Australia to launch large gun buyback after Bondi Beach attack

Australia will begin a large-scale gun buyback programme in November as part of the national response to the Bondi Beach attack that killed 15 people on 14 December 2025, the federal government announced.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said the scheme will first roll out in New South Wales on 2 November. Owners who hand in rifles or pistols will be eligible for payments of up to AUD 1,000 (about USD 700) for each firearm surrendered.

What the government says and how it will work

The buyback is one element of measures passed by the centre-left Albanese government in January 2026 that also tightened licence checks and introduced additional steps to tackle hate-motivated crime after the mass shooting during a Hanukkah commemoration on Bondi Beach.

Authorities said powerful firearms used in the 14 December attack were legally purchased. Government figures show a record 4.1 million firearms in Australia last year, with more than 1.1 million registered in New South Wales alone.

Albanese commented on the scale of the challenge, saying: "Australians rightly take pride in our gun laws, but the fact is that today in Australia there are more guns than at the time of the Port Arthur buyback program."

The new buyback will be the largest such initiative since the campaign after the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania in 1996, when 35 people were killed and gun laws were significantly tightened. New South Wales has already introduced state-level restrictions after the Bondi attack, including a cap of four firearms per person.

Police allege the Bondi Beach attack was carried out by a father and son believed to have been inspired by the jihadist group Islamic State. The surviving suspect, 24-year-old Navid Akram, has not yet entered a plea and faces 15 charges of murder.

Photo: press material from the event