Australia’s 2025 Gun Reforms: The Buyback, Ownership Caps, and Legislation Explained

The events of 14 December 2025 at Bondi Beach have left an indelible mark on the national psyche. The tragedy, which claimed 15 lives during a Hanukkah celebration, has been identified as the deadliest mass shooting in Australia since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. In the wake of this terror attack, the political machinery in Canberra and New South Wales has moved with unprecedented speed to overhaul the nation’s firearm regulations.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has officially announced the implementation of a National Gun Buyback Scheme, describing it as the most significant disarmament measure since the Howard Government’s reforms three decades ago. For Australian residents, particularly the nation’s 260,000+ licensed firearm owners in NSW alone, the landscape of legal ownership is shifting dramatically.

This analysis breaks down the new legislation, the operational details of the buyback, and the critical questions surrounding national security that have driven these changes.

The 2025 National Gun Buyback Scheme

The centerpiece of the Federal Government's response is a nationwide effort to reduce the civilian arsenal, which has grown to over 4 million firearms—a figure 25% higher than pre-Port Arthur levels. The 2025 scheme is designed to purchase and destroy what the government classifies as "surplus, newly banned, and illegal firearms".

Unlike the 1996 buyback, which was funded largely through a one-off Medicare levy, the costs for the 2025 scheme will be shared on a 50:50 basis between the Federal Government and the states and territories. While the exact budget remains a point of contention, the mechanics of the operation have been clearly defined:

Collection: State and territory police forces will manage the surrender of weapons, the processing of indemnity, and payments to individuals.
Destruction: The Australian Federal Police (AFP) will be responsible for the physical destruction of surrendered firearms.

The rationale provided by the Albanese Government is direct. Citing the stockpile of six high-powered firearms held by Sajid Akram—one of the Bondi perpetrators—the Prime Minister stated there is "no reason someone living in the suburbs of Sydney" requires such an arsenal.

New NSW Gun Laws: The "Toughest in the Country"

While the buyback is a national initiative, the legislative tip of the spear is in New South Wales. Premier Chris Minns has introduced the Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, which includes firearm restrictions described as the "toughest in the country". For NSW licence holders, these changes represent a fundamental restructuring of the Firearms Act 1996.

Ownership Caps and Reclassification

The most distinct change is the introduction of a hard cap on ownership. Under the new legislation:

Standard Licence Holders: Individuals are capped at owning a maximum of four firearms.
Primary Producers: Farmers and pest controllers have a higher cap, allowing up to 10 firearms.
Exemptions: Specific exemptions apply for business owners and dealers, though scrutiny on these categories is expected to increase.

Furthermore, the government is moving to reclassify specific action types. Straight-pull, pump-action, and button/lever release firearms—technologies often used as faster-firing alternatives to semi-automatics—will be moved to Category C. This reclassification effectively restricts these firearms to primary producers, removing them from the hands of most sport shooters.

Licensing and Review Changes

The administrative burden on owners will also increase. Firearm licence terms are being reduced from five years to two years to increase the frequency of "fit and proper person" safety checks. Additionally, membership in a gun club will become mandatory for all licence holders, a move designed to ensure peer oversight and active participation.

Perhaps the most controversial legal shift is the removal of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) as an avenue for review. Previously, individuals whose licences were revoked by police could appeal to NCAT. The government argues that this pathway often overturned police decisions based on sensitive intelligence. By removing it, the Police Commissioner gains finality in revocation decisions involving security risks, a move civil libertarians and shooter advocacy groups argue removes a critical check on police power.

Changes in Western Australia and National Standards

The reforms in NSW are not occurring in isolation. They mirror the legislative framework recently adopted in Western Australia under the Firearms Act 2024, which had already implemented a five-gun limit (10 for farmers) and mandatory mental health checks.

Following a unanimous agreement in the National Cabinet, these state-level changes are set to become the national baseline. The agreement commits all jurisdictions to:

Limit the number of firearms an individual can hold.
Restrict the types of firearms available to civilians (specifically targeting "tactical" appearances and actions).
Mandate that firearm licences be restricted to Australian citizens (with exemptions for NZ permanent residents in specific industries).

This citizenship requirement is a direct response to the profile of Sajid Akram, an Indian national and permanent resident who legally obtained his licence in 2023.

The National Firearms Register (NFR)

A critical failure identified in the aftermath of the Bondi attack was the inability of police and intelligence agencies to view a real-time, national picture of firearm ownership. Despite being a recommendation of the 1996 Port Arthur inquiry, a centralized National Firearms Register (NFR) has never been fully operational. Currently, some jurisdictions, such as Queensland and the ACT, still rely on paper-based records for certain licensing functions.

The Federal Government has announced an acceleration of the NFR, injecting funds to digitize state registries. The system is designed to provide a "life-cycle view" of every firearm in the country—from import to destruction. While the government is pushing for speed, full operational capability is not expected until mid-2028, with data quality upgrades occurring between 2024 and 2027.

Context: The Bondi Beach Terror Attack

To understand the severity of these reforms, one must analyze the catalyst. On 14 December 2025, Sajid Akram (50) and his son Naveed Akram (24) launched an ISIS-inspired attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach. The perpetrators utilized a Beretta straight-pull rifle, shotguns, and improvised explosives.

The incident exposed a catastrophic disconnect between intelligence and licensing authorities. While the son, Naveed, was known to ASIO in 2019 for associations with extremist cells, he was deemed "not an immediate threat". Meanwhile, his father, Sajid, successfully applied for a firearm licence in 2023. The NFR and new information-sharing laws aim to bridge this gap, ensuring that criminal intelligence—not just criminal records—can block access to firearms.

Opposition and Industry Response

The speed and scope of the reforms have drawn sharp criticism from shooting organizations and the federal opposition. The Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA) and the Shooters Union argue that the buyback and caps punish law-abiding owners for failures in national security and policing. They contend that the mechanisms to stop the Akrams already existed but were not utilized effectively.

The Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia (SIFA) has projected that the buyback could cost the economy up to $15 billion if it includes compensation for business losses and accessories, a figure vastly higher than government estimates. Politically, the Nationals and One Nation have opposed the measures, arguing the focus should be on "ideology" and radicalization rather than the hardware used.

Preventing Hate: Beyond Gun Laws

The government acknowledges that gun reform alone cannot stop extremism. Operation Arques and the broader response include significant non-firearm legislation:

Hate Speech Laws: New offences criminalize the display of terrorist symbols (e.g., ISIS flags) with penalties of up to two years imprisonment.
Public Assembly: The NSW Police Commissioner now has the power to restrict protests for 14 days following a declared terrorist incident to prevent retaliatory violence or "bashing days".
Operation Avalite: A funding boost for the AFP taskforce dedicated to disrupting hate crimes and politically motivated violence.