NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

Information for landholders

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Apply for a Native Game Bird Management (Owner/Occupier) Licence

  • If you are an owner or occupier of private land used for agricultural purposes, and you need to manage native game birds, you can apply for a NSW Native Game Bird Management (Owner/Occupier) Licence (NGBM Licence). There is no fee for this licence.
  • NGBM Licences have a common expiry of 31 August each year.
  • Once you hold a management licence, you can:
    • give permission to licensed and endorsed native game bird hunters to assist you
    • access your licence and approved total licence allocations
    • monitor your total licence allocations or request an adjustment
    • view your licensed property details
    • add or remove yourself from the landholder register
    • access the hunter register
    • view the harvest transactions submitted against your licence.

A landholder licence can only be issued for sustainable agricultural management purposes, which means native game birds must be impacting agricultural lands and a management licence will contribute positively to farm, regional and the State's productivity and economy; and will also adaptively manage and enhance biological and physical resources while supporting the State's regional and rural communities.

How to apply for an owner/occupier licence

Apply for a NGBM Licence online through the Hunt NSW portal.

  • Add up to 12 properties on each licence.
  • Include all Lot and Deposited Plan (DP) numbers attached to each property
  • List the other types of control methods you're using, or will use
  • Provide estimates of each native game bird species that is impacting, or likely to impact, your agricultural production
  • If you are a non-rice grower applying for the first time, upload photographic evidence of the damage that is occurring
  • Provide your contact details, including an email address that will be used to communicate with you
  • Verify your identity
  • Answer the privacy and declaration questions
  • Review and submit your application.

The department assesses each application on a case-by-case basis. If your licence is approved, we will determine an appropriate total licence allocation. The assessment may take into account previous hunter harvest return data and historical impacts.

Quotas and total licence allocations

Before native game birds can be hunted there must be an approved State-wide quota in place and a total licence allocation applied to an owner/occupier licence.

Visit the quota page to find out more about allocations of native game bird species.

Each NGBM Licence has the total licence allocation attached. Your total licence allocation will list the number and type of native game birds that can be harvested under your licence.

Need volunteer hunters?

Landholder register

If you would like volunteer hunters to contact you for permission to hunt native game birds, you can add yourself to, or remove yourself from, the landholder register at any time.

You can nominate to the landholder register by completing a form once you're licensed and you've logged into the Hunt NSW portal.

Hunter register

You can access an online register of volunteer hunters who are available to assist landholders holding an NGBM Licence.

Licensed hunters list their contact information, available dates and regions/towns they're able to travel to. You can download the hunter register from the Hunt NSW portal.

Hunting rules

You must be satisfied, before giving permission to a hunter to kill native game birds under the authority of your owner/occupier licence, that they hold a NSW Game Hunting Licence that is endorsed for the program.

Licensed hunters who volunteer under the program must comply with special native game bird hunting licence conditions and other hunting rules.

Need to manage native game birds yourself?

There is no fee to attempt the WIT or apply for a NSW General Game Hunting Licence for landholders who hold a Native Game Bird Management (Owner/Occupier) Licence. This includes for members of the landholder's household and employees.

The requirement for landholders to hold both a management licence as well as a hunting licence if they wish to target native game birds personally ensures that all individuals who hunt under the program can identify target game birds and protected species, and that they are subject to the NSW Game Hunting Licence Code of Practice.

Support services

DPIRD Hunting Wildlife Management Team

The team can:

  • assist you with your licence application
  • assist you with accessing the Hunt NSW portal
  • track and monitor native game bird harvests recorded against your licence.
www.dpi.nsw.gov.au