No worries Reefer but the OP did say "If I have a permit to fossick in national parks in nsw" which lead me to think he may have been approved & have a permit (or applied for one). There was no question of which is better NP vs State Forest from the OP.
Obviously NSW State Forests have a far better access arrangement & permit system for fossickers in NSW. That's not the initial question or under debate here.
As far as your comments re: NPWS in many instances I would have previously fully agreed.
It has been my experience though (yes I've actually been thru the process & applied for a NPWS permit outside of the 2 x areas with already existing permission where a permit is NOT required) that at least here locally they have been very approachable & helpful with it. Locally they have no problem with my application which was basically done to the conditions of the pre-existing NSW Fossicking Guidelines for all areas in NSW. No further conditions have been discussed to date.
My application is at this stage looking promising & sits with the NPWS Area Manager for final approval which the local bloke says should not be a problem.
It can be a somewhat convoluted or daunting process for a lot I guess but if you have a NP area in mind I would recommend having a crack at it. There is a lot of areas around in NSW NP that are virtually virgin ground to modern methods or in some cases under explored.
Edit:
P.s. IMO the more people who go thru this process will hopefully lead to NPWS streamlining their current system or possibly even naming more areas with existing permission without a need for a permit.
The fact that they are now even looking at & considering an application in a positive light is a huge step to me.