New South Wales will become the first Australian state to pay residents for handing in their firearms, with the scheme starting on November 2, 2026. The buyback follows the Bondi Beach attack that killed 15 people in December 2025.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese presented the start date and the details at a press conference on Sunday. DR reports that residents of New South Wales will be compensated with up to 1,000 Australian dollars per weapon, roughly 4,600 Danish kroner. Surrendered firearms will be registered and destroyed so they cannot return to circulation.
The scheme is one of several measures introduced after two gunmen killed 15 people at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14, 2025, during a Hanukkah celebration. According to DR, the federal government and the New South Wales state government will jointly fund the buyback.
The New South Wales government states that Phase 1 begins on November 2, 2026, with fixed payments by weapon type. Revolvers and centre-fire rifles attract 1,000 Australian dollars, semi-automatic handguns and double-barrel shotguns 850, and air rifles 450. A second phase starts in early 2027 for higher-value firearms, capped at 10,000 Australian dollars per weapon.
The Guardian describes it as Australia’s biggest gun buyback in about 30 years and reports that the Commonwealth will fully fund the destruction of surrendered weapons. ABC News reports official estimates that the scheme could eventually remove around 274,000 firearms and affect some 50,000 licence holders. Those figures are presented as projections.
Shortly after the attack, New South Wales restricted gun ownership to four weapons per licence holder, with an exception of ten for farmers and professional shooters, DR reports. Owners above the new limits, or holding reclassified weapons, can surrender them for compensation. The New South Wales government cites the Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025 as the legal basis.
A national scheme with limited reach
Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory have declined to join the national scheme, according to DR. SBS News notes that only New South Wales has formally signed on so far. Western Australia backs a national approach but has already run its own buyback.
The opposition party The Nationals has introduced a Senate bill to abolish the national buyback, and leader Matt Canavan has called the reforms rushed and unnecessary. New South Wales opposition leader Kellie Sloane told ABC that it is self-deception to expect potential terrorists to surrender weapons at a police station.
Albanese announced the buyback in December 2025, and the Australian Parliament passed enabling legislation in January 2026, per DR. At Sunday’s press conference he compared the plan to the 1996 program that followed the Port Arthur massacre, in which 35 people were killed. He said there are more firearms in Australia today than at that time.
