Australian capital joins gun buyback scheme

Canberra, Aug 22 (IANS) Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday that the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) will join a gun buyback scheme in response to December’s fatal mass shooting at Bondi Beach.

Albanese said in a statement that the ACT has agreed to introduce a gun buyback scheme as part of a push to strengthen Australia’s firearm laws.

The federal government introduced laws for the gun buyback in January after 15 people were killed at a Jewish festival at the iconic Sydney beach on December 14, 2025, in Australia’s deadliest mass shooting since 1996.

The ACT government initially committed to join the scheme, but had remained in negotiations with the federal government over how it would be funded.

Under the final agreement, the federal government will fund 75 per cent of buyback and administrative costs and 100 per cent of firearm destruction costs, reports Xinhua news agency.

“National gun reform is an important part of making sure an antisemitic terrorist attack, as we saw at Bondi, can’t happen again,” Albanese said.

“I thank the ACT government for their collaboration as we work to take guns off our streets in order to better protect Australians.”

It makes the ACT the second of Australia’s eight states and territories to join the buyback after the east coast state of New South Wales (NSW) did so earlier in August.

Albanese said that there are currently around 23,000 firearms in the ACT and more than 7,000 people with firearms licenses.

The NSW government said it will pay up to 1,000 Australian dollars (717 US dollars) for guns that are handed in during the first phase of its buyback, which begins on Nov. 2, and up to 10,000 Australian dollars (7,170 US dollars) for higher-value firearms handed in during phase two from early 2027.

–IANS

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