New South Wales will become the first state to undertake Australia’s biggest gun buyback in 30 years in a jointly funded scheme in response to the Bondi beach terror attack.
Anthony Albanese and the Minns government said the buyback would begin in two phases from 2 November.
Under the first phase, $1,000 will be paid for revolvers and $850 for semi-automatic handguns.
Compensation of $850 will be paid for double-barrel shotguns and $650 for those with a single barrel.
Between $650 and $1,000 will be paid for rifles, while air rifles have a fixed compensation of $450.
“We must do everything we can to make sure the antisemitic terrorist attack in Bondi doesn’t happen again. That includes meaningful nationwide gun reform,” the prime minister said.
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailThe federal and NSW governments said phase 2 would begin in early 2027, and provide “a pathway to compensation” for “eligible higher-value firearms with an indicative market value above $3,000, capped at $10,000 per firearm”.
The federal government announced the buyback scheme in the wake of the deadly terrorist attack at Sydney’s Bondi beach on 14 December 2025, in which two gunmen shot dead 15 people.
NSW also tightened the state’s gun laws in response to the shooting. The laws restrict the number of guns an individual can own to four, with exceptions for farmers and professional shooters, who are restricted to 10.
The laws also reclassified some weapons – including banning firearms that allow multiple shots without reloading.
NSW police will administer the state’s buyback, which will compensate individuals for surrendering firearms that exceed the new ownership limits or which have been reclassified.
A government spokesperson said the commonwealth would contribute 50% for administration costs, and fully fund the destruction costs for surrendered firearms and administration.
Buyback to happen in phases
Phase 1 would also include an “initial industry support package” for businesses and dealers, including grants of up to $25,000 and one-off licence fee relief “worth $500 over two years per dealer”.
Phase 2 would also include further industry support with details to be announced at a later date, the government said.
“After Bondi, we promised the people of New South Wales we would introduce the toughest gun laws in the country, and that’s exactly what we did,” said the state’s premier, Chris Minns.
The NSW government estimates up to 274,000 registered firearms – approximately 24% of the total number of registered guns in the state – will be affected by the new limits.
“There are potentially hundreds of thousands of firearms affected by these changes. We want those guns handed in, compensated for and safely destroyed,” Minns said.
‘Legitimate concerns’
The state’s opposition leader, Kelly Sloane, said the government must still address “legitimate concerns” about the buyback urgently, before it comes into effect.
Sloane said the buyback had been promoted as a national scheme, but that other jurisdictions had refused to participate. She also questioned the cost.
“The fixed payments announced for most firearms do not reflect their individual market value,” Sloane said.
“While the Commonwealth and NSW have agreed to share the acquisition costs, the Government has not disclosed the scheme’s total anticipated cost or identified the [budget] allocation that will fund it.
“The government says it will provide a flat payment for associated ammunition but has failed to disclose the amount, eligibility criteria or whether affected accessories and other property rendered unusable by its laws will be compensated.”
The broader national plan has run into opposition from several states and faces a fresh challenge in federal parliament.
The Nationals have tabled a bill in the Senate to repeal Labor’s federal firearms crackdown and abolish the proposed national buyback.
Leader Matt Canavan called the reforms a “kneejerk and unnecessary piece of legislation that was never properly consulted on” as the rural party accused the government of unfairly targeting law-abiding gun owners.
Those concerns were echoed by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, who insisted the Bondi attack was the result of individual bad actors.
“It wasn’t the guns,” she told News24 on Sunday.
“It was the people behind the guns that are responsible for the Bondi massacre.”
The deal with NSW followed the Queensland and Victoria governments both rejecting the proposed buyback scheme. The Northern Territory said it won’t contribute any money for a buyback, while South Australia has not announced any progress since giving “in principle” support in January.
The ACT and Tasmania have agreed to the deal, but funding negotiations are ongoing.
Western Australia completed its own buybacks in January but has signalled willingness to participate in the federal scheme.
The move comes after the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion recommended that governments “prioritise efforts to finalise and implement an updated and nationally consistent national firearms agreement and the proposed buyback scheme”.
