June President’s Message

I am thrilled to announce that The Report magazine is now the official publication of SSAA Queensland and, as of July, will be produced 11 times a year. The magazine will be available to all Queensland members and distributed throughout the country. 

This marks a homecoming of magazine production for us, with the first Queensland Association magazine being printed in 1962, before a national journal was created with the input of our own editor Gordon Nelis in the early 1970s. The magazine went through a few changes in name; first the Australian Shooter and then the Australian Shooters Journal till in 2000 the name was changed back to the Australian Shooter magazine by its longest serving editor Tim Bannister. Tim and the same key team colleagues that produced the Australian Shooter now work for SSAA Queensland and turned their experience to publishing The Report magazine. Queensland members will now receive The Report magazine, not the Australian Shooter, but can expect the same high-quality stories and reviews on the shooting sports and hunting that they have in the past. 

Shooting and hunting laws and regulations have always been state specific, but ironically, the introduction of the National Firearms Agreement (NFA) in the late 1990s saw states interpret the laws and multiple regulations in different ways. It became harder to communicate firearm laws to our members through a national magazine, as there are eight states and territories in Australia. This was a key factor in SSAA Queensland deciding to return to producing its own magazine so that we can write about state specific matters that are relevant to our 80,000 members. 

While a Queensland-based magazine will overcome those obstacles, the stories will no doubt appeal to readers country wide. 

I’d also like to make mention of the behind-the-scenes work of our administrative staff in Ipswich HQ. They are the ones ensuring your membership is up to date and provide you with the services you receive with your SSAA Queensland membership. They also work with our many branch committee members and volunteers. As we now process our own membership and communications, their workload has of course increased, but they have successfully risen to the challenges. 

It’s an exciting time for SSAA Queensland. 

Safe shooting. 

Hellen Gill  

SSAA Queensland President