Firearms Regulation
Firearms Regulation in Australia
In Australia, access to firearms is limited to persons with a genuine need. This includes government and police, sporting shooters with valid membership of an approved club, recreational shooters or hunters that produce proof of permission from a landowner, primary producers, pest controllers and bona fide collectors. All governments have agreed that self-protection is not a genuine need.
The key elements of Australia’s regulatory controls on firearms are:
- prohibitions on fully and semi automatic long arms, with their use restricted primarily to military, police or government purposes;
- prohibitions on sporting shooters possessing, owning, using, purchasing or importing high powered, concealable handguns;
- mandatory registration of all firearms on State and Territory firearms registry systems;
- mandatory licensing of all firearm owners; and
- strict licensing requirements, including age limitations, undertaking firearms safety training, and compliance with firearm storage standards.
The Commonwealth government regulates the import and export of firearms. State and Territory governments regulate ownership, possession and sale of firearms.
The Attorney-General’s Department and Firearms
The Australian Government Attorney-General's Department is responsible for developing Australian Government policy on firearms and pursuing national consistency among State and Territory approaches to firearms policy and the control of prohibited firearms.
The Department serves a number of functions in pursuit of this aim, including:
- Providing advice to the Australian Government on national firearms issues and working with State and Territory agencies to deliver better outcomes in the national management of firearms.
- Secretariat and Australian Government representative on the multijurisdictional Firearms Policy Working Group (FPWG) which reports to the Ministerial Council on Police and Emergency Management - Police . The FPWG includes senior representatives from each State and Territory and officers from the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), the Australian Crime Commission, the Defence Export Control Office and CrimTrac.
- Contributing to the presentation of Australia’s firearms policies in relevant international forums and initiatives, including: the UN Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, the UN Small Arms Programme of Action, and the United Nations Marking and Tracing Instrument.
The importation of firearms is managed jointly by the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. Commonwealth authorisation, through the Attorney-General’s Department, is required for the importation of high-powered firearms, such as semi-automatic or fully automatic firearms. Authorisation from State and Territory police is sufficient for the importation of low-powered firearms such as manual long arms and small calibre handguns. More information about requirements for importing firearms can be found on the Firearms Import Tests page.
The exportation of all firearms is managed jointly by the Defence Export Control Office and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. Authorisation is required for the export of all firearms.
More information about export controls for firearms can be found through the Defence Export Control Office (Department of Defence website)
