Now lawCrime & Courts Introduced in the House of Representatives, 20 Jan 2026

National gun buyback and checks on gun owners are now law

Parliament passed this law after the Bondi Beach attack. It touches gun owners, gun importers and sports shooters. It also touches anyone who brings goods into Australia.

Official name: Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Gun owners with a licence: They may be paid to hand in some guns. Spy and crime agencies can check them when their licence is given, renewed or looked at again.
• Gun importers and dealers: Open-ended import permits end. Each import now needs its own permission, and more guns and parts need permits.
• Gel blaster and airsoft users: These toy guns now count as real guns at the border, with serial numbers and safety tests.
• People bringing in goods: Border officers can take goods that carry violent extremist material or banned hate symbols.
• People online: Sharing or keeping 3D gun files or bomb-making guides by phone or internet becomes a crime.
• States and territories: They run the buyback and share the cost with the federal government.

Bondi attack killed fifteen people

On 14 December 2025, terrorists attacked a Hanukkah party at Bondi Beach. Hanukkah is a Jewish festival. Fifteen people were killed.

The next day, the National Cabinet met. That is the Prime Minister and the state and territory leaders. They agreed to make gun laws stronger across the country.

On 19 December, the government said there would be a national gun buyback. In a buyback, the government pays people to hand in guns.

Parliament was called back early to pass new laws. The government split its plan into two bills. One covers hate crimes and visas. This one covers guns, the border and extremist material.

The Attorney-General's Department runs the federal justice system. It says Australia now has more than four million registered guns. That is likely more than at the time of the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. That mass shooting in Tasmania led to Australia's big gun law changes.

Extremist material stopped at border

Australia already bans some offensive goods from coming in or going out. These include material that pushes crime, violence or terrorism. But the rules did not clearly cover violent extremist material or banned hate symbols.

This law adds them. Goods that show banned symbols, such as Nazi symbols, can now be stopped at the border. So can violent extremist material.

The Australian Border Force guards the border. It can take these goods. It can also act against the person bringing them in or sending them out.

Some uses are let off. These are religious, school, uni, art, writing and science uses. News reports and police work are let off too.

Say a museum brings in a wartime poster with a swastika for a display. That can still be allowed.

The national gun buyback

The law sets up a national plan to buy back spare guns and guns that are now more limited. It copies the 1996 buyback after Port Arthur.

Each state and territory runs its own payment plan. One federal minister must approve each one. That is the minister in charge of the Australian Federal Police, the national police force.

The federal government then pays back part of what the state paid owners.

The usual buyback time runs from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027. A state can ask for a different time.

Money owners get from the buyback does not count as income for tax. Say a farmer hands in three rifles and gets $3,000. They pay no tax on that money.

Intelligence checks for licences

States and territories give out gun licences. Until now, they could not easily use federal spy and crime facts when they chose who gets one.

AusCheck is the federal background check service. This law lets it run gun background checks.

These checks can use facts from the domestic spy agency, which watches for threats to the country. Its full name is the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

They can also use facts from the crime intelligence agency, which tracks serious and organised crime. Its full name is the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

Checks can happen when a licence is first given or renewed. They can also happen any time a security or police agency asks, for example if new facts turn up. A citizenship check can be done in some cases.

Some people get a bad report from these checks for a gun licence. They will not be told about it the way they would be in other cases.

They also cannot ask the Administrative Review Tribunal to look at it again. A tribunal is like a court but less formal. They can still go to a court. They can still fight the final licence choice in their state.

The government says a gun licence is a privilege, not a right. It says keeping secret spy facts safe matters here.

More information for spy agencies

The crime intelligence agency checks people and writes reports on them. This law rewrites how it does that.

The agency can now write a new report on its own, at any time. It can do this when new facts come up about a person it has checked before.

Computers can make some simple reports by themselves, when a search finds nothing. The spy agency can also use computer programs for some steps, if the minister allows it.

Both agencies can now use some old crimes on a person's record. These include crimes that are spent, pardoned or wiped by a court. A pardoned crime is one the government has forgiven.

A spent crime is an old one the law usually lets you keep quiet about after time passes. This federal rule beats any state laws that say otherwise.

Say a court overturned someone's terrorism crime because the court made a mistake. There was no new proof the person was innocent. Agencies can still think about that history when they look at a gun licence.

The crime intelligence agency can also use more sources. These include phone records, phone calls that were tapped and things taken under a court's permission.

Import data shared with register

The Department of Home Affairs runs borders and visas. It and the border force collect facts when guns and gun parts come into or leave Australia.

This law lets them pass those facts straight to the crime intelligence agency. That agency runs the National Firearms Register. The register is a national record of guns that is being built. The agency also runs a national system of crime facts.

The facts can include details of the import, any licences or permits, and the people involved.

Public safety test for imports

Some guns are legal to own in Australia. But they may not be right for use in the community.

The law gives the minister a new power. The minister can refuse to let a gun or weapon in if it is a risk to the health, safety or security of the public. This includes risks to emergency service workers.

Tighter rules on importing guns

The law tightens import rules on some guns and gear that the government sees as higher risk.

Some guns can fire very quickly. These are straight pull guns and guns with assisted repeating action. They now face the same import rules as semi-automatic guns. Those fire a new shot each time you pull the trigger.

Guns that feed bullets on a belt now face the same rules as fully automatic guns. Those keep firing while you hold the trigger.

Gun clips that hold more than 30 bullets need permission to bring in. So do speed loaders, which help reload faster.

The main body of a gun is called the frame or receiver. These parts, and silencers, need serial numbers. They are checked at the border.

Gel blasters and airsoft guns are toy guns that fire gel balls or plastic pellets. They now count as real guns when they come in. They need serial numbers and safety tests like any other gun.

Some importers must now show they are Australian citizens. Handguns come under federal import rules through a new handgun test.

No more open-ended permits

Some importers used one police letter that let them bring in guns over a set time.

This law ends those open-ended permits. Importers now need permission for each import. They do not need a separate OK for every item in one shipment.

Crimes for 3D gun files

The law creates new federal crimes about some kinds of material. It is material that shows how to make or change a gun, gun part, gun clip, bomb or other deadly device.

Using a phone or internet service to open, share or pass on this material is a crime. Keeping or controlling this material that way is also a crime.

This covers files for printing guns on a 3D printer. Sending a link to the material counts the same as sending the material. The top penalty for each crime is 5 years in jail.

Guides on using, cleaning and caring for a legal gun safely are not covered. A video on fitting a scope is fine. There are also defences for proper uses. A defence is a reason the law accepts.

Transitional rules and fixes

Ministers can make short-term rules to help move from the old system to the new one.

The law also makes small fixes to customs law, the law on goods crossing the border. The fixes are about forms and the minister's powers. It updates many other laws to match the changes.

Start date

The bill was brought to the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament, on 20 January 2026. Both houses of Parliament passed it that same day.

It is now listed as an Act, which means it is law. The buyback time began on 1 January 2026 by default. It runs to the end of 2027.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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