Gun owners would be forced to surrender their medical records when obtaining a licence under a coroner's recommendation, following the self-inflicted shooting of a man with mental illness.
Requiring applicants to prove they are a “fit and proper” person would plug gaps in Victoria's current gun licensing model, coroner Simon McGregor said in findings released on June 10.
It opens a new front in the jostling around gun laws following the Bondi terror attack, weeks after the Victorian Government ruled out introducing a cap on the number of firearms a person can own.
Mr McGregor examined the death of a 42-year-old man, who shot himself during a domestic dispute at Lang Lang, southeast of Melbourne, in December 2024.
The man, referred to as AT, held licences for long arms and handguns and owned five registered firearms, which had been renewed in 2022 and 2023.
Despite an extensive history of mental health and substance use issues, he failed to disclose this information when renewing his licences.
The coronial investigation found the omissions went undetected because the system relies heavily on self-reporting.
Current licensing rules require applicants to declare whether they have received treatment for mental health or alcohol- or drug-related issues during the previous five years.
However, they are not required to provide supporting evidence.
"Given the manifest omissions in AT's licence renewal application under the current system, I make no adverse comment about the individual decision-making which led to the license being renewed," Mr McGregor said.
"The system itself, however, unfortunately has the hallmarks of a ‘rubber stamping’ process, rather than a genuine vetting process around the use and control of dangerous equipment."
The issue was raised in a recent review led by former police commissioner Ken Lay following the 2025 Bondi terror attack.
The Victorian Government accepted 15 of the review’s 16 recommendations, including to consider strengthening oversight across the licence life cycle.
It also suggested establishing a pathway for medical practitioners to notify police when a licence holder’s health may impact their fitness to hold a licence.
But Mr McGregor said the onus should shift to gun owners themselves, given medical practitioners rely on patients to declare when they own a gun.
“It would be more appropriate and less resource-intensive to consider placing the onus on firearm licence/renewal applicants to provide medical evidence supporting their eligibility as a ‘fit and proper person’,” he said.
Victoria's current approach is broadly in line with most states but Western Australian gun applicants must undergo a specialised health assessment by a registered medical practitioner.
The Victorian Government did not accept Mr Lay’s recommendation for a cap of four guns per licence holder, with Premier Jacinta Allan declaring new restrictions should not unnecessarily burden law-abiding gun owners.
But her government has foreshadowed it may heed the coroner’s additional advice.
“We’ve accepted all but one of Ken Lay’s recommendations around strengthening our gun laws, and we’ll consider the coroner’s recommendation alongside that work,” a government spokeswoman said.
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– AAP
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