Pawnbrokers and second-hand dealer licences

You must have a valid licence to be a second-hand dealer or pawnbroker in the Northern Territory. 

You can apply for a pawnbrokers licence, a second-hand dealers licence or a combined licence. 

You can get a licence as an individual, partnership or corporation, that lasts for a period of one, two or three years. 

Licences are not transferable. 

You may be fined up to 2500 penalty units or $360,000 for operating without a licence.

When you do not need a licence

You do not need a pawnbroker or second-hand licence if your primary business is any of the following: 

• auctioneer
• firearms dealer
• motor vehicle dealer
• registered financial corporation
• bank
• sale of second-hand parts for motor vehicles, including tyres but not including audio equipment, roof racks or other accessories.

A second-hand dealer licence is also not required if you trade in legally exempted goods.

A pawnbroker licence allows you to do all of the following:

• lend money on the security of pawned items
• take items under a contract for sale where the seller has a right to buy back the goods.

Operating a pawnbroking business

As a licensed pawnbroker, you must do all of the following:

• conduct your business fairly and ensure there is adequate management, supervision and control of the business operations
• maintain employment records for employees who enter into contracts on behalf of your business and provide their records to police on request - the records must include your employee's full name, residential address and date of birth, a photograph you can certify is of your employee, and a record of your employee's application for employment
• store the pawned goods securely
• keep copies of pawn tickets and affidavits for at least one year
• before lending money, ensure the pawn ticket setting out the contract conditions is signed by parties to the contract
• only enter into contracts with people over 18 years old, unaffected by alcohol or drugs, after checking their full name, address and identity 
• for contracts for compact discs, record the title of the disc and the name of the artist as soon as the information becomes available to your business
• for each contract, record the details in electronic form or in a bound book and use a distinguishing number for each contract.
• for each transaction, record all of the following:
  • a description of the goods pawned
  • money lent in respect of each of the pawned goods
  • interest to be paid on the money lent - expressed as a percentage rate and in dollar terms to be paid each week or month as the case may be
  • charges that may become payable - eg: in the event of the sale of the goods
  • the redemption period if it is longer than one month
  • amount of any repayment made towards the loan
  • the address where the goods will be located during the redemption period
  • if the goods are redeemed, the date of the redemption
  • if unredeemed goods are sold, the date of sale.

A second-hand dealer licence allows you to buy, sell or exchange second-hand goods, whether the goods are bought, sold or exchanged for yourself or on behalf of another person.

As a licensed second-hand dealer, you must do all of the following: 

• conduct your business fairly and ensure adequate management, supervision and control of business operations
• keep employment records for employees who enter into contracts on behalf of your business and provide their records to police on request - the records must include your employee's full name, residential address and date of birth, a photograph you can certify is of your employee, and a record of your employee's application for employment
• only enter into contracts with people over 18 years old, unaffected by alcohol or drugs, after checking their full name, address and identity 
• in relation to contracts about compact discs, record the title of the disc and the name of the artist as soon as the information becomes available to your business
• for each transaction, record a contract number, name and address of the vendor, date and time of the contract, a description of the goods, and details of the good's storage and disposal
• for each contract, record the details in electronic form or in a bound book and use a distinguishing number for each contract.

Exempted goods

You do not need a licence to deal with the following exempted goods: 

• boats - but not including outboard motors or other marine equipment
• books, magazines and periodicals
• ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metals other than gold or silver
• goods collected under a recycling scheme for the purposes of a council
• goods other than jewellery purchased for the purpose of manufacturing another article from the goods
• clothing, including footwear
• furniture, including lamps and light fittings other than electrical or electronic appliances or movable heaters, where the second-hand dealer's retail sale price is greater than $30
• household soft furnishings, including rugs, curtains and manchester
• household decorative goods, including statues, figurines, paintings, prints and drawings
• kitchenware, including pots, pans, crockery and cutlery - but not domestic, electrical or electronic appliances where the second-hand dealer’s retail sale price is greater than $30
• motor vehicles
• mining machinery and parts
• farming machinery and parts - but not accessories such as audio equipment, electronic monitoring equipment or lamps
• rags
• bones
• glassware, including bottles
• cans
• waste plastic materials
• waste paper materials
• salvaged building materials including doors, window frames, tiles, bricks and timber
• white goods in the nature of large domestic electrical equipment, including refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, clothes dryers, ovens and ironing presses - but not portable or camping refrigerators or microwave or microwave/ convection ovens
• camping equipment and fishing gear where the second-hand dealer’s retail sale price is or will be less than $30
• collectibles such as stamps, trading cards, dolls, toys and military memorabilia
• records and cassette tapes.

Contact Licensing NT for more information.

Contact

For more information, contact your nearest TBC.

Licence fees are exempt from GST.

The fees below also apply to applications to register licences from outside the NT.