{"id":40445,"date":"2026-08-18T20:03:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T10:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=40445"},"modified":"2026-08-18T20:03:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T10:03:15","slug":"nsw-first-to-get-national-gun-buyback-underway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/08\/18\/nsw-first-to-get-national-gun-buyback-underway\/","title":{"rendered":"NSW first to get national gun buyback underway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New South Wales will be the first state to commence the Commonwealth Government\u2019s National Gun Buyback Scheme, with both governments agreeing to share the costs of the buyback 50:50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the days that followed, the NSW Government acted to significantly tighten the state\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The scheme will also provide financial assistance for businesses and industry to adjust to the reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, the Commonwealth will contribute 50 per cent for administration costs and fully fund the destruction costs for surrendered firearms and administration.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Importantly, the scheme will be administered in in two phases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Phase 1<\/strong>&nbsp;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.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Firearms Type<\/strong>\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><td><strong>Firearms Sub-type<\/strong>\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><td><strong>Compensation<\/strong>\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td rowspan=\"2\">Handgun\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><td>Revolver\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><td>$1,000\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Semi-auto\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><td>$850\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td rowspan=\"2\">Shotgun\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><td>Double barrel\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><td>$850\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Single barrel\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><td>$650\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td rowspan=\"3\">Rifle\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><td>Rimfire\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><td>$600\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Centrefire\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><td>$1,000\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Air rifle\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><td>$450\u202f&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<br>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This package will include:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Up to $25,000 in grants\u00a0 available to eligible businesses and dealers\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>one-off licence fee relief for eligible gun dealers in NSW, worth $500 over two years per dealer.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<br><strong>Phase 2<\/strong>&nbsp;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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It will also involve further support for affected industry. More details on Phase 2 will be announced in due course.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The New South Wales Government estimates up to 274,000 registered firearms \u2013 approximately 24 per cent of the total number of registered firearms in New South Wales \u2013 and approximately 50,000 licence holders are affected by the new limits on gun ownership and reclassification of some types of firearms.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This Scheme is informed by the Interim Report of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion\u2019s 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).\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These reforms build on the Commonwealth Government\u2019s Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 and the New South Wales Government\u2019s Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025, which together include the toughest firearm reforms in a generation.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More information is available at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/us.list-manage.com\/iYEDYwEtWgt?e=9a5dbb24d7&amp;c2id=5caebe61d8077525d3c319d2c03d0f72\">http:\/\/nsw.gov.au\/gunbuyback<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe must do everything we can to make sure the antisemitic terrorist attack in Bondi doesn\u2019t happen again. That includes meaningful nationwide gun reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI thank the New South Wales Government for their collaboration as we work to take guns off our streets in order to better protect Australians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Premier Chris Minns:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAfter Bondi, we promised the people of New South Wales we would introduce the toughest gun laws in the country, and that\u2019s exactly what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe next step is getting the guns that are no longer permitted under those laws out of circulation and permanently off our streets.\u201d<br>\u201cThere are potentially hundreds of thousands of firearms affected by these changes. We want those guns handed in, compensated for and safely destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is a big undertaking, but the principle behind it is simple: fewer dangerous guns in our community means a safer New South Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAfter the tragedy at Bondi we committed to dealing with the motive and the method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSince then, we have strengthened our hate crimes and hate speech laws, which are now the strongest in our country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cToday 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cToday, we\u2019re announcing details of the biggest gun buyback in NSW in three decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI want to thank the Commonwealth for its support in delivering and co-funding this reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCommunity safety is our top priority which is why we\u2019re reducing the number of firearms in the community, along with strengthening checks and increasing oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019s National Gun Buyback Scheme, with both governments agreeing to share the costs of the buyback &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/08\/18\/nsw-first-to-get-national-gun-buyback-underway\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;NSW first to get national gun buyback underway&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40445"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40446,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40445\/revisions\/40446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}