The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has reached an agreement to join a federal gun buyback scheme, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Saturday. The ACT, which includes the national capital of Canberra, is the second of Australia's eight states and territories to commit to the program. The initiative follows the December 14 shooting at a Jewish festival in Bondi Beach, Sydney, where 15 people were killed.
The agreement comes after a period of negotiation regarding the funding of the program. While the ACT government had initially expressed intent to join, officials said finalized details were dependent on settling financial arrangements. The federal government enacted legislation in January that introduced the buyback alongside stricter license checks and measures to address hate crimes following the Bondi Beach attack. Police stated the firearms used in that incident, which they attributed to suspects inspired by Islamic State, were legally obtained.
The ACT government reported there are currently 23,000 guns and more than 7,000 firearm license holders within the territory. ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr stated that the collaboration with the Commonwealth and New South Wales (NSW) would support a coordinated approach to firearm safety. While NSW has established a two-phase compensation schedule starting in November, the specific compensation rates and start date for the ACT have not yet been determined.
On a day-to-day level, firearm owners in the ACT and NSW will eventually notice changes to licensing procedures, as the federal government moves toward digital tracking to replace paper licenses. In NSW, the physical surrender of weapons will begin on November 2, with a second phase for higher-value items scheduled for early 2027. Residents in other states may see similar policy shifts as Prime Minister Albanese continues to advocate for all jurisdictions to adopt these uniform standards, citing concerns that current disparate state laws allow for untraceable firearms.
The program represents Australia's largest gun surrender initiative since the 1996 Port Arthur buyback, which followed a mass shooting that killed 35 people. This new effort aims to reduce the national total of 4.1 million firearms recorded last year. The success of the ACT and NSW rollout will likely set the precedent for how federal and state governments split the costs of such public safety measures. The next steps involve the finalization of the ACT's compensation schedule and the start of the NSW buyback this coming November.