Overview
- A deal announced Friday between the ACT and the federal government commits Canberra to join the national buyback and sets the federal funding split at 75% for compensation and administration and 100% for destruction costs.
- The ACT has more than 7,000 licence holders and about 23,000 registered firearms, and officials estimate roughly 14% of licence holders would be affected by the proposed ownership cap in the territory's bill.
- The Firearms (Public Safety) Amendment Bill 2026, which is before the ACT Legislative Assembly, would cap most owners at five guns with some exemptions to 10 and would ban belt‑fed weapons, criminalise possession of digital gun blueprints, and create firearm prohibition orders.
- Key operational details for the ACT buyback remain unresolved, including per‑firearm compensation rates, an exact start date, and final surrender procedures, with NSW's recently published payment bands being used as a reference point.
- Only NSW and the ACT have signed on so far while several jurisdictions have declined or are running separate programs, a split that could produce an uneven national rollout and raise coordination and legal challenges for law enforcement and owners.