanley JJ agreed, observed at [24], in construing the possession provision, that the danger to the community posed by the unregulated possession of firearms is notorious. He held at [31] that a person who voluntarily drives a vehicle is in charge of it. The case did not concern firearms prohibition orders. Decided under the 1977 Act.
Coff v Registrar of Firearms [2016] SADC 140
Judge Slattery held at [50] that in deciding to cancel a firearms licence the Registrar must be reasonably satisfied of the material facts, and that suspicion or speculation is not enough. At [54] he held that a record does not automatically disqualify, but that public safety must be given substantial weight. Decided under the 1977 Act.
R v Ioannidis [2014] SADC 198
Judge Davison held that a search of a person under an order must be reasonably required, in the mind of a person thinking reasonably about the need as well as the officer’s ([46]), judged on the circumstances as they existed at the time ([48]). The power is drawn widely because firearms, parts and ammunition are easily concealed ([47], [48]). At [49] he held that a search at 2 am of a person in a car with someone wanted for questioning was reasonably required, and that police need not suspect a breach before searching. Decided under the predecessor provision.
R v Riera [2016] SADC 108
Judge Muscat said at [72] that a reasonable suspicion and a suspicion based on reasonable grounds are different concepts.
Yuen v Police [2012] SASC 149
White J held that the predecessor entry and search power required the officer to have the requisite suspicion at the time of each activity it authorises ([16]), so that a search continued after the suspicion was dispelled was unlawful ([22]). The evidence was nevertheless admitted in the exercise of the discretion ([39], [40]).
Holder v State of South Australia [2018] SADC 83
In a civil claim for trespass, Judge Millsteed held at [235] that the power to enter and search premises requires a suspicion on reasonable grounds that a firearm is there; a suspicion that one might be there is not enough. Decided under the 1977 Act.
Registrar of Firearms v Marksman Training Systems Pty Ltd (No 2) [2016] SASCFC 72
Stanley J, with whom Gray J agreed (Peek J dissenting), held at [306] that the right of appeal to the District Court from a decision of the Registrar was conditioned on the person having first sought review by the committee and the committee having affirmed the decision. At [290] he described the committee’s function as a real but limited review. History of the review route, not the current one.
Frequently asked questions
Can police issue a firearms prohibition order if I have never been convicted?
Yes. Under section 43 of the Firearms Act 2015 (SA), a police officer needs only to suspect on reasonable grounds that your possession of a firearm would be likely to result in undue danger to life or property, or that you are not a fit and proper person to possess a firearm. No charge and no conviction is required.
How long does an interim firearms prohibition order last?
An interim order expires 28 days after the Registrar of Firearms is given written notice of your address for service. The clock does not start on the day you are served, so read that trigger closely. The Registrar may revoke it sooner, or issue an order under section 44, which lasts until it is revoked by written notice.
How do I appeal a firearms prohibition order in SA?
It depends on who made the order. An interim order issued by police can be reviewed by the Registrar of Firearms under section 46, which sets no time limit but does not pause the order. An order issued by the Registrar can be reviewed by SACAT under section 47; the application is due within 28 days of the decision, or within 28 days after written reasons you asked for, and the Tribunal can extend time. SACAT decides the question again on the merits.
Can police search me without a warrant if I have a firearms prohibition order?
Yes, for an order issued by the Registrar or imposed by a court. Section 57(11) of the Firearms Act 2015 (SA) lets police detain and search you, stop and search a vehicle you are in charge of or travelling in, and enter and search premises you occupy or are present at, as reasonably required for compliance with the order. Under the predecessor provision, the District Court held that police need not suspect a breach first, and that whether a search was reasonably required is judged on the circumstances at the time.
What happens to my firearms licence if an FPO is made against me?
It is suspended while the order is in force. Section 45 suspends any licence or permit you hold and requires you to surrender all firearms, parts, sound moderators and ammunition you own or possess immediately. While the order applies you are also not a fit and proper person under section 7, a ground for refusing a new application.
Can I live with someone who owns a firearm if I have an FPO?
Not while the firearms are in the house. Section 45(6) makes it an offence to be present or reside at premises on which there is a firearm, with a maximum of $50,000 or 10 years imprisonment, and the other person commits an offence by having a firearm on premises where you live. Defences turning on knowledge exist, but in practice the firearms have to go.
Can I go to a shooting range or a firearms dealer if I have an FPO?
No. Section 45 bans you from the grounds of firearms clubs and paint-ball operators, commercial ranges, shooting galleries, arms fairs and places where firearms are sold, hired out, repaired, modified, tested or manufactured, and it bans club membership. The maximum penalty is $50,000 or 10 years imprisonment. That applies even if you never touch a firearm.
What is the penalty for breaching a firearms prohibition order?
Acquiring, possessing or using a firearm while an order is in force carries a maximum of $75,000 or 15 years imprisonment. Several other breaches, including being at prohibited premises or in the company of a person who has physical possession or control of a firearm, carry up to $50,000 or 10 years. All are maximums. An offence involving the use or possession of a firearm while subject to an order is a serious firearm offence, so imprisonment must be imposed and can be suspended only in exceptional circumstances proved on oath.
Why was I not given reasons for my firearms prohibition order?
Because the decision may have been based on criminal intelligence. Section 44 requires a notice of reasons except in that situation, where the only reason required is that the decision was made on public interest grounds, and the same rule applies to reasons on review. You may never learn the underlying allegation.
Can a firearms prohibition order be revoked?
Yes. The Registrar may revoke an interim order before it expires, and may revoke an order issued under section 44, on the Registrar’s own initiative or on application, by written notice at any time. On a review of an interim order under section 46, the Registrar may affirm the decision or revoke the order.
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