Australian Firearm Law Reform After Bondi: What Was Being Considered

What was being proposed in December 2025

After the Bondi attack in December 2025, National Cabinet considered further firearm-law reform. In an SBS Arabic interview on 17 December, Farris Faris explained several proposals then under discussion, including restricting licence eligibility by citizenship, deeper background checks and more regular review after a licence had been granted.

The interview captured a policy process in motion, not a final statement of law. That distinction matters because public debate can move quickly after a serious incident, while legislation, intergovernmental agreements and administrative systems develop on different timelines.

The challenge is continuous risk assessment

A licensing system makes an initial decision about eligibility, but relevant circumstances may change. Effective oversight therefore depends on reliable information sharing, review mechanisms, secure storage requirements and the capacity to act when a lawful holder becomes ineligible or presents an unacceptable risk.

Reform must also be workable for lawful users in farming, sport and other recognised settings. That is not an argument against strong controls. It is a reason to define the controls clearly, administer them consistently and direct the greatest attention to demonstrable risk.

National consistency requires more than common words

Australia's firearm system is administered through Commonwealth, state and territory responsibilities. A national agreement can set a common direction, but its practical strength depends on implementation: compatible registers, timely intelligence, consistent categories and eligibility rules, enforcement resources and review.

Public confidence also requires accurate reporting about what a reform will do. A proposal to change one eligibility criterion should not be presented as a complete answer to trafficking, illegal possession, storage breaches or failures to act on risk information.

The position moved after the SBS interview

On 26 August 2026, National Cabinet announced that an updated National Firearms Agreement had been signed. Readers assessing the current position should use that later official statement and the legislation and guidance in their own jurisdiction, rather than treating the December 2025 proposals as the final outcome.

The lasting principle is that reform should be evidence-led and reviewed after implementation. The objective is not simply to announce stricter rules; it is to reduce preventable harm through a system that can identify risk, share information and apply safeguards in practice.