Cth Act for New Penalties for Firearms Offences

Thursday 14 April 2022 @ 2.00 p.m. | Crime | Legal Research

The Criminal Code Amendment (Firearms Trafficking) Bill 2022 (Cth) (the “Bill”) was introduced to Federal Parliament’s House of Representatives (the “Reps”) on 16 February 2022, by Stuart Robert (Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business).

The Bill  passed both houses of Parliament on 1 April 2022. The Criminal Code Amendment (Firearms Trafficking) Act 2022 (Cth) (the "Act") wholly commenced on 2 April 2022.

Object of the Act

The Act aims to strengthen existing Commonwealth firearms trafficking offences under Part 9.4 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) (the “Code”). 

The Bill's explanatory memorandum summarises the amendments, which aim to:

  • "double the maximum penalty for existing firearms trafficking offences from 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine of 2,500 penalty units to 20 years imprisonment and/or a fine of 5,000 penalty units;
  • introduce new aggravated offences for trafficking 50 or more firearms or firearm parts, or a combination of firearms and firearm parts, within a six month period within Australia (in Division 360 of the Criminal Code); and
  • introduce new aggravated offences for trafficking 50 or more firearms or firearm parts, or a combination of the firearms and firearm parts, within a six month period into or out of Australia (in Division 361 of the Criminal Code)."

The proposed new penalties and new aggravated offences seek to ensure that firearms traffickers can be held responsible for the consequences of supplying firearms. These amended offences also seek to support efforts to prevent such firearms to be diverted into illegal overseas markets.

Comment on the Bill

In his Second Reading Speech, the Minister commented that:

“… the coalition government recommitted to the Australian people to implement tougher criminal penalties for gun related crime … The bill will also ensure that offenders cannot use loopholes, such as breaking up trafficking shipments and operations into smaller numbers, to avoid aggravated offences and the resulting higher penalties.”

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Sources:

Criminal Code Amendment (Firearms Trafficking) Bill 2022 (Cth) and supporting materials available from TimeBase's LawOne Service

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