Anthony Albanese has unveiled a gun buyback program for New South Wales, set to begin in November, as part of Australia’s response to a shooting at Bondi Beach that left 15 people dead.
New South Wales will launch the buyback on November 2, offering gun owners up to 1,000 Australian dollars (around $700) for every handgun or rifle handed in. The program is paired with stricter vetting for gun licences and a renewed effort to combat hate, according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who announced the measures on Sunday.
The policy shift follows the December 14, 2025, shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, which killed 15 people. Authorities say the two alleged gunmen used powerful firearms that had been legally obtained.
Government figures show Australians collectively owned a record 4.1 million firearms last year, with more than 1.1 million of those held in New South Wales, the nation’s most populous state.
Speaking on television, Albanese acknowledged the country’s strong gun laws while highlighting the growing number of weapons in circulation. ‘Australians are quite rightly proud of our gun laws, but the fact is there are more guns in Australia today than there were at the time of dealing with the Port Arthur gun buyback,’ he said.
The reference points to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, when a lone gunman killed 35 people, a tragedy that led to sweeping restrictions on automatic and semi-automatic firearms. Since the Bondi Beach attack, New South Wales has already passed its own laws limiting gun ownership to four guns per person.
Police say the Bondi attack was carried out by a father and son duo inspired by ISIL (ISIS). The surviving suspect, Naveed Akram, 24, has yet to enter pleas to several charges, including 15 counts of murder.
The buyback and accompanying measures are set to take effect as part of a broader effort to curb gun violence, building on the legacy of past reforms while confronting the reality of rising firearm numbers.
