Victoria’s government has announced plans to extend stop-and-search powers to police and protective services officers (PSOs), permitting the use of handheld metal detectors to conduct random checks for knives in public spaces. The move was confirmed by Premier Ben Carroll on Wednesday following the state Labor government's re-election, aligning Victoria with similar legislation introduced in other Australian jurisdictions.
The proposed law, modeled on Queensland’s Jack’s Law—named after 17-year-old Jack Beasley, who was fatally stabbed in 2019—would supply Victoria Police and PSOs with an additional 1,200 metal-detecting wands starting early next year. The expanded powers would allow searches “anywhere, anytime,” according to Police Minister Paul Edbrooke.
The decision reflects a significant reversal from the previous stance of Labor under former leader Jacinta Allan, who maintained that existing police powers were adequate. Carroll’s announcement followed a meeting with Beasley’s parents and an increasing political emphasis on addressing knife crime, which remains a community concern in Victoria.
Despite bipartisan political support, the plan has attracted criticism from legal experts, human rights advocates, and criminologists who question its effectiveness. The Human Rights Law Centre’s legal director, Sarah Schwartz, argued that the new powers risk amplifying unchecked police authority and disproportionately targeting marginalized groups, undermining democratic freedoms and human rights.
Liberty Victoria’s Gemma Cafarella noted that no clear evidence supports the claim that such laws improve public safety, warning instead that they may disproportionately affect people of color who are law-abiding. She also highlighted that police currently hold authority to conduct searches based on reasonable suspicion, rendering random searches potentially excessive.
Research from Griffith University examining a 12-month trial of Jack’s Law on the Gold Coast between 2021 and 2022 found no measurable decrease in violent incidents linked to the increased use of stop-and-search powers. Janet Ransley, a researcher involved in that study, stated there was no evidence that the law effectively reduces knife-related violence and emphasized the potential human rights implications.
Criminologist Joel McGregor of Swinburne University added that such “tough-on-crime” approaches do not address root causes of criminal behavior, particularly among youth. He acknowledged that while removing weapons can produce immediate benefits, it does not tackle the underlying issues that lead individuals to carry knives.
Currently in Victoria, police can only conduct warrantless pat-down searches within designated areas, a provision recently challenged in court when a six-month designation of the Melbourne CBD was found invalid.
Carroll committed to working with legal experts to ensure that the legislation would be robust and lawful. He acknowledged public frustration with knife crime, saying, “Victorians are sick of knife crime, and so am I.”
The Jack’s Law framework has been adopted in Tasmania, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory, though in New South Wales similar powers apply only within designated zones. Queensland police data indicated that between July 2025 and June 2026, nearly 161,000 people were stopped and scanned under the law, with Indigenous Australians disproportionately represented relative to their population share. In Victoria, available data show that just over 1% of searches in designated areas detected illicit items.
Jack Beasley’s father, Brett Beasley, welcomed the policy shift, describing it as “about bloody time” and emphasizing the importance of prioritizing community safety over political differences.
Opposition has come from some quarters, including Victorian Greens justice spokesperson Katherine Copsey, who criticized Labor’s reversal as a “complete loss of direction” in addressing community safety, accusing the government of merely emulating opposition policies.