Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a joint Commonwealth and New South Wales gun buyback on Sunday following the deadly Bondi Beach shooting.
The Commonwealth and New South Wales governments will evenly share the cost of the scheme, with administration costs split 50 per cent each and the federal government fully funding the destruction of all surrendered weapons.
National Cabinet agreed to action the fight against anti-Semitism and strengthen firearms restrictions across Australia following the deadly December 2025 shootings.
The broader initiative is informed by recommendations from the royal commission into antisemitism. National Cabinet brings together Australia's prime minister, state premiers, and territory chief ministers to coordinate national policy.
"We agreed on action to eradicate anti-Semitism and to strengthen gun laws across the nation," Prime Minister Albanese told reporters on Sunday.
"We chose to do both, to address both the motivation and the method of the attack, while we continue to act on addressing anti-Semitism," Albanese added.
Buyback schedule and financial assistance
Compensation will be paid from November 2 for firearms beyond the new ownership limits and for newly reclassified firearms, along with a flat fee for associated ammunition.
A fixed price schedule will apply for individual licence holders returning firearms beyond the new legal limit in exchange for compensation.
The scheme will also provide financial assistance for businesses and industry to adjust to the reforms. Eligible businesses and dealers will be offered up to $25,000 in grants and one-off licence fee relief worth $500 over two years per dealer.
Early 2027 will see a pathway to compensation, for a fee, for eligible higher-value firearms with an indicative market value above $3,000 and capped at $10,000 per firearm.
Firearm ownership limits and Port Arthur comparison
It is estimated up to 274,000 registered firearms, or about 24 per cent of the total number of registered guns in New South Wales, and some 50,000 licence holders are affected by the new limits on ownership.
"Australians are quite rightly proud of our gun laws," Albanese said. "But the fact is, there are more guns in Australia today than there were at the time of dealing with the Port Arthur gun fireback that occurred under the Howard government. This is about strengthening Australia's gun laws, and keeping our community safer."
The 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania led to Australia's historic National Firearms Agreement under Prime Minister John Howard, establishing strict gun licensing and a nationwide mandatory buyback scheme.
New South Wales firearms legislation
New South Wales tightened its laws in the days following the shooting by introducing gun ownership limits, reclassifying some types of weapons, boosting background checks, and reducing firearms licences from five years to two.
However, the buyback is considered the next step in the reforms.
"We believe New South Wales will, as a result, have the toughest gun laws of any state in Australia, some of the toughest gum laws of any place in the world," New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said.
"We are doing this deliberately to get guns out of circulation in our community, to ensure that we don't have another terrorism event, or do everything we possibly can to ensure we don't have another terrorism event in our state," Minns said.
"We know this isn't universally supported. In some quarters, this is controversial and it will be opposed," Minns added. "Notwithstanding that public opposition, notwithstanding those who have criticised the government for these reforms, this is what this state needs to keep people safe."
