The Invasive Species Council has extended its deepest condolences to the families and communities affected by the devastating Bondi attack, acknowledging the profound shock and grief felt across New South Wales.
As the NSW government moves to review its firearms laws, the Council is calling for careful, evidence-based reform that strengthens regulation where it is weakest, while protecting lawful, authorised pest animal management.
‘Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by the events at Bondi. This is a moment that calls for care, restraint and clear-headed decision-making,’ Invasive Species Council CEO Jack Gough said.
‘Firearms are an important and legitimate tool in professional, coordinated feral animal control programs, used within strict regulatory frameworks to reduce the harm to wildlife, the environment and agriculture.
‘But firearms are not toys, and not a recreational entitlement; in fact, recreational hunting shows no evidence in effectively reducing feral animal populations. Instead, effective feral animal control depends on strong regulation, professional standards and community trust.
‘We urge the NSW Premier Chris Minns and the NSW government to focus on reforms that close clear loopholes, including banning straight-pull and push-button firearms that are not required for legitimate pest control, and to strengthen regulation without impairing professional invasive species management.
‘Reasonable limits on firearm ownership for non-professional licence holders could reduce the circulation of weapons without undermining landholders’ or volunteers’ ability to conduct feral animal control.
‘Additional firearms should only be approved where there is a clear, documented and genuine operational requirement. This is about proportionality and accountability – not restriction for its own sake.
‘Professional pest managers must retain access to the tools they genuinely need to do their jobs effectively and humanely, particularly in remote or high-density pest situations. At the same time, larger firearm holdings should require clear justification, appropriate benchmarks, and registration of the shooter with a recognised professional body.
‘Safe storage and increased compliance checks will also be essential to prevent theft and ensure firearms don’t end up in the wrong hands and part of the illicit market.
‘Public confidence in feral animal control depends on firearms being clearly justified, tightly regulated and responsibly managed – from licensing and training through to storage and compliance. We hope Premier Minns and his government show real leadership here with all of those elements in mind.’
Media inquiries: (02) 8006 5004
Recommendations for regulation reform
The Invasive Species Council concludes that effective pest control will remain unimpaired if changes are made to licensing to restrict the maximum holdings, ban certain classes of weapon and enact the compliance measures as outlined below.
- Ban straight-pull/push-button firearms
- These weapon types can empty a magazine in under 10 seconds, similar to a semi-automatic capability, but are classed as category A/B firearms.
- They are being used by many recreational shooters to circumvent Category C/D requirements and are not required by professionals, who legitimately use higher-category firearms.
- A ban on these weapon types, with an appropriate buyback scheme, would not impact feral animal control.
- Cap firearm ownership for non-professionals (landholders, volunteers) at 5 (in line with WA)
- A maximum primary allowance of 3 firearms is sufficient for most general pest animal control.
- Where an applicant can demonstrate a compelling, specific and documented operational need directly related to specialised pest management (e.g. highly specific calibre requirements), an allowance of up to 2 additional firearms (maximum 5 total) may be justified.
- Clarify restrictions on firearm ownership for professionals
- While no legislative cap is recommended for this group, an allowance of 10 firearms is sufficient for most professional operations and an ownership limit of 10 is unlikely to impair operational efficacy in most circumstances.
- A small proportion of professionals may legitimately require more than 10 firearms.
- Each additional firearm beyond the primary allowance should require a clear, specific, and documented genuine reason that is directly linked to an ongoing professional pest management contract or business requirement (e.g., highly specific calibre requirements for different pest types, having immediate backups in remote work sites or meeting government contract requirements).
- Professional pest managers should be required to be a registered member of a recognised professional body.
- Improve safe storage requirements
- Safe storage is essential to prevent the theft of firearms and their entry into the illicit market. Currently in NSW the storage requirements for Category A or B firearms (Level 1) are insufficient, resulting in high numbers of firearms entering the illegal firearms market.
- All firearm owners should be required to meet NSW Safe Storage Level 2 (i.e. separate locks for ammunition, heavier gauge steel, increased security for the storage room).
- There should also be an increase to the frequency of safe storage checks to ensure compliance – current licence holders report rarely if ever being checked.
- Require a minimum skills demonstration
- Require all applicants for gun licenses to pass a minimum skills demonstration for marksmanship conducted for both human safety and animal welfare reasons. The current process requires an applicant to be assessed on safety rules and safe handling, but not marksmanship.
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