Are you serious? You mean there are no people over there who own guns just in case their country, or area of the country, decends into chaos? There aren't people who are concerned that they may need to defend themselves and family against certain death? No one is concerned at all that the government could be taken over by goons?
There may be some, I don't know, but they probably joined a gun club, and have guns. Not many people want guns here, probably a smaller percentage than in the US, and since our country has about 10 times less people, then that amount is rather small. I would be ok with self defense being a reason to own a gun here, but I don't think it is necessary.
Sure, it is very possible you may live your entire life without needing them. And most of the people I know who keep a stockpile of guns and ammo certainly don't want to have to use them. But you'd be naive to think that you will certainly never need them. It is the exception for a country to go on forever without any periods of war, rioting, or civil unrest. If your entire country is actually disarmed as you say, down to the recreational shooters, then whenever the tyrant or conqueror comes along, they will have quite the easy time. It'll be either servitude or out to the outback for you. That is, unless you're one of the bad guys...
I'm not sure what world you live in, but the threat of invasion here is rather small. Couple that with the fact that we have a good army, not the largest, but certainly very good, a large police force (who are also people with guns), a percentage of recreational shooters, security personell, and hunters with guns, and they won't just own one either, if you own guns, you own LOTS of guns, and so can give them out in a time of need, and of course allies, we seem pretty covered. Allies are a by-product of the maturity of the world, and so is the risk of invasion by some group of neanderthals.
Oh and out to the outback wouldn't worry me, I grew up in the bush, I loved it, so quiet, and SOOO many less idiots (not meaning you, meaning knobs here).
Why is a firearm, the most useful tool for defending oneself across the spectrum of different age groups, physical ability groups,sex, etc, specifically named as a no-no for using in self-defense? Do they assume that no law abiding person would ever have a legitmate self-defense situation in which the firearm is the best tool available?
I think the reason is derived from the nature of storage. Since it must be locked up and dismantled (a little) then reasonably using it as a self defense tool is pretty hard, as it takes too long to unlock, find bullets, put the gun together, etc. So it would most likely just be the breach of firearms laws if you did use it, because you must not have been storing it properly. You may be able to however argue that you had just finished oiling it, and had time to go load a mag to protect yourself, but more than likely it won't work. If the situation is life and death, and you can reasonably get your gun working quick enough, I WOULD DO IT! The saying "It is better to be tryed by 12 than carried by 6" is true to me as well. The chance of a life-threatening situation erupting in Australia is small, and is most likely a by-product of your own arrogance and stupidity, in which case, natural selection may be in order for both you and your killer. The chance of being able to get your gun working once you realised that you're in said situation is another multiple of very small.