By Monte Bovill, ABC News
A pile of guns handed in as part of the buyback initiated after the Port Arthur massacre in the 1990s. Photo: AFP
Australian police officers will soon be able to access near real-time information on firearms and who owns them after the federal government committed hundreds of millions of dollars to implement a national firearms register.
State and territory leaders gave the green light to set up the register at the national cabinet in December last year - the most substantial update to Australia's firearm management systems in almost 30 years.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has now announced next month's federal budget will include a spend of AUD$161.3 million (NZD$177m) over the next four years to establish the register.
"Once established, police will know where firearms are, who owns them, and what other risks to the community and police may exist," Dreyfus said, adding the government wanted Australia's firearms laws to "remain amongst the most effective in the world".
"The Australian government is committed to protecting the Australian community and ensuring Australia's firearms laws remain amongst the most effective in the world."
The money will also be used to support extensive reform of existing Commonwealth, state and territory firearms management systems, creating a central hub of information from each jurisdiction.
A national firearms register was first proposed in the wake of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, in which 35 people were killed.
The mass shooting prompted then-prime minister John Howard to fundamentally reform Australia's gun laws, including a large gun buyback. But a register did not proceed, and the idea lay dormant until the deaths of two police officers and a local member of the community in Queensland in 2022.
Constable Rachel McCrow, 29, and Constable Matthew Arnold, 26, were killed in a siege in Wieambilla, Queensland in 2022. Photo: Supplied/ Queensland Police
One of the perpetrators of the terrorist shooting in the town of Wieambilla had a suspended gun licence but was still able to legally purchase ammunition.
At the time, Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said the existing database was "chunky and cumbersome".
"When we're talking about firearms and firearms holders who cross state boundaries, information is not readily available from their home jurisdiction," he said.
"Most Australians believe police have this information at their fingertips and we simply don't."
Dreyfus said the events at Wieambilla were a catalyst for progressing the register.
"The national firearms register will allow law enforcement to assess firearms 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," he said.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission will administer the register and the federal government wants it fully operational within four years.
- ABC
