Victoria’s Police’s Licensing and Regulation Division (LRD) has over and undercharged thousands for firearm licence-holders over the past 20 years.
Superintendent Paul Millett contacted SSAA Victoria – and the rest of the Firearm User Group – on Monday, informing them of the error.
“An internal review conducted by the LRD has identified an error in the application of firearm licence fees for licence holders who hold a Category A or Category A/B at the same time as a Category C longarm licence,” the Superintendent said.
The department sent letters to about 2500 licence-holders affected on Friday. The “human error” dates back to 1997 and was attributed to a misunderstanding of “very complex” fee structures and fee waivers set out in the Firearms Act 1996 and Firearms Regulations 2008.
“Our early investigations indicate that many of the licence holders who have been overcharged for one category of licence are likely to have been undercharged for another,” Superintendent Millett said.
“We will be reimbursing all licence holders who have been overcharged, and will not be seeking retrospective payments from licence holders who have been undercharged.”
LRD has appointed an independent forensic accountant to assess the records of affected licence-holders and assess what refunds they are entitled to. At the completion of the assessment, the affected licence-holders will be advised of the findings.
A new webpage has also been published on the Victoria Police website regarding the issue.
SSAA Victoria will be raising the issue at the next Firearm User Group meeting on Tuesday, May 30.
