Museum licence

A Museum licence may be issued to a person who manages arms items as a senior manager or curator in a museum.

A Museum licence authorises the holder to possess, display, and store the arms items and ammunition specified on the licence. Additional endorsements and permits are required for certain regulated items, including pistols, restricted firearms, restricted weapons, restricted magazines, and pistol carbine conversion kits.

To apply for a Museum licence, the applicant: 

• must holds a valid firearms licence.
• must be considered a fit and proper person to hold a licence and to possess, display, and store the arms items and ammunition covered by the application.
• must work in a museum with appropriate secure storage facilities suitable for the arms items, ammunition, and restricted ammunition specified in the application.

To consider:

People who held a Dealer's Licence before 23 September 2026 as a museum curator or manager are treated as Museum Licence holders and do not need to apply for a Museum Licence straight away. 

When their licence is due for renewal, they will need to apply for a Museum Licence, which will then replace their Dealer's Licence.

A Museum licence follows the same renewal rules as a firearms licence. If you apply for a new Museum licence before your current licence expires, your existing licence will remain valid until a decision is made on your application.

The Museum licence has a duration of five years for compliant licence holders. 

Now

• A first-time Museum licence will be valid for one year from date of issue.
• First-time renewal, or second Museum licence will continue for one year from the date of issue.
• If a Museum licence has been held for two years without any compliance issues, the third and any subsequent business licence will remain valid for five years from the date of issue.

Note: If the licence holder moves to a different museum, they must obtain a new museum licence. 

Application fees:

- New or renewed museum licence – $204
- Endorsements on museum licenses – $204

Museum licences have specific requirements about where arms items may be possessed, displayed, and stored. Find out what these requirements mean and how they apply to museum licence holders.

• A museum licence allows the licence holder to possess, display, and store arms items at a specified museum. 
• A museum licence can only be issued for one museum, and that museum must be named on the licence. 
• It does not authorise the licence holder to possess, display, or store arms items at any other museum.

As a Museum licence holder, you may need endorsements and permits to possess or import certain arms items.

A Museum licence does not, by itself, entitle a senior manager or curator to possess pistols, pistol carbine conversion kits, large-capacity pistol magazines, restricted firearms, restricted magazines, or restricted weapons.

Senior managers or curators who wish to possess these items for museum purposes must hold the appropriate endorsement on their Museum licence. 

A Museum licence holder must also obtain the required permit to possess or permit to import before taking possession of a pistol, pistol carbine conversion kit, large-capacity pistol magazine, restricted firearm, restricted magazine, or restricted weapon. 

Endorsements and permits

Museum licence holders are required to keep records of all prescribed details for the arms items, ammunition, and restricted ammunition held at the museum.

Records must be kept for at least 10 years, whether they are stored in hard copy or electronic form, after the date of the last entry in the records.

Museum licence holders must allow an arms officer to inspect and make copy of the records and provide any additional information requested about the arms items or ammunition held by the museum.

Some information may be exempt from record-keeping requirements if specified by regulations or if it has already been provided to the Chief Executive.