A national gun amnesty will be held next year, allowing those possessing illegal guns to hand them in without penalty.
Victorian police minister Wade Noonan said the Commonwealth, states and territories had also agreed on a national strategy to tackle illegal guns, starting with a study to determine the number and origin of illegal guns in the community.
"This will create a richer intelligence picture so that we can better target our efforts to take illegal guns away from the community," he told reporters.
Speaking after the meeting of commonwealth, state and territory attorneys-general, justice and police ministers in Canberra on Thursday, Mr Noonan said there was no clear understanding of the extent of illegal firearms in the community or their source.
He said there had been state and territory gun amnesties, some periodical and some still continuing.
"We do see that this is a positive," he said.
Full details of the amnesty will be worked out next year.
Mr Noonan said focusing attention on the amnesty would not resolve the complex issue of illegal guns in the community.
Victoria has faced its own problems with illegal guns in recent weeks, with a succession of drive-by shootings.
The study will be led by the Australian Crime Commission.
Acting NSW premier Troy Grant said the focus should be on illegal guns and not legally owned ones.
"Greater than 97 per cent of firearms incidents reported in NSW relate to unregistered or unbranded or unmarked firearms," he told reporters.
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