Licences, Land Zones, and Special Conditions for Contract Shooting

Generally speaking, there is a lot of confusion and general unawareness of the licensing conditions and land zones where a contract shooter can legally operate. In this article we will look at the different licensing requirements, special conditions, and land zones covered by each licence. 

Here in NSW there are two licences a person can obtain for contract shooting:

1. Vertebrate Pest Animal Control - Contact Shooter
2. Business or Employment - Other

There are many other subtypes of these licences, however, for the purpose of this article, we are covering professional contract shooting licences only.

Vertebrate Pest Animal Control - Contact Shooter

The first licence, Vertebrate Pest Animal Control - Contact Shooter, allows provision for firearm categories A, B and/or D. This licence grants permission for conducting professional contact shooting operations on rural land only. 

In NSW that means land specifically zoned RU (appended with varying numbers e.g. RU1 - Primary Production). All other land zones are explicitly excluded from this licence. There are no “special” conditions on this licence.

This licence is specifically for the eradication of feral animals on rural land. This can be anything from eradication of rabbits on a hobby farm through to aerial culling of pigs on enormous grain farms.

Business or Employment - Other

The second licence, Business or Employment - Other, allows provision for firearm categories A and/or B. Category D is not allowed on this licence simply due to the land zones allowed being generally much smaller and near or neighbouring residential areas.

There are too many land zones to list that this licence covers, however, it basically covers professional contract shooting on non-rural zones like industrial areas; recreational areas like golf courses and council parks; educational areas like schools and universities, and many others. Rural zones are excluded from this licence as they are covered by Vertebrate Pest - Contact Shoot licence. Residential is also excluded from this licence, however, special permission can be obtained in exceptional circumstances.

This licence comes with “Special Conditions” that must be adhered to. As a condition of this licence, you are required to notify local police prior to any eradication taking place. Public safety is the responsibility of the licence holder and there must be no public access to areas while the eradication is taking place. You must ensure that authorisation is obtained from all relevant authorities (e.g. National Parks and Wildlife) prior to the eradication of any protected species of bird or feral animal.

This licence is specifically for eradication of vermin on non-rural land. This generally means eradication of feral birds like pigeons and Indian Myna birds in built-up areas like schools, industrial areas, business parks, etc. Other normal jobs are for eradicating foxes which are causing issues with native wildlife on golf courses or council parks.

Wrapping Up

Hopefully this article has explained the major differences and clarified what licence covers what areas and what conditions apply. I know when I first looked into setting up my contact shooting business I was quite confused by all this stuff.

Now, actually meeting the requirements and applying for these licences is a whole other story, but that’s an article for another day.