Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) The Commissioner
cannot grant an approval or permit or issue a licence under this Act to a
person if the Commissioner is of the opinion that —
(a) to
do so would be contrary to section 11A or regulations under section 11B or
11C; or
(b) it
is not desirable in the interests of public safety; or
(c) the
person is not a fit and proper person to hold the approval, permit, or
licence.
(1A) The Commissioner
cannot grant an approval or permit or issue a licence under this Act to a
prohibited person.
(2) Where the
Commissioner is satisfied that a person has a history of, or a tendency
towards, violent behaviour, the Commissioner may take it into account in
deciding whether that person is a fit and proper person to hold an approval,
permit, or licence.
(3) The Commissioner
has a sufficient ground for forming an opinion that a person is not a fit and
proper person to hold an approval, permit or licence under this Act if the
Commissioner —
(a) is
satisfied that at any time within the period of 5 years before the person
applies for the approval, permit or licence —
(i)
the person was convicted of an offence involving assault
with a weapon; or
(ii)
the person was convicted of an offence involving
violence; or
(iii)
the person was convicted of any offence against this Act;
or
(iv)
a violence restraining order was made against the person,
whether in this State
or in any other place; or
(b) is
satisfied that the person fails to meet standards of mental or physical
fitness that the Commissioner considers to be necessary for the person to hold
the approval, permit or licence; or
(c)
suspects, on the basis of an intelligence report or other information held in
relation to the person, that the person is a threat to public safety.
(4) In subsection (3)
—
violence restraining order means a judicial order
imposing on the person against whom the order is made restraints on the
person’s lawful activities and behaviour to prevent the person —
(a)
committing an offence against the person under Part V of The Criminal Code ,
other than Chapters XXXIV and XXXV; or
(b)
behaving in a manner that could reasonably be expected to cause fear that the
person will commit such an offence,
or a similar order made under the laws of any
place other than this State.
(4a) The Commissioner
is not required under this Act or any other Act or law to disclose information
relied on under subsection (3)(c) unless the disclosure is required under the
State Administrative Tribunal Act 2004 .
(5) The Commissioner
may form an opinion that a person is a fit and proper person to hold an
approval, permit or licence under this Act in a case in which the Commissioner
has a sufficient ground under subsection (3) for forming the contrary opinion.
(6) Subsection (3)
does not limit the Commissioner’s ability, when forming an opinion as to
whether a person is a fit and proper person to hold an approval, permit or
licence under this Act, to take into account —
(a) a
conviction or order made outside the period of 5 years referred to in
paragraph (a) of that subsection; or
(b)
anything else that could have been taken into account if that subsection had
not been enacted.
(7) Without limiting
the other grounds on which an application may be refused, the Commissioner may
refuse an application if satisfied that the applicant has —
(a)
failed to comply with a regulation providing for the manner in which a
photograph of the applicant’s face is to be supplied for inclusion on an
Extract of Licence; or
(b)
failed to give the Commissioner, when requested in writing by a member of the
Police Force to do so, a statement in the prescribed form as to what the
applicant has done, or intends to do, to ensure that any firearms or
ammunition in the applicant’s possession are stored in accordance with
this Act; or
(c)
refused to permit a member of the Police Force to inspect, at a reasonable
time, the storage facilities for any firearms or ammunition that the applicant
would be entitled to possess.
(8) Where the
Commissioner, in writing, requests an applicant for an approval, permit or
licence to supply information, or further information, which the Commissioner
considers to be necessary to enable the application to be properly determined,
if that information is not supplied —
(a)
within 28 days, or such further period as the Commissioner may approve; and
(b) in
the manner and form requested by the Commissioner,
the application lapses
and the approval, permit, or licence sought cannot be granted or issued.
[Section 11 inserted: No. 59 of 1996 s. 12;
amended: No. 69 of 2004 s. 13; No. 13 of 2022 s. 15.]