Federal government commits $161m for Australia-wide gun register

• Albanese government set to establish National Firearms Register
• Register was first proposed after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996
• READ MORE: Australia is rocked by another alleged shopping centre stabbing as police swoop to arrest teenagers 

The Albanese government is set to establish a National Firearms Register – a new countrywide database designed to bolster community safety – following the tragic Wieambilla shootings in 2022.

In the federal budget, scheduled for May 14, $161.3million will be invested over four years to establish the register, with state and territory firearms management systems upgraded to be compliant with the new Commonwealth database.

The commitment follows an agreement by national cabinet in December, though the funding arrangements had become a sticking point for the reform to progress.

It is understood that South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT could each require as much as $30million to connect to a new federal database.

The tragedy at Wieambilla, Queensland in December 2022 was the catalyst to making the reform, after it was originally recommended following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre response.

Constables Rachel McCrow (right) and Matthew Arnold (left) were shot and killed by three Christian extremists, Gareth, Nathaniel and Stacey Train, at their remote property

The Albanese government is set to establish a National Firearms Register – a new countrywide database designed to bolster community safety. It was originally recommended following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre (pictured)

On April 28, 1996 Martin Bryant killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania, and another 23 people were injured.

At the time, it was considered one of the world’s worst massacre.

Byrant is serving 35 life sentences and more than a thousand additional years’ jail without parole.

Constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold, and neighbour Alan Dawe were shot and killed by three Christian extremists, Gareth, Nathaniel and Stacey Train, at their remote property in Wieambilla, 300km to Brisbane’s west.

One of the perpetrators was a licensed firearms holder.

The tragedy at Wieambilla in December 2022 was the catalyst to making the reform (stock)

The register will allow law enforcement to assess firearms risks by providing frontline police officers across the country with near real-time information on firearms, parts and owners.

Firearms information will also be linked to other relevant police and government information, including data 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,’ a statement released by Attorney-General Mark 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.’

Erica Hay, 30, was discovered in a rear bedroom of a home in Currie Street, Warnbro, in Perth’s southern suburbs at about 1am on Friday morning (pictured)

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