There's been a significant win for Queensland firearms licence applicants via the the Queensland Supreme Court case Commissioner of Police v XPR - [2025] QCA 93
The short version:
The Penalties & Sentences Act says "a conviction without recording the conviction is taken not to be a conviction for any purpose", and QCAT said this extended to Weapons Act Licence applications as well.
The Tribunal held the entire point of 'no conviction recorded' is "intended to protect an individual from the stigma attached to a conviction where a sentencing judge or magistrate decided no conviction should be recorded, apart from specific exemptions such as court records, later criminal proceedings and the legitimate performance of the functions of specified authorities." Critically, Weapons Licensing Group is NOT one of those 'specified authorities'.
Queensland Police appealed the QCAT ruling to the Supreme Court - who agreed with QCAT's interpretation, stating "There was no error made by QCAT and the appeal should be dismissed."
You can read the whole ruling here:
For the record, we were not involved with this case - but gladly would have been, had we been asked. Either way, it's a significant win for Queensland shooters and we are very pleased with both the QCAT and Supreme Court rulings on the matter.
