Plans to ‘modernise’ digital firearms registry revealed after WA Police published detailed wish-list

A “modernised” digital firearms registry could include real-time alerts for police officers, electronic “smart licences” for owners and dealers and the capability for “anonymous whistle blowers” to report concerns about gunholders. Details around plans to bring systems monitoring firearms into the “digital age” can be revealed for the first time after WA Police published a detailed wish-list for digitising WA’s “licensing and registry processes”. Police Minister Paul Papalia said the system was “critical and central” to the major overhaul to WA’s five-decades-old firearms legislation currently underway. Documents reveal WA Police hopes the system would improve the tracking of licensed firearms and give “faster access to real-time information to support informed decision-making, improving officer and community safety”. It would also “leverage existing and modern technologies to improve situational awareness for policing command and frontline officers” and create a “contemporary” application process for existing and new firearms licence holders. “This capability should enable the streamlining firearm licensing processes,” the documents state. “In addition, provision real-time accurate information to assist with improved situational awareness to assist with effective decision making. “The digitisation of the firearm licensing process and the associated information will provide improved service delivery and interactions between the WA Police Force, government, industry, and members of the community.” Some of the features being explored include “smart licences” that could be stored on mobile phones and a web portal for licensing services, mandatory reporting and fee processing. Other potential features are an “online capability for anonymous whistle blowers to lodge a report” and a provision for “digital correspondence, messaging, alerts, notification etc between WA Police Force and all users”. Digitising firearms licensing is expected to benefit those who live regionally — with 35 per cent of licence holders living outside the metropolitan area — who often have to travel hundreds of kilometres to lodge paperwork. Police Minister Paul Papalia said the system was “critical and central” to the major overhaul to WA’s five-decades-old firearms legislation currently underway. “We need a system to back the new legislation — it’s got to be as contemporary as the law will be,” he said. “We are going to completely modernise it. “This is a serious move that will transform how we manage firearms to elevate that level of service to the quality of the legislation that we are going to implement.” The system will be able to provide “real-time” updates, Mr Papalia said. “So the moment someone, for instance purchases a firearm, that information is notified to the licensing enforcement division online,” he said. “Any activity that we intend on including in the legislation in terms of obligations on the firearms owner, everything will be able to be monitored.” He said it would also allow police to have “much better situational awareness” when responding to incidents. “You’ll know what you are up against if you’re a police officer approaching a residence of a firearms owner,” he said. “There’s no chance that it will be dated information, it will be immediately updated at every step along the way. “There’s also a positive for firearms licence holders out of this because licence holders and firearms traders both have been calling for an upgrade to your system for years. It’s frustrating for everybody. The system is slow ... and very manual intensive. “So this will transform the system into a modern system which will reflect the legislation.” Mr Papalia has previously outlined a raft of other reforms including plans for mental health checks for firearms licence holders and has already introduced firearm prohibition orders for bikies and other dangerous criminals. He slapped down commentary the legislation was taking too long, saying it was “on schedule”. “The commentary to the contrary is ill-informed and juvenile,” he said. “The legislation is being drafted as we speak. “We did an extensive — and we continue to do consultation — but we did an extensive consultation meeting initially — when the police went to every region of the State, held town hall meetings, met with key stakeholders and individuals and peak bodies and that is a robust process to ensure that we get the best legalisation we possibly can.” He said the WA registry would be compatible with a national firearms register, which police ministers across the country were tasked with working towards in the wake of the deaths of two police officers and a bystander in Wieambilla last year. Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, as well as neighbour Alan Dare, were fatally shot after the officers responded to a routine welfare check. Their deaths sparked calls for a register to more effectively track guns across all jurisdictions. The Police Ministers Council met in Brisbane last Friday and reached a unanimous agreement on options for the register to be put to National Cabinet.