Tiffanie Turnbull
BBC News, Sydney

Image source, BBC/ISABELLE RODD

In front of a cluster of bouquets, a young woman kneels, eyes closed, palms up - praying.

Katherine Pierce, 26, tell me she's driven from Tahmoor, about 1.5 hours away, to pay her respects to those who have been injured or killed.

"There's no words really to explain... I just feel concern for our country."

"I think Australia needs to wake up to be honest," she says, pointing to consistent concerns from Jewish leaders about rising antisemitism here.

The Bondi Beach shooting marked a "dark day in Australia's history on what should have been a day of light," Albanese told a recent press briefing, where he talked about his visit to the scene at Bondi this morning.

Katy Watson
Australia correspondent

Bonnyrigg, in southwestern Sydney, is an hour’s drive inland from Bondi.

It’s here that the two gunmen lived - in a single-storey brick house with a cream fence across the front yard.

This is the home where both father and son were registered as living - that is, until the two decamped to a short-term rental property in Campsie. It’s there police believe they prepared the attack.

In Bonnyrigg, neighbours are shocked. "My daughter was yelling at me, 'mum look outside' and I saw lots of police, lots of cars, sirens and loudspeakers calling them to come out," Lemanatua Fatu, who lives opposite, told me.

Image source, BBC/Katy Watson

"Then I saw the news - I thought oh my goodness, it can’t be them."

She said she often saw the young man put the rubbish out.

"We live here as normal people, this is a good neighbourhood," she said.

The 24-year-old shooter - the younger of the pair - first came to authorities' attention in October 2019, Albanese revealed in his press conference.

He added that the man was "examined on the basis of being associated with others and the assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says "the need for tougher gun laws" will be on the agenda for a national cabinet meeting at 16:00 local time (05:00 GMT).

"This afternoon, at four o'clock, I will put on the agenda of the national cabinet tougher gun laws, including limits on the number of guns that can be used or licensed by individuals, a review of licences over a period of time," Albanese told the media.

"People’s circumstances change. People can be radicalised over a period of time. Licences should not be in perpetuity."

Albanese says the Australian government will "take to national Cabinet this afternoon a proposal to empower agencies to examine what can be done in this area".

We're now learning more from authorities about the two shooters, who were father and son.

The son is an Australian-born citizen, while the father arrived in 1998 on a student visa, which was transferred in 2001 to a partner visa and later resident return visas, home minister Tony Burke says.

Australian PM Anthony Albanese has just given a few updates at a press briefing. Here are the main things he said:

The government is providing support for funerals of the victims, including facilitating relatives who are visiting from abroad for the funerals, Albanese said.

This morning he met with police who had been at the scene last night. "Some of them had been up all night," he said. Many of them had been off-duty police who arrived at Bondi from as far away as Newcastle city and the Central Coast.

"What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of terror and an act of antisemitism," Albanese said.

Visiting the scene at Bondi this morning, it was "a very physical reminder of the iconic status" of the beach, he said, adding that the fact that this was a venue for the shooting was an "outrage".

He also said that authorities would be reviewing the country's gun laws and licences.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a phone call with Australian foreign minister Penny Wong on Monday to "discuss the antisemitic terrorist attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach", the US State Department's spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

The statement also said the US "strongly condemns the heinous terrorist attack".

"As Jews around the world light Hanukkah candles tonight, they commemorate the triumph of light over darkness and the long history of Jewish resilience in the face of oppression," the statement said.

"No community should have to fear publicly celebrating their faith and traditions due to the threat of extremist violence and terror."

"There can be no compromise with antisemitism - this scourge must be confronted and defeated."

Image source, Getty Images

As we reported earlier from the press conference, the older Bondi Beach gunman met the eligibility for a firearms licence for recreational hunting.

The man had a "category AB licence that entitled him to have the long arms he had," NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon explained.

"In terms of a firearms licence, the firearms registry conducts a thorough examination of all applications to ensure a person is fit and proper to hold a firearms licence," he said.

Eligibility for a game hunting licence in NSW depends on the land you wish to hunt on, the type of animal you wish to hunt, and the reason for hunting the animals, as per the Service NSW website.

One of the reasons for hunting includes "recreation or personal consumption", Service NSW says.

Australia prides itself on being a safe country with some of the world's most stringent gun laws.

