NSW's biggest gun buyback in three decades starts on 2 November and the price list is published

The Australian and New South Wales governments published the compensation schedule for a firearms buyback before it begins, which is unusual, and the schedule is more specific than the political argument around it. A media release issued by the prime minister's office on Sunday 16 August 2026 states that the buyback starts on 2 November 2026, with New South Wales the first jurisdiction to run it.

Phase 1 pays fixed amounts by category. Revolvers attract 1,000 dollars and semi automatic handguns 850 dollars. Double barrel shotguns attract 850 dollars and single barrel shotguns 650 dollars. Rifles are split by ammunition type: 600 dollars for rimfire and 1,000 dollars for centrefire. Air rifles are paid at a flat 450 dollars. Eligible businesses and dealers can apply for grants of up to 25,000 dollars and receive 500 dollars in licence fee relief over two years. Phase 2 begins in early 2027 and provides a compensation pathway for firearms valued above 3,000 dollars, capped at 10,000 dollars per firearm.

The scale in the release is about 274,000 registered firearms, described as 24 per cent of the New South Wales total, held by roughly 50,000 licence holders. Buyback costs are split 50:50 between the Commonwealth and the state, with the Commonwealth contributing 50 per cent of administration costs and fully funding destruction. ABC News, reporting the same announcement on 16 August, said the scheme could cost hundreds of millions of dollars and described it against a New South Wales stock of about 1.2 million guns. If 274,000 is 24 per cent of the total, the implied stock is about 1.14 million, which is consistent with the 1.2 million figure describing firearms rather than licence holders, though the ABC report is loosely worded on that point.

Anthony Albanese said in the release that "we must do everything we can to make sure the antisemitic terrorist attack in Bondi doesn't happen again". Premier Chris Minns said "fewer dangerous guns in our community means a safer New South Wales", and that after Bondi the government had promised the state the toughest gun laws in the country. Home affairs minister Tony Burke said "today we continue the proud Australian tradition of sensible gun reform designed to protect our community". New South Wales police minister Yasmin Catley said community safety was the government's top priority and called it the biggest gun buyback in the state in three decades. Minns told the ABC the cost was a price worth paying.

The scheme follows the Bondi Beach attack on 14 December 2025. Wikipedia's account records 16 people killed including the gunman Sajid Akram, and 40 injured. It identifies the weapons used as a Beretta BRX1 straight pull rifle and two Stoeger M3000 M3K 12 gauge straight pull shotguns, along with four homemade bombs, three pipe bombs and a tennis ball bomb, all of which failed to detonate. Akram held a firearms licence, was the registered owner of six guns and belonged to a shooting club. The published schedule classifies firearms by handgun, shotgun, rifle and air rifle, and by rimfire against centrefire, rather than by action type. Neither the release nor the ABC report states which specific categories become prohibited, so whether the buyback removes the exact class of weapon used at Bondi cannot be settled from the published schedule alone.

The buyback was agreed in principle almost immediately after the attack. ABC News reported on 15 December 2025 that national cabinet unanimously agreed to strengthen firearms law, with measures including accelerating a national firearms register, limiting the number of guns one person can own, further restricting legal weapon types, requiring Australian citizenship for a licence, and using additional criminal intelligence in licensing decisions. Albanese said at the time that "people can be radicalised over a period of time; licences should not be in perpetuity". New South Wales police commissioner Mal Lanyon said "there was little knowledge of either of these men by the authorities". Wikipedia records that parliament passed the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Act 2026 on 20 January 2026, and that the buyback was to be funded 50:50 between the federal government and the states and territories.

Opposition to the scheme is loud and, on the evidence available, not quantified. ABC News reported New South Wales opposition leader Kellie Sloane saying "you've got to be absolutely kidding yourself if you think that criminals are going to walk into a cop shop and hand over their guns". One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said the focus should be on radicals and people on the watchlist rather than law abiding Australians. The Shooters Union called it a slap in the face to licensed owners and small businesses in an already regulated sector. None of those objections were accompanied in the report by figures.

Other states have not signed up. ABC News reported that Victorian premier Ben Carroll would not commit to a similar scheme, saying he would rely on advice from the chief commissioner on what resources were needed, and that Western Australia, which has already bought back 83,000 firearms, is still negotiating with the Commonwealth over a national framework.

What is not yet known is the total bill, which no government has costed publicly beyond hundreds of millions, and the compliance rate, which determines whether 274,000 firearms is a target or a forecast. Nor has any jurisdiction published the list of models that will become prohibited, which is the document that would answer whether the guns used at Bondi are covered.