New laws to be brought to federal parliament on Wednesday will toughen penalties for firearms trafficking.
Under the laws, the maximum penalty for existing firearms trafficking offences will be doubled to 20 years in jail and/or a fine of 5000 penalty units.
There will also be a new aggravated offence for trafficking 50 or more firearms or firearm parts and mandatory minimum penalties of at least five years in jail for adult offenders.
Court will have the discretion to reduce this minimum penalty if the offender pleads guilty to the offence and/or co-operates with law enforcement agencies.
A national firearms amnesty has resulted in over 57,000 firearms being handed in across Australia.
But there are over 260,000 unregistered guns estimated to be in circulation in Australia.
"When they come into this country, we know that they remain in circulation for a very long period of time," Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said.
"That is why it is important that we have legislation in place that would prevent the importation of these weapons into Australia."
