Owners who hand in a revolver in New South Wales from 2 November will be paid $1,000, under the compensation schedule published for the national gun buyback that the Commonwealth is funding in equal share with one state government.
The rest of the phase one schedule sets $1,000 for a centrefire rifle, $850 for a semi-automatic handgun, $850 for a double-barrelled shotgun, $650 for a single barrel, $600 for a rimfire rifle and $450 for an air rifle. A flat fee is paid for ammunition handed in with the gun. Payments are made to individual licence holders.
The firearms covered are the ones caught by the Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025. That is guns the Act prohibits outright, guns it reclassifies, and any firearm a licence holder owns above the new ownership caps, which are four or ten depending on the licence category.
A second phase opens in early 2027 for higher-value guns. Owners of firearms with an indicative market value above $3,000 can apply for compensation, for a fee, capped at $10,000 a firearm.
New South Wales is the only state in it. Queensland and Victoria have declined to take part and the Northern Territory has said it will not contribute funding. The Nationals have introduced a bill in the Senate to repeal the Commonwealth buyback legislation.
The phase one rates are fixed by category rather than by the gun. A licence holder surrendering a centrefire rifle is paid $1,000 whether the rifle cost that or several times it, and the route to a payment tied to market value does not open until the second phase, which charges a fee to use and stops at $10,000.
Licensed dealers are handled separately. Business grants of up to $25,000 and $500 in licence fee relief start alongside phase one.
The scheme follows the attack at Archer Park in Bondi Beach on 14 December 2025, in which 15 people were killed at a Hanukkah gathering. New South Wales changed its firearms law within days of it, setting ownership limits, reclassifying some weapons, adding background checks and cutting licence terms from five years to two.
Phase one opens on Monday 2 November. The scheme material published so far does not give a total cost, an estimate of how many firearms the government expects to receive, or a closing date for handing them in, and says further information will follow.
