CONTRACTORS at the Murwillumbah Firearms Registry have been left in "limbo" and have no idea if they still have a job when they show up to work each day.

According to the Public Service Association (PSA) of NSW, the State Government has backflipped on a decision to cut up to 30 staff from the registry.

The backflip comes after the registry went under formal investigation by NSW Police following the shooting deaths of two children by their father in Sydney last month.

Public Service Association of NSW organiser Asren Pugh said the situation at the registry was "intolerable".

"The contracts of casual employees at the Firearms Registry have been temporarily extended, but we still have no information from the State Government about its plans for the future of the registry," he said.

"This is an intolerable situation as workers have been left in limbo. The PSA demands that the State Government end the uncertainty and guarantee no jobs will be lost at the Murwillumbah Firearms Registry."

Following the Sydney murders, Lismore MP Thomas George said there would be no job losses at the registry but confirmed there would be "a change in leadership".

A source from within the registry told the Tweed Daily News that contractors currently had "no idea" when their contracts would finish.

"At the moment the people on contracts have no end date at all, it used to be yearly, then it came down to every six months, then month-to-month, now it's just day-to-day," they said.

"They're showing up and hopefully there's work for them, there's been no extension of their contracts."

The source said several workers had already left the registry for other jobs but had not been replaced, leaving firearm permit applications literally "sitting around".

"There's still massive backlogs but they can't be referred to as backlogs, they just have to be referred to an unusual amount of inquiries," the source said.

"It's all smoke and mirrors stuff."

The source said workers at the registry had "felt the effects" following the murders in Sydney, which saw 67-year-old John Edwards able to access two powerful handguns despite a history of violence against his family.

"At the end of the day if someone wants to do something nasty like that man did to his kids, they're going to find a way, but the staff have to deal with it directly at the registry," they said.

"They suffer a bit of trauma themselves, because at the end of the day they're the ones processing those permits and dealing with the people out there."

Lismore MP Thomas George has been contacted for comment.