Australian government pledges $161.3m for national firearms register

National cabinet agreed to the register in December 2023, in what Dreyfus called ‘the most significant improvement in Australia’s firearms management systems in almost 30 years.’ Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

The Australian government has pledged $161.3m to establish the national firearms register, a proposal almost four decades in the making.

On Saturday the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, will reveal the four-year funding commitment in the May budget to establish the register and reform existing firearms management systems.

National cabinet agreed to the register in December 2023, in what Dreyfus called “the most significant improvement in Australia’s firearms management systems in almost 30 years.”

In December 2022, the fatal shooting of two Queensland police officers and a neighbour in Wieambilla renewed calls for a national firearm register.

In a statement, Dreyfus acknowledged the “tragic events at Wieambilla … were a catalyst for progressing this outstanding reform from the 1996 Port Arthur massacre response”.

The register will allow law enforcement to assess risks by: providing frontline police officers with near real-time information on firearms, parts, and owners; and linking firearms information with other relevant police and government information, including from the national criminal intelligence system.

“Once established, police will know where firearms are, who owns them, and what other risks to the community and police may exist,” Dreyfus said.

“The Australian government is committed to protecting the Australian community and ensuring Australia’s firearms laws remain among the most effective in the world.”

In February, the alleged murder of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies renewed scrutiny on police handling of their own weapons.

New South Wales police allege that officer Beau Lamarre, who has been charged with murder, checked out a force-issued handgun from storage at the Miranda police station to work in a “user pays” capacity at a protest event.

In June 2023, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, praised John Howard’s “courage and determination” to legislate gun control in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre and said a national firearms register would be the “next step” for the reforms that began in 1996.