Armed police have begun patrolling Sydney under a new New South Wales security operation created after the December Bondi Beach shooting, with officers carrying long-arm rifles in tourist areas, at major events and near places of worship. BBC News reports that the Armed Response Command is intended to deter and respond rapidly to serious threats, including active armed-offender incidents.
The patrols are a state-level policing decision, separate from the federal legislative response. The command is designed to be highly visible and will eventually comprise 250 officers, according to New South Wales police. Fifteen people, including a 10-year-old girl, were killed when two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach on 14 December, the BBC reported.
Earlier this year, Australia’s parliament passed a national gun-reform package that included a buyback scheme, tighter firearm-import controls, stricter licence checks and improved information-sharing between intelligence agencies. The BBC reported that the measures passed the House of Representatives by 96 votes to 45 and the Senate by 38 votes to 22; a separate hate-speech bill also passed after negotiations with the opposition.
Together, the documents establish two different layers of the response: the national government changed firearms and hate-speech rules, while New South Wales has now increased armed police visibility and rapid-response capacity in public spaces. The sources do not establish how often the new patrols will operate, the precise locations covered or what independent oversight rules will govern them.
The deployment has drawn both support and criticism. Jewish community representatives welcomed the operation, while Amnesty International Australia called for publicly accessible rules, independent oversight and assurances that the unit would not be used against peaceful protests, according to the current BBC report.