39783 (2024). Hon Ginny Andersen to the Minister of Police

39783 (2024). Hon Ginny Andersen to the Minister of Police: How many firearms-related offences were reported to Police between May 2024 and June 2024 and how many of them resulted in a police prosecution, broken down by month and how many of those offenders were firearm license holders, if any?

Hon Mark Mitchell: I am advised that Police considers firearms-related offences to be any offences in the Arms Act 1983 or any other offences that specify a firearm was involved (eg, robbery with a firearm). I am advised that between 1 May 2024 and 30 June 2024, there were 1,065 such firearms-related offences. This includes both offences report to Police and discovered by Police. Note that one occurrence may have multiple offences. Of these 1,065 offences, 519 offences have resulted in a police prosecution as at 8 July 2024. Seven of the 519 offences had at least one offender who had a standard firearms licence at the time of the offence. The number of offences is given rather than number of people for ease of comparison; this is because the same offence could have multiple offenders and one offender could be involved in multiple offences and different offenders in the same offence could have different firearms licence statuses. I refer the Member to the attached table where this information is shown by month of the offence. It is important to note that these offences are not convictions – they may still be before the courts, individuals may have been proceeded against via other means, or may have been charged and subsequently acquitted. Some offences may still be under investigation and therefore no offender has yet been identified. This data is drawn from a dynamic operational database and is subject to change as new information is recorded or updated.