Landholder’s licence to harm native animals application form

Complete this form to apply for a landholder’s licence to harm native animals under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.

This licence allows authorised persons to control protected native animals if shown to be causing a serious threat to safety, property damage or economic hardship on a property. Harm may include trap and euthanise, catch and release, or kill.

Applying for landholder licence to harm should be a last resort and longer-term, non-lethal solutions should be investigated and implemented where possible. Animals permitted to be harmed under this licence are listed in the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 Schedule 5 (protected animals).

All details must be completed by the applicant before sending this form to the local National Parks and Wildlife Service office for assessment.

• Use a different form for kangaroos, wallaroos and some types of wallaby.
• If engaging a commercial operator holding a current catch and release possum licence, a landholder licence to harm native animals is not required for the catch and release of a possum from a premises.

Since 1 July 2021, you cannot get a licence to harm flying foxes in New South Wales.

Requirements

The applicant is required to:

• ensure administrative tasks are complete and submitted as required, including all application details, record keeping, reporting and notifying NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of any changes to information provided in this application. Previous licence holders who have not submitted the licence record sheet may not be granted a new licence.
• check details entered for a person nominated for authority to harm on the applicant’s behalf
• if applying for a licence to harm (shoot), submit a copy of firearms licence for the person nominated to shoot
• submit details with this application if an applicant or nominee has answered ‘yes’ to Q1 and/or Q2 in sections 2 and/or 4. Note: answering yes does not automatically preclude an applicant from receiving a licence.
• submit a Local Land Services (LLS) rates notice and a map of the property to verify property owner, size and address if this is the first time you have applied for a biodiversity conservation licence for this property, or the property boundaries have recently changed. Additional information may also be required by the officer assessing this application.

Information provided in licence applications

It is an offence under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 to provide false or misleading information in, or in connection with a licence application.

Licence conditions

All licences are issued with strict conditions. It is an offence under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 to contravene a condition of a licence. The licensee and any authorised persons on the licence must have read and understood the standard operating procedures or code of practice relevant to the species being harmed – for example:

• Standard Operating Procedures for trapping pest birds
• Standard Operating Procedures for the shooting of pest birds.

Other statutory requirements

All authorised persons must comply with other statutory or regulatory provisions relevant to this licence such as local council requirements, the NSW Firearms Act 1996 and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979.

Privacy Statement

This application form requests information that identifies you and is defined as ‘personal information’ under the NSW Privacy and Personal Information Act 1998.

Information supplied on this form will be used by delegated officers of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to assess your application and will be entered into a computer system for granting licences. You may access and amend your personal information at any time by contacting the department.

Public register

As required by the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, a public register of biodiversity conservation licences is published on the department’s website. The public register does not include personal information of individuals (for example, name, postal and email address, phone number and date of birth). Information about the location of plants and animals covered by licences will be restricted to postcode.