Proposed legislation to crackdown on knives passes House of Assembly

Proposed new laws to increase police powers to search anyone suspected of carrying a knife is on track after passing a key hurdle.

Minister Felix Ellis. Announcement of the commencement of a trial enabling the use of wands while conducting police searches under existing search powers. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The proposed new laws to increase police powers to search anyone suspected of carrying a knife passed the House of Assembly on Tuesday evening.

Police, Fire and Emergency Management Minister Felix Ellis said he looked forward to seeing this “crucial” legislation progress — with the bill needing to still pass the Legislative Council to become law.

“Every knife taken off the street is potentially a life saved,” Minister Ellis said.

“We’re not talking about taking knives off our tradies, we’re talking about stopping the idiots carrying flick knives and machetes for the purpose of causing fear and threatening community safety.  

“When these criminals are caught, Reid’s Law will allow us to throw the book at them.

“These strong new laws are a credit to the advocacy of Laraine Ludwig and the Jack Beasley Foundation, and I cannot thank them enough for their work in this space.:

‘Dangerous’ Lawyers concerned about crackdown on knives

Proposed new laws allowing police to search anyone they suspect might be carrying a knife represent a “significant and dangerous increase in police powers,” the Australian Lawyers Alliance says.

The Police Offences Amendment (Knives and Other Weapons) Bill was tabled in the House of Assembly on Tuesday.

The new law allows police to search people in a public place if they “reasonably suspect” they are carrying a knife.

The state government is cracking down on knife crime but not everyone has endorsed the plan. Picture: Olena Sakhatska/iStock

It says refusing to be searched is grounds for reasonable suspicion — and raises the penalty for possessing or carrying a knife in public to up to two years in jail.

The law is also known as Reid’s Law, after Reid Ludwig who was stabbed to death at Blackmans Bay in 2019.

Mr Ludwig’s family have been among the chief campaigners for the reform, which has been supported by retail groups but opposed by lawyers and civil liberties groups as overreach.

The Australia Lawyers Alliance says the law gives police the right to search anyone, anywhere, at any time and was not backed up by evidence interstate.

“This is a significant and dangerous increase in police powers and will do little if anything to create a safer community,” Australian Lawyers Alliance state president Henry Pill said.

“Currently, Tasmanian police must have a ‘reasonable belief’ that someone is carrying a knife before they can conduct a search.

“Under the new bill, they will only need a ‘reasonable suspicion’.

“This is the greatest increase in unchecked police power in living memory – it is dangerous and unfortunately it is likely to be abused.”

“Extra police powers will do little to help solve the problem of violence and will lead to the risk of people being searched based on racial and cultural stereotyping.”

Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management Felix Ellis said too many people were

carrying knives.

“Tasmania is one of the safest places in the world, but through social media, we’re seeing criminal trends from other places being imported rapidly,” he said.

Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management Felix Ellis, Sergeant Tim Etheridge and Laraine Ludwig in Elizabeth Street Mall in Hobart on Monday, January 20, 2025.

“Unfortunately, that includes people carrying dangerous weapons in public places.  

“We’re not talking farmers and tradies carrying work knives – we’re talking about idiots carrying flick knives and machetes for the purpose of causing fear and threatening community safety.

“That’s why the parliament must pass our lifesaving legislation.

“By strengthening search powers, including the use of metal-detection wands, we will get dangerous weapons out of the hands of those that wish to do harm.”

Public consultation on the draft bill received submissions from four individuals and groups in favour and ten against the reforms.

The Tasmanian Law Reform Institute said there was a lack of evidence behind granting police broad search powers.

“To the best of our knowledge, no data has been presented to justify the expansion of police search powers to detect knives and similar dangerous weapons,” its submission said.

Tasmanian Legal Aid said the law was too broad.

“TLA strongly oppose any amendment to lowering the standard of belief of a police officer from reasonable belief to reasonable suspicion,” its submission said.

TasCoss was also opposed.

“We do not believe there is sufficient evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of wanting in other jurisdictions to justify the introduction of similar procedures in Tasmania and are

concerned about the potential impact of these changes, particularly those communities who are already vulnerable in their interactions with police,” its submission said.

The Australian Retailers Association said the laws should go further.

“We strongly support the proposed amendments as an important step toward enhancing public safety and reducing knife-related crime in Tasmania,” the ARA said.

Originally published as Proposed legislation to crackdown on knives passes House of Assembly