By National Firearms Register: Industry Update
In 2023, the Federal Government announced it would work with states and territories to create a National Firearms Register (NFR). The stated purpose of the NFR is to allow data sharing and firearms tracing between jurisdictions. The project is expected to cost Australian taxpayers more than $230 million, with the Government aiming to have it operational by mid-2028.
Despite the Government’s intentions, the proposed register raises a number of serious issues for the shooting industry. SIFA has consistently opposed the NFR due to a range of concerns, including the following:
A version of it already exists: The Australian Firearms Information Network (AFIN), as explained by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC): “AFIN provides intelligence and information on a national level about each firearm in Australia known to police and law enforcement agencies, enhancing the current intelligence available.”
AFIN should have been properly resourced and updated rather than a completely new and expensive system created.
Little evidence of improving public safety: There is little to no evidence that the NFR enhances public safety over existing state and territory registries and the Australian Firearms Information Network. Any firearm registry, national or otherwise, only tracks the movements of legal firearms, it does not provide any intelligence on illegal and unregistered firearms, which are responsible for the vast majority of criminal misuse.
Data Security and Privacy Concerns: The NFR poses serious data security and privacy risks. In 2022, in Western Australia, then Police Minister, Paul Papalia released firearm data to the media that could be reverse-engineered to reveal owners’ addresses. This serious breach highlights the dangers of centralising sensitive information. Combined with past unauthorised access to police databases, this demonstrates that without strict safeguards, audits and accountability, the NFR could expose law abiding firearm owners and the general public to safety and privacy risks.
Implementation is Causing Significant Delays
Federal Funding Agreements require jurisdictions to meet certain milestones to unlock millions in federal NFR funding. As a result, staff are being reassigned from their usual roles, disrupting day-to-day operations of state and territory registries. In some cases, the additional workload is causing significant delays in processing permits and licence renewals, which is severely impacting firearm owners and businesses.
The aim of the Federal Government is to have the NFR operational by mid-2028 but based on current state and territory progress, this seems increasingly unlikely. The Australian recently reported that Queensland has not even begun the tender process to digitise their registry, South Australia are months behind in processing permits to acquire and licences applications and the Northern Territory is requiring firearms licence holders to take five photos of their firearms and submit them to the NT firearms registry as part of the NFR data cleansing. In addition to the NT clearly having concerns about the accuracy of their registry, they have also published inconsistent registered firearm numbers compared to figures SIFA obtained under FOI. These examples highlight the challenges that cast serious doubt on the NFR meeting its proposed timeline.
SIFA’s Ongoing Role
While SIFA has made its concerns and opposition to the project clear, the reality is that the NFR will proceed. With bipartisan support at both federal and state levels, and a high likelihood that Labor will remain in government for successive terms, there is little chance this large and costly project will be shelved.
SIFA is taking a pragmatic and proactive approach. We are working across all jurisdictions to make sure the NFR is fit for purpose, does not suffer from scope creep, and that the concerns of the shooting industry are heard clearly. Our goal is to ensure the NFR does not unfairly impact firearms businesses or end users.
As the voice of the Australian shooting industry, SIFA remains committed to holding governments accountable and ensuring that any firearms reform is fair, effective and evidence-based.
