The Albanese Government and Barr Government have reached an agreement to deliver a Gun Buyback Scheme in the ACT following a similar agreement with NSW.
Following the deadly antisemitic terrorist attack at Bondi Beach last year, National Cabinet stood in solidarity and agreed to action to eradicate antisemitism and to strengthen gun laws across the nation.
Greater consistency between jurisdictions is important to ensure firearms reforms designed to strengthen community safety and reduce the number of high-risk firearms are effective.
The Commonwealth Government will fund 75 per cent of the compensation and administration costs of the scheme and all firearm destruction costs for the ACT.
There are more than 7,000 firearms licence holders and about 23,000 firearms in the Territory.
Approximately 14 per cent of ACT licence holders may be affected by the proposed firearms cap. Further details will be announced in due course.
In February, the ACT Government introduced the Firearms (Public Safety) Amendment Bill 2026 (Public Safety Bill). The Bill seeks to limit the number of firearms a licensee may possess or use, re-categorise certain firearms, prohibit belt-fed firearms, and create an offence for possession of digital blueprints for the computer-aided manufacture of firearms and firearm parts.
These measures are intended to reduce the capacity for harm caused by the misuse or diversion of firearms to illicit markets and to prevent the proliferation of untraceable and illegal weapons that threaten the security of the ACT community.
The ACT Government has also introduced the Firearms (Firearm Prohibition Orders) Amendment Bill 2026.
This Bill seeks to introduce a firearm prohibition order scheme into the ACT to give police additional tools to ensure high-risk individuals do not gain access to firearms.
These Bills are still before the ACT Legislative Assembly and are anticipated to be debated during the spring sittings of the Territory Parliament.
Quotes Attributable to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:
“We’re taking action to strengthen Australia’s gun laws and keep our communities safe.
“National gun reform is an important part of making sure an antisemitic terrorist attack like we saw at Bondi can’t happen again.
“I thank the ACT Government for their collaboration as we work to take guns off our streets in order to better protect Australians.”
Quotes Attributable to ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr:
“This agreement strengthens community safety and supports effective firearms reforms across jurisdictions. Reducing the number of high-risk firearms in circulation is a sensible and practical measure to help keep Canberrans safer. Working with the Commonwealth and NSW ensures a more coordinated approach to firearms safety.
“The ACT has some of the strongest firearms laws in the country and this agreement supports our ongoing efforts to further reduce the risk of firearms falling into the wrong hands.
“We recognise that the overwhelming majority of firearm licence holders are responsible and law-abiding citizens. The buyback scheme will provide compensation while helping deliver further community safety outcomes.”
Quotes Attributable to Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke:
“After the horrific antisemitic attack at Bondi, our government committed to addressing the motive and the method of the attack.
“Since then we have brought forward the strongest laws against hate speech and hate crimes in the history of our country, and initiated the most significant round of gun reform since the wake of the Port Arthur massacre."
Quotes Attributable to ACT Minister For Police, Fire And Emergency Services Dr Marisa Paterson:
“We take our responsibility as a government to do everything we can to reduce the risk posed by firearms in the community and keep Canberrans safe. I want to recognise that the majority of firearms owners are responsible and law-abiding, and we acknowledge that the reform agenda is significant.
“We are here to work with the community as we progress through the changes. Once we have finalised the agreement we will provide clear information to the community about the process of the buyback, including eligibility, compensation and the process for surrendering the firearms.
“This will be a major undertaking for ACT Policing and the ACT Government will continue to work to support them as they progress. Work is also continuing to progress on the development of a fully digital ACT Firearms Registry, which will be integrated with the National Firearms Register and will provide frontline police with real-time access to firearms data.”
Quotes attributable to ACT Policing Chief Police Officer Scott Lee:
“ACT Policing supports an ACT gun buyback scheme and believe it is an important measure to reduce the number of firearms in circulation in the ACT.”
“We know that reducing firearms availability can reduce the risk that firearms will end up in the wrong hands and that legally owned firearms can be stolen and diverted into illicit markets, where they may become available to organised crime or individuals with extremist ideologies.”