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’s National Gun Buyback Scheme, with both governments agreeing to share the costs of the buyback 50:50.
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.
In the days that followed, the NSW Government acted to significantly tighten the state’s 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.
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.
The scheme will also provide financial assistance for businesses and industry to adjust to the reforms.
In addition, the Commonwealth will contribute 50 per cent for administration costs and fully fund the destruction costs for surrendered firearms and administration.
Importantly, the scheme will be administered in in two phases:
Phase 1 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.
| Firearms Type | Firearms Sub-type | Compensation |
| Handgun | Revolver | $1,000 |
| Semi-auto | $850 | |
| Shotgun | Double barrel | $850 |
| Single barrel | $650 | |
| Rifle | Rimfire | $600 |
| Centrefire | $1,000 | |
| Air rifle | $450 |
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.
This package will include:
- Up to $25,000 in grants available to eligible businesses and dealers
- one-off licence fee relief for eligible gun dealers in NSW, worth $500 over two years per dealer.
Phase 2 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.
It will also involve further support for affected industry. More details on Phase 2 will be announced in due course.
The New South Wales Government estimates up to 274,000 registered firearms – approximately 24 per cent of the total number of registered firearms in New South Wales – and approximately 50,000 licence holders are affected by the new limits on gun ownership and reclassification of some types of firearms.
This Scheme is informed by the Interim Report of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion’s 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).
These reforms build on the Commonwealth Government’s Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 and the New South Wales Government’s Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025, which together include the toughest firearm reforms in a generation.
