Australia is launching a major gun buyback program following a devastating shooting attack at a Jewish religious festival on Sydney’s Bondi Beach. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said the program will begin in New South Wales on November 2.
Fifteen people were killed in a shooting at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025. Following the attack, the government moved to further tighten firearms laws nationwide.
Under the new program, members of the public will be able to surrender their rifles and handguns to the government, with compensation of up to 1,000 Australian dollars offered per weapon returned.
According to Australian government data, the country had a record 4.1 million firearms last year, more than 1.1 million of them in New South Wales, the country’s most populous state.
Prime Minister Albanese said Australians have good reason to take pride in the country’s strict gun laws. But the reality, he said, is that there are now more firearms in the country than there were at the time of the buyback program launched after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
A major gun buyback program was launched in Australia after a shooting killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1996. The new initiative is being viewed as the country’s largest gun buyback program since then.
Following the Bondi Beach attack, New South Wales imposed a limit of four firearms per person, alongside stricter vetting for firearms licensing and tougher measures against hate-motivated activity.
The Australian government hopes the new gun buyback program will reduce the number of illegal or unnecessary firearms in circulation and help manage the risk of future mass shootings.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report