Australia’s national firearms register is set to be up and running in 2028, allowing law enforcement to access information about guns owned in all states and territories.
Some $160 million in funding, announced ahead of the May federal budget, will be spread across four years.
The money will be used to establish the register as well as support reforms to firearm management systems.
The prime minister and state and territory leaders agreed following a national cabinet meeting in December 2023 to implement a register to bolster community and police safety.
The establishment of a national firearms register was recommended in the wake of the 1996 .
The push was reinvigorated by the 2022 Wieambilla police shootings when and neighbour Alan Dare were shot and killed at a rural property.
It’s hoped the register will help reduce the risk of gun violence by providing police with near real-time information on firearms and owners, linking data across law enforcement and government authorities.
“It will help keep all Australians, especially police officers, safe from gun violence,” Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus told reporters in Brisbane on Saturday.
“It is going to improve the level of near real-time information so that when officers are standing at the top of the driveway wondering what they are going to face when they go down that driveway to a house that they don’t know, they are going to be much better informed in the future.”
Dreyfus described the register as the most significant advancement in Australia’s gun safety regime since the 1996 National Firearms Agreement, which was introduced after the Port Arthur massacre.
Almost $100 million will be spent on upgrades to systems operated by states, $30 million will be spent on building the national register, and a similar amount put aside for upgrades.
Dreyfus acknowledged it would not pick up illegally owned guns and that it was a “lot of money” but said it would help states with paper-based systems move to digital data collection.
Tyler Mitchell