National firearms register to access criminal records and family violence orders, plus gun details

A $250m national firearms register will have access to criminal records and family violence orders alongside details of guns and firearm licence holders.

The shooting deaths of Constable Rachel McCrow and Constable Matthew Arnold sparked calls for a national gun register. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The national firearms register will have wide access to information such as family violence orders and criminal convictions, alongside details of every licensed gun-owner and registered gun in Australia, in the most far-reaching reform of firearms laws in a ­generation.

Finally agreed to by national cabinet this week, the $250m register will be developed and managed by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and draw in data from the eight state and territory firearm databases and four commonwealth agencies – the Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, the Department of Defence and the ­Attorney-General’s Department.

It will go far beyond what was envisaged when a nationwide ­information-sharing system for firearm registration was first agreed by Australia’s political leaders in 1996 in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre of 35 people in Tasmania.

A fresh push for a national register was triggered by the attack at Wieam­billa, in southern Queensland, nearly a year ago, in which three Christian extremists shot dead two police officers and a neighbour.

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A $250m national firearms register will have access to criminal records and family violence orders alongside details of guns and firearm licence holders.

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The Australian understands that as well as bringing together details of all 897,204 of Australia’s licensed gun owners, and almost four million registered civilian firearms, the register will interact directly with ACIC’s National Criminal Intelligence System, which holds criminal intelligence, including details of those who hold extremist views.

A real-time national gun database would allow police across Australia to do a single, instant search to determine if someone has a firearm licence, what registered guns they owned, whether they were subject to family violence or other prohibition orders, their criminal history, and intelligence about any extremist beliefs.

As well, premiers and first ministers have agreed to change the law in their individual jurisdictions to ensure weapons and weapon parts have the same definitions nationwide, and will legislate to require gun dealers to use a new national verification system to check the validity of ­licences before selling a gun.

The firearm dealers’ data, including identifying information on firearms, suppressors and firearm parts known as frames or receivers will also be integrated into the database.

Each state and territory will also “cleanse’’ the data it holds, to remove errors, ensure consistency, and identify and remove information where gun entries have been duplicated because each jurisdiction records them differently.

This week’s breakthrough deal came after the Albanese government agreed to provide substantial funding to the states and territories to upgrade their mostly ageing and paper-reliant registries and make them compatible with a national database.

Authorities hope the changes will remove flaws in the existing system that let Wieambilla police-killer Nathaniel Train continue to buy ammunition on a suspended Queensland gun licence because no one had been able to find him to take his physical licence.

Gareth and Stacey Train recorded and uploaded a video to YouTube hours after they ambushed and killed two police who visited their property at Wieambilla. Photograph: YouTube

He, his brother Gareth and ­sister-in-law (and former wife) Stacey were killed by specialist police after they shot dead constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, and neighbour Alan Dare, at the southern Queensland property, in the country’s first extremist Christian terror attack.

The changes should also prevent future incidents such as that involving John Edwards, who was able to obtain a handgun despite a history of domestic violence, which he then used to murder his teenage children in Sydney in 2018.

Anthony Albanese and Walter Mikac. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Anthony Albanese on Wednesday night wrote to one of the most determined advocates for a national gun register, Walter Mikac, whose wife, Nanette, and daughters Alannah, 6, and Madeline, 3, were shot dead at Port Arthur. “This landmark agreement is a huge step forward for gun reform, for law enforcement and for the safety of all Australians,’’ he told Mr Mikac.

“I am writing to you because such a large part of this achievement belongs to you and to the Alannah and Madeline Foundation.

“As Prime Minister and patron of the … foundation, I thank you for the inspiration you have provided and the powerful personal advocacy you have given to this cause over nearly three decades.

“You are a great Australian and out nation owes you a profound debt.’’

Work to build the register and start accessing information from across the jurisdictions will begin mid-2024. It is expected to be ­operational by mid-2028.