{"id":574795,"date":"2026-03-30T19:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/574795\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T19:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:45:12","slug":"nsw-coroner-calls-for-new-gun-laws-after-deaths-of-wayne-and-noah-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/574795\/","title":{"rendered":"NSW coroner calls for new gun laws after deaths of Wayne and Noah Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NSW Coroner has recommended doctors be legally obliged to alert police with concerns about patients who hold firearms.<\/p>\n

Magistrate Teresa O’Sullivan made a suite of recommendations at the conclusion of a coronial inquest into the murder-suicide of a father and son on the NSW north coast.<\/p>\n

Warning: This story contains details that readers may find distressing.<\/p>\n

The inquest heard Wayne Smith fatally shot his 15-year-old son Noah Smith before killing himself at their home in Yamba on June 1, 2023.<\/p>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

The coronial inquest found that Wayne Smith’s deteriorating mental health had deeply impacted his relationship with his son, Noah Smith. (Supplied: Facebook)<\/p>\n

The court was told that while Wayne Smith’s firearms licence had been previously suspended over mental health concerns \u2014 his guns were returned to him<\/a> six months before the incident.<\/p>\n

Magistrate O’Sullivan said both father and son deeply loved and cared for each other in a complex relationship strained by Wayne Smith’s mental health.<\/p>\n

“Wayne’s deteriorating mental health necessarily affected Noah,” she said.<\/p>\n

“At times, he accepted responsibilities far beyond what would be expected of a young person.<\/p>\n

“Noah was a much-loved son, grandson and friend who lived an active and full life.”<\/p>\n

The coroner noted that, unlike the majority of filicide cases, the inquest found no evidence that Wayne Smith had threatened or mistreated his son prior to the shooting.<\/p>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

The inquest found Wayne Smith had not mistreated his son Noah prior to the murder-suicide in June 1, 2023.\u00a0 (Supplied: Facebook)<\/p>\n

The court heard that a “complex constellation of stressors” had degraded the 58-year-old’s mental health prior to the shootings.<\/p>\n

Coroner’s recommendations<\/p>\n

Magistrate O’Sullivan made a total of seven recommendations directed at NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley and Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon.<\/p>\n

“This was an important inquest, and some important recommendations have been made as a result,” she said.\"Police<\/p>\n

Emergency services discovered the bodies of Noah and Wayne Smith after arriving at the family home in Yamba on June 1, 2023.\u00a0 (ABC News: Emma Rennie)<\/p>\n

They included creating a statutory obligation for doctors, requiring them to contact police with concerns about patients who possessed firearms, and encouraging general practitioners to enquire whether patients owned firearms.<\/p>\n

The coroner also recommended that gun licence applicants with a documented history of suicidal ideation provide a mental health risk assessment from a doctor and a psychologist.<\/p>\n

If you or anyone you know needs help:Suicide Call Back Service<\/a> on 1300 659 467Lifeline<\/a> on 13 11 14Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line 13YARN<\/a>\u00a0on 13 92 76Kids Helpline<\/a> on 1800 551 800Beyond Blue<\/a> on 1300 224 636Headspace<\/a> on 1800 650 890ReachOut<\/a> at au.reachout.com<\/a>MensLine Australia<\/a> on 1300 789 978QLife 1800 184 527<\/a><\/p>\n

Magistrate O’Sullivan also recommended the NSW Police Firearm Registry consider the “rigour of evidence” required to apply or reapply for a firearms licence to take part in recreational hunting or vermin control.<\/p>\n

In a statement, a spokesperson for NSW Police said a review of the coroner’s recommendations and findings is being prepared.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The NSW police minister has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the inquest, Magistrate O’Sullivan paid tribute to the conduct of the family and friends of the deceased throughout the inquiry.<\/p>\n

“I offer my sincere condolences to Noah and Wayne’s family and friends for their tragic loss,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Their grace and dignity throughout these proceedings were remarkable.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NSW Coroner has recommended doctors be legally obliged to alert police with concerns about patients who hold…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,30765,39042,144028,75586,92792,53822,37795,108328,72905,44,282004,116979,158106,4905,253208,282003],"class_list":["post-574795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-coroner","tag-coronial-inquest","tag-findings","tag-firearms","tag-gun-control","tag-gun-laws","tag-inquest","tag-mal-lanyon","tag-murder-suicide","tag-news","tag-nsw-coroner","tag-nsw-police-commissioner","tag-recommendation","tag-shooting","tag-wayne-smith","tag-yamba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}