Australian Government: Attorney-General's Department
Australian Government: Attorney-General's DepartmentAchieving a Just and Secure Society

Firearms regulation

CUSTOMS: Firearms Issues - Phone: 02 6275 5873 Weapons non-firearms Issues - Phone: 02 6275 6189

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF CRIMINOLOGY: Phone: 02 6260 9200

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE: Exports - Firearms Enquiries - Phone: 1800 661 066

The Australian Government Attorney-General's Department is responsible for developing Australian Government policy on firearms and pursuing national consistency among State and Territory approaches to firearms policy and the control of prohibited firearms.

The Department serves a number of functions in pursuit of this aim, including:

  • Processing applications for permission to import firearms, for consideration by the Minister for Home Affairs.
  • Secretariat and Australian Government representative on the Ministerial Council on Police and Emergency Management - Police (MCPEMP) and the Firearms Policy Working Group (FPWG).  The FPWG includes senior policy representatives from each State and Territory, with experts from the Australian Institute of Criminology, the Australian Crime Commission, the CrimTrac Agency, and observers from the Australian Customs Service and the Australian Federal Police.
    Note: Assistant Secretary, National Law Enforcement Policy Branch chairs this forum.
  • Presenting Australia’s firearms policies in relevant international forums, including United Nations discussions on controls on firearms, including: the UN Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, the UN Small Arms Programme of Action, and the United Nations Marking and Tracing Instrument.

Activities of focus for the Department currently include:

  • Development of a national approach to firearms safety training.
  • Development of a nationally consistent approach to the regulation for firearms manufacturers and film armourers.
  • Funding AIC theft research to identify characteristics of firearms theft that will help in reducing incidences of firearms theft.
  • Pursuing a national firearms registration system that will help to streamline firearms registration and licensing processes for firearms owners, and will assist in preventing diversion of firearms into the illicit market.