Following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, when 35 people were killed in Tasmania, swift and critical changes were made regarding private ownership of guns, particularly automated weapons.

According to the Firearms Act 1996, a person "must not possess or use a firearm, prohibited firearm or pistol unless the person is authorised to do so by a licence or permit".

All persons who own a firearm through a permit or licence must be registered, the NSW Police and Government say on their website about obtaining firearms and ammunition.

Yasmin Catley, the New South Wales Minister for Police, said that off-duty police officers, as well as those working in areas outside of Bondi, had arrived at Bondi police station to help out amid the shooting.

Catley saw 50-60 police officers at the station, she told a recent press conference. "Most of them weren't on duty. They just heard the event, put their uniform on, got in their car and drove to Bondi police station because they knew they'd be needed."

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the acts of bravery by police in response to yesterday's attack should be celebrated. "It would have been an incredibly chaotic and terrifying scene. Even for well trained police officers," he said.

The NSW police's press conference has ended.

As a quick recap, police commissioner Mal Lanyon said the 50-year-old gunman had a firearms licence for recreational hunting because he was a member of a gun club. NSW Premier Chris Minns acknowledged "it's time [for a change] to the state's gun laws", but did not give further details.

We'll bring you more updates as we get them. Stay with us.

NSW Premier Chris Minns is encouraging members of the community to continue laying flowers at a memorial site which has been established at the rear of the Bondi pavilion.

"I noticed people are already laying flowers at that site. We encourage members of the community to do that," Minns says at the news conference.

The premier has welcomed the record numbers of people and massive lines at blood donation services across New South Wales.

"Please be patient if you'd like to make that act of civic duty, but it's warmly welcomed and it will go to a good cause," he says.

Reporters are continuing to grill the NSW Premier on firearms licences, and he acknowledges again that change is needed.

"It does require legislation. It means introducing a bill to Parliament to - to be really blunt, making it more difficult to get these horrifying weapons that have no practical use in our community," Chris Minns says.

"If you're not a farmer, you're not involved in agriculture, why do you need these massive weapons to put the public in danger?"

Minns adds it will take time to bring in appropriate legislation, though.

"We're less than than 24 hours into this horrifying crime," he says. "I want to make sure that legislation and reform that we bring to Parliament makes a big difference, but that's entirely my intention and my colleagues feel the same way."

Faced with a slew of questions from reporters on the two suspects, Commissioner Lanyon says he can't divulge too many details but noted the father-son pair "have, obviously, connection for quite a period of time in Australia" and that the father has held a firearms licence since 2015.

"[The police is] still working through background of the two people... At this stage we know very little about them," Lanyon says.

When asked if the two shooters are Australian citizens, he says: "I'm not prepared to comment on that."

The NSW Police Commissioner says the 50-year-old gunman who was killed in the attack met the eligibility for a firearms licence for recreational hunting.

"He was a member of a gun club and was entitled by nature of the firearms acts to have a firearms licence issued," Mal Lanyon says. He says the man had a "category AB licence, that entitled him to have the long arms he had."

"In terms of a firearms licence, the firearms registry conducts a thorough examination of all applications to ensure a person is fit and proper to hold a firearms licence," he says.

Minns also acknowledged that "it's time [for] a change" in New South Wales' firearms law, but declined to give details.

"We want to make sure it has a lasting impact... You can expect action soon," he said.

Lanyon added that the alleged suspect was "entitled" to firearms because he was a member of a gun club.

New South Wales premier Chris Minns says there must be "an overwhelming government, community and police response" to the attack, adding that the Jewish community should have "every right to celebrate their faith and enjoy this festive period".

"[We] need to send a clear message to people in this state and the affected community that has seen so much violence and damage," Minns said.

Public schools in the area will remain closed, he added.

Lanyon also says the police investigation is ongoing, and that he will only provide limited updates on it.

"What is really important is to say we do have a 24-year-old male in hospital at the moment. Based on his medical condition, it's likely that person may face criminal charges. I'm very mindful of not prejudicing any prosecution of that person put before the court. Very happy to take questions later on."

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon is speaking in Sydney and says he has visited the families and police officers who were injured in the attack, praising them for their bravery. At least two officers were injured.

"There are many, many stories of bravery from members of the community as well," he adds. "Really want to acknowledge the work that was done yesterday. We know that a number of people are alive now because the actions of innocent bystanders."