Paintball business safety and compliance in NSW

Important information about running a paintball business, including safety requirements, storage, and transportation.

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Paintball activities

Paintball is a sport where teams or individual players compete by shooting paint-filled pellets from a paintball marker (also known as a paintball gun).

Paintball markers are no longer considered firearms regulated by the NSW Police. They are recreational sporting devices managed by NSW Fair Trading in the interests of public safety.

Activities can only be conducted at an authorised venue under the supervision of employees who hold a paintball marker permit or who have completed the NSW paintball safety training course.

There are 3 types of paintball permits. You do not need a permit to play paintball. A permit is required to:

  • operate a paintball business
  • own a paintball marker, or
  • bring a paintball marker into NSW from overseas.

You must be at least 18 years old to be eligible to apply for a permit.

Players under 18 years old

With written parental or guardian consent, children 12 years and over can play paintball at authorised venues using paintball supplier supplied at the venue.

Those under 18 cannot own a paintball marker.
 

Laws to follow

There are laws you must follow to run a paintball business or to hold a paintball permit.

The Paintball Act 2018 (the Act) and Paintball Regulation 2024 (the Regulation) set out the requirements for paintball businesses and permit holders.

This page explains the rules you need to follow in simple language. You should refer to the legislation for specific legal requirements.

Safety, training, storage and transportation

To ensure the safe and lawful use of paintball markers, you must be aware of your responsibilities in relation to the running of a paintball business or the supervision of paintball activities at an authorised venue.

Significant penalties apply if you don’t meet these requirements.

You must wear protective clothing and equipment

Wearing protective clothing and equipment is mandatory. You need to wear suitable clothing and gear. This includes:

  • a paintball helmet and mask
  • protective coverings for your eyes and face
  • enclosed shoes, and
  • other clothing that covers as much of the body as is reasonable in the circumstances.

The paintball game area must be clearly marked with signage and boundaries to show where a paintball marker can be used. A paintball marker cannot be used in any area other than the paintball game area.

Paintball marker permit holders can use their own paintball markers at a paintball venue. A paintball venue permit holder is required to check the permit of the person bringing their own marker into the venue prior to allowing the person to use their own marker at the venue.

Training and supervision

To get a paintball marker permit, you must have completed the NSW paintball marker safety training course. This course addresses the safe use of paintball markers, and the safe conduct of activities associated with paintball markers.

To complete this course, please visit the paintball marker safety training course page at TAFE NSW. The training course is approved and provided by or on behalf of the Secretary or provided by an approved entity. 

The completion of an approved training course is no longer required for a paintball venue permit. However, venue permit holders must ensure the use of paintball markers are supervised by an employee who either:

  • holds a current paintball marker permit, or
  • has completed an approved training course that addresses the safe use of paintball markers, and the safe conduct of activities associated with paintball markers (see note below).

Note: Existing supervisors who previously completed the NSW Police general firearms course for long arms prior to 1 December 2021 (as per legislative requirements) do not need to complete the NSW paintball marker safety training course.

If you're visiting a venue, you don’t need to complete an approved training course. However, the venue may provide you with a safety induction.

Storage

All paintball markers must be stored:

  • in an inoperable state (such as having the gas canister removed), and
  • in a locked metal container to prevent unauthorised access.

Transportation

All paintball markers must be in an inoperable state and concealed in a secured bag or container when being transported.

A paintball marker must not be left unattended when being transported, unless the paintball marker is secured in a locked vehicle.

Notification when receiving, supplying or disposing of a marker

If you are an authorised supplier who receives, sells, or disposes of/destroys paintball markers in NSW, you need to notify NSW Fair Trading within 7 days of receiving a marker.

What transactions should I notify NSW Fair Trading about?

You must notify NSW Fair Trading within 7 days when you:

  • receive possession or stock of a paintball marker. This includes receiving a marker order from outside NSW or receiving a marker from a paintball marker permit holder
  • supply/or sell a paintball marker (please refer to the exception below for venue-to-venue transfers)
  • dispose of and destroy a paintball marker.

Exception: If you hold a paintball venue permit and transfer/share a paintball marker to another paintball venue permit holder under a paintball marker sharing arrangement, you are not required to notify us provided the marker is returned to you within 14 days. If not returned within 14 days, you must notify us within 7 days after the end of those 14 days.

If any of these apply to you, you must:

Our licensing team can assist with your online application if you have any difficulty in submitting your notification. Please call 13 32 20 or visit your local Service NSW centre in person if internet access is an issue.

If you are unable to apply online, you can:

Disposing a paintball marker

Where a paintball marker is no longer in use, the paintball marker must be disposed of as follows:

  • the chassis of the marker must be severed to make the marker permanently inoperable
  • if the paintball marker has a serial number, the serial number must be destroyed
  • the remaining parts of the inoperable marker must be disposed of in a safe way, taking care not to cause injury to persons or property.

Authorised suppliers

Authorised paintball marker suppliers include:

If you're a paintball venue permit holder, you are only authorised to supply paintball markers for the following purposes:

  • to a person at your paintball venue, solely for the temporary use of the paintball marker at that venue
  • to a paintball permit holder
  • to another holder of a paintball venue permit under a paintball marker sharing arrangement (see the section below on sharing).

Sharing paintball markers between paintball venue permit holders

Paintball venue permit holders can enter paintball marker sharing arrangements with other paintball venue permit holders.

A paintball marker sharing arrangement provides flexibility to paintball businesses, especially during high demand periods, avoiding the need to purchase additional equipment that may only be used infrequently.

You and the recipient (i.e. the other paintball venue permit holder involved in the sharing arrangement) must keep a detailed record of the sharing arrangement for 7 years.

The shared markers must be returned within 14 days.

If by the end of that 14 days the paintball marker is not returned to you, you must notify us within 7 days.

As part of this process, you will need to provide the paintball marker’s serial number and contact details of the recipient in your supplier notification form. This will go onto a register of paintball markers that we will maintain.

Under the legislation, we are required to maintain a register of the paintball markers which provides us with necessary information regarding the possession and location of paintball markers.

Suspended or cancelled permits

Disciplinary action can include, suspension or cancellation of a permit, issuing a notice to show cause, giving cautions, imposing conditions on a permit, or disqualifying someone from holding a permit. This may happen in several circumstances, including where a permit holder has:

Legislation supporting this page

Paintball Act 2018

Paintball Regulation 2024

Firearms Act 1996

Weapons Prohibition Act 1998

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