On 14 December 2025, two men attacked Bondi Beach in Sydney during a Jewish festival, killing fifteen people. Police shot dead one of the identified perpetrators, Sajid Akram; his son Navid Akram remains in custody facing murder charges. The attack set in motion a new round of federal and state firearms reform.
New South Wales will now become the first Australian state to implement the Commonwealth Government's National Gun Buyback Scheme, with the programme commencing on 2 November 2026. The scheme is established under the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill and informed by the recommendations of an antisemitism royal commission.
The scale of the exercise is considerable. Up to 274,000 registered firearms — approximately 24 per cent of all registered guns in New South Wales — and around 50,000 licence holders are estimated to be affected.
The programme runs in two phases. Phase one, beginning 2 November 2026, offers fixed compensation: AUD 450 for an air rifle and AUD 1,000 for a centre-fire rifle or revolver, with a flat additional fee for any associated ammunition surrendered at the same time. Phase two, beginning in early 2027, covers higher-value firearms — those with an indicative market value above AUD 3,000 — with compensation capped at AUD 10,000 per firearm.
On costs, the Commonwealth contributes 50 per cent of administration expenses and fully funds the destruction of surrendered firearms; the remaining administration costs are shared equally between the federal and New South Wales governments. The total projected cost of the buyback has not been disclosed.
The buyback sits within a broader package of firearms law reforms. Most licence holders will be limited to four firearms, rising to ten for farmers and sport shooters. Straight-pull and faster-reloading firearms are being reclassified to require stricter licences. Background checks are to be strengthened, and the validity period for a firearms licence will be cut from five years to two. The enforcement timeline for the reclassification measures has not yet been set out.
To ease the transition for the trade, eligible firearms dealers and businesses can apply for grants of up to AUD 25,000 and a one-off licence fee waiver of AUD 500 per dealer over two years.
NSW Premier Chris Minns stated: 'We want those firearms returned, compensated, and safely disposed of. This is a significant endeavour, but the underlying principle is straightforward: fewer dangerous firearms in our community equates to a safer New South Wales.'
Australia enacted sweeping national gun controls following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania. The Bondi Beach attack was the country's deadliest mass shooting in three decades and prompted a fresh wave of federal and state-level reform. Whether other states will follow New South Wales's lead, and on what timetable, has not yet been announced.
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