The stats

Port Arthur

Port Arthur

On a quiet Sunday in April, 1996, a single gunman armed with military-style semi-automatic weapons shot dead 35 people, including children, and wounded 18 others at Tasmania’s historic Port Arthur. The incident sent shockwaves throughout Australia. The impact on families, responders and the broader community was profound, and it continues to resonate today.

Including the Port Arthur tragedy, there were 13 mass shootings over an 18-year period in Australia. Combined, these shootings killed 104 people and wounded 52 others. Many other lives were scarred forever.  The country was in shock, but we were also angry that this violence had been allowed to occur. Families and communities did not feel safe, and they called for immediate change across the country.

United by this cause, politicians and police ministers acted quickly. They provided bi-partisan leadership and support to implement substantial reforms to Australia’s gun laws.

Gun reforms

Within 12 days of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australia’s police ministers agreed to a National Firearms Agreement that outlined a national approach to the regulation of firearms. It set out minimum requirements for the safe and responsible possession, carriage, use, registration, storage and transfer of firearms.

The Agreement affirmed that “…firearms possession and use is a privilege that is conditional on the overriding need to ensure public safety.”

Following these gun reforms, no mass shootings occurred in the next 22 years, until a tragic domestic murder-suicide in May 2018.

It is estimated that without the intervention of our gun reforms, approximately 16 mass shootings would have been expected between 1996 and February 2018. Chapman et al, 2018

Firearms in 2025

  • There are now over 4 million legal firearms in Australia
  • There may be between 250,000-500,000 illegal guns
  • There is a proliferation of 3D printed and privately made firearms
  • There is the equivalent of 1 in 30 people having a firearms licence
  • The average firearm owner has 4-5 guns
  • In most states and territories there is no limit to how many guns a person can own
  • Some individuals have over 250 guns
  • Over 40% of firearm owners live in major cities
  • Over one third of Australia’s 4 million guns are stored in major cities
  • Just over 80% of firearm owners live in major cities and inner regional towns
  • Over 2.8 million guns are stored in major cities and inner regional towns

(The Australia Institute, 2025)

Firearm deaths

The annual rate of total gun deaths in Australia fell from 2.9 per 100,000 in 1996 to just 0.88 per 100,000 in 2018.

Our gun death rate is 12 times lower than the US rate of about 10.6 per 100,000 people.

Source: Data extracted from gunpolicy.org; Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2023

 

Firearm suicides

The rate of firearm-related suicide has more than halved since the introduction of Australia’s gun reforms.

Rates of self-harm with firearms are higher for older people, men, and residents in outer regional and rural/remote areas (Negin, 2021)

Source: Data extracted from gunpolicy.org; Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2023

 

Firearm homicides

Rates of firearm-related hospitalisation and deaths are around four and six times higher, respectively, for residents of remote and very remote areas when compared with residents of major cities. AIHW 2017

Firearms remain the third most common cause of domestic family deaths.

Source: Data extracted from gunpolicy.org; Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2023

847 reported incidents in 2018 of firearm theft, in which 2,425 firearms were stolen

This is a 15% increase in incidents and a 35% increase in stolen firearms since 2008-09

AIC 2020
93% of firearm-related deaths and hospitalisations are men

33% of hospital cases were accidents

AIHW 2017

Australians are very proud of our gun safety framework

Nearly 90 per cent of Australians supported the strong gun safety policies when they were introduced in 1996. In a 2018 survey, 87 per cent still thought they were “about right” or “too weak”. Essential Report, March 2018

Our members

  • The Royal Australian & New Zealand Collage of Psychiatrists
  • Australian College of Nursing
  • Injury Matters
  • Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfar
  • Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
  • Gun Control Australia
  • Australasian Injury Prevention Network
  • White Ribbon Australia
  • Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria
  • Australian Education Union
  • RACP
  • Medics for Gun Control
  • Public Health Association Australia
  • Australian Childcare Alliance
  • Australasian College for Emergency Medicine
  • Australian Childhood Foundation
  • Alannah & Madeline Foundation
  • ANZICS
  • Centre for Armed Violence Reduction
  • GunPolicy.org
  • Australian Health Promotion Association
  • No to Violence
  • College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand
  • UNICEF Australia
  • Uniting VicTas

Our supporters

  • Australian Communities Foundation
  • Cubit Family Foundation Australia