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About the BILL 

On 10 February 2026, the Hon Daniel (Dan) Purdie, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, introduced the Fighting Antisemitism and Keeping Guns out of the Hands of Terrorists and Criminals Amendment Bill 2026 into the Queensland Parliament. The Bill was referred to the Justice, Integrity and Community Safety Committee for detailed consideration.

View: Explanatory speech
View: Bill 
View: Explanatory Notes 
View: Statement of compatibility 

The purpose of the Bill is to address antisemitism and prevent the misuse of firearms by terrorists and criminals, by amending the Criminal Code, Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, Weapons Act 1990 and other relevant legislation.

The objectives of the Bill are to: 

• strengthen the prohibition of the public use of hate symbols, ensuring it effectively combats their promotion and protects community safety and social cohesion;
• prohibit the use of expressions used to incite discrimination, hostility or violence towards certain groups;
• protect faith communities by ensuring people are not intimidated while accessing places of worship;
• modernise criminal offences related to religious worship to align with contemporary drafting practices and increase maximum penalties;
• increase the maximum penalty for stealing a firearm or ammunition to 14 years imprisonment;
• introduce a new offence under the Criminal Code that prohibits acts done in preparation for, or planning, an offence likely to cause the death or grievous bodily harm of another;
• amend section 540 ‘Preparation to commit crimes with dangerous things’ of the Criminal Code by clearly stating the offence applies in relation to dangerous or offensive weapons or instruments;
• impose as a combined suite of reforms, the strongest maximum penalties in Australia for a range of offences in the Weapons Act 1990 (Weapons Act) to deter criminal behaviour that endangers community safety;
• introduce a specific offence prohibiting the reckless discharge of a weapon towards a building or a vehicle;
• introduce new offences within the Weapons Act prohibiting the possession and distribution of a blueprint material for the manufacture of a firearm on a 3D printer or electronic milling machine;
• prescribe additional offences under the Youth Justice Act 1992 (Youth Justice Act) as Adult Crime, Adult Time arising from the seriousness of the new offences introduced or maximum penalties imposed;
• require that a Queensland weapons licence holder must, unless limited exceptions apply, be an Australian citizen;
• broaden the scope of an individual’s history that may be considered in firearms licensing decisions to include information about violent and weapons-related offences, irrespective of whether a conviction is spent or not recorded;
• strengthen the effectiveness of the Firearm Prohibition Order (FPO) scheme which is designed to deter high-risk individuals from acquiring, possessing, or using firearms;
• reform controlled operations legislation under Chapter 11 of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 (PPRA) to enable police to frustrate criminal activity;
• expand the scope of offences that may be investigated through the use of controlled operations, controlled activities and surveillance device warrants;
• maintain the existing electronic service provisions for official warnings for consorting and police banning notices;
• strengthen intelligence and information-sharing by formalising information sharing with the Australian Defence Force (ADF); and
• strengthen the storage requirements for category A, B, C, E and M weapons by requiring these weapons to be stored exclusively in solid steel containers.

Call for submissions

Submissions closed 10.00am on Tuesday, 17 February 2026. Submissions accepted by the committee will be made available under the “View Submissions” tab above in due course.

Public PROCEEDINGS

The committee will hold a public hearing in Townsville on Wednesday, 18 February 2026. As part of the public hearing, the committee will host a community forum and invites members of the public to provide a statement of up to three minutes addressing any aspect of the Bill. Interested individuals are welcome to register to share their views, expertise and experience with the committee. While the committee will make every effort to hear from all who register their interest to speak, availability may be impacted by time and the number of attendees. A final speaking list will be determined on the day.

Click here to register interest for the Townsville public hearing community forum.

The committee will also hold a public hearing and briefing in Brisbane on Thursday, 19 February 2026. More details will be made available in the ‘Timeline’ below in due course.

Committee’s report

The committee is due to table its report on Friday, 27 February 2026. The report will be published here. 

Once the committee’s report has been tabled, the Government has three months to respond to the report’s recommendations (if any). At that time, the Government Response will be published here.

Further information

Further information including written briefings, correspondence, response to submissions, transcripts and answers to questions taken on notice will be available under the ‘Related Publications’ tab in due course.

Timeline

If participating in the committee's inquiry or engaging with any of the content on this website raises any issues for you, please contact any of the following support services: 

• Lifeline (12 11 14)
• Queensland Human Rights Commission (1300 130 670)
• Queensland Police Service (Emergency: 000, Non‑urgent (Policelink): 131 444)