The Albanese Government and Minns Government have reached an agreement to deliver a NSW Gun Buyback Scheme to reduce the number of firearms and make communities safer.
New South Wales will be the first state to commence the Commonwealth Government’s National Gun Buyback Scheme, with both governments agreeing to share the costs of the buyback 50:50.
Following the deadly antisemitic terrorist attack at Bondi Beach on 14 December 2025, National Cabinet stood in solidarity and agreed to action to eradicate antisemitism and to strengthen gun laws across the nation.
In the days that followed, the NSW Government acted to significantly tighten the state’s gun laws, including introducing new limits on the number of firearms a person can own, reclassifying some types of firearms, introducing stronger background and eligibility checks, and reducing firearms licence periods from five years to two.
The NSW Gun Buyback is the next step in those reforms and will commence on 2 November 2026, administered by NSW Police. It will provide compensation to individuals for firearms above the new ownership limits and newly reclassified firearms, plus a flat fee for associated ammunition.
The scheme will also provide financial assistance for businesses and industry to adjust to the reforms.
In addition, the Commonwealth will contribute 50 per cent for administration costs and fully fund the destruction costs for surrendered firearms and administration.
Importantly, the scheme will be administered in in two phases:
Phase 1 of the NSW Buyback Scheme will include a fixed price schedule for individual licence holders, who are above the new legal limit for their licence, to return their firearms in exchange for fair compensation.
| Firearms Type | Firearms Sub-type | Compensation |
| Handgun | Revolver | $1,000 |
| Semi-auto | $850 | |
| Shotgun | Double barrel | $850 |
| Single barrel | $650 | |
| Rifle | Rimfire | $600 |
| Centrefire | $1,000 | |
| Air rifle | $450 |
It will also include an initial industry support package to help eligible local businesses and dealers adjust to the new laws, available from 2 November 2026.
This package will include:
- Up to $25,000 in grants available to eligible businesses and dealers
- one-off licence fee relief for eligible gun dealers in NSW, worth $500 over two years per dealer.
Phase 2 of the NSW Buyback Scheme, commencing in early 2027, will provide a pathway to compensation, for a fee, for eligible higher-value firearms with an indicative market value above $3,000, capped at $10,000 per firearm.
It will also involve further support for affected industry. More details on Phase 2 will be announced in due course.
The New South Wales Government estimates up to 274,000 registered firearms – approximately 24 per cent of the total number of registered firearms in New South Wales – and approximately 50,000 licence holders are affected by the new limits on gun ownership and reclassification of some types of firearms.
This Scheme is informed by the Interim Report of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion’s Recommendations to prioritise efforts to finalise and implement an updated and nationally consistent National Firearms Agreement (Recommendation 13) and the proposed Buyback Scheme (Recommendation 14).
These reforms build on the Commonwealth Government’s Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 and the New South Wales Government’s Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025, which together include the toughest firearm reforms in a generation.
More information is available at http://nsw.gov.au/gunbuyback.
Quotes attributable to the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:
“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.
“I thank the New South Wales Government for their collaboration as we work to take guns off our streets in order to better protect Australians.”
Quotes attributable to Premier Chris Minns:
“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.”
“The next step is getting the guns that are no longer permitted under those laws out of circulation and permanently off our streets.”
“There are potentially hundreds of thousands of firearms affected by these changes. We want those guns handed in, compensated for and safely destroyed.”
“This is a big undertaking, but the principle behind it is simple: fewer dangerous guns in our community means a safer New South Wales.”
Quotes attributable to Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke:
“After the tragedy at Bondi we committed to dealing with the motive and the method.
“Since then, we have strengthened our hate crimes and hate speech laws, which are now the strongest in our country’s history.
“Today we continue the proud Australian tradition of sensible gun reform designed to protect our community from weapons which have no utility other than to cause harm.”
Quotes attributable to Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley:
“Today, we’re announcing details of the biggest gun buyback in NSW in three decades.
“I want to thank the Commonwealth for its support in delivering and co-funding this reform.
“Community safety is our top priority which is why we’re reducing the number of firearms in the community, along with strengthening checks and increasing oversight.
“The NSW Police Force are overseeing a significant logistics exercise in public safety. We ask affected firearms licence holders to be patient. Everyone affected by the new laws in NSW will have the opportunity to participate in the Buyback Scheme.”