Anti-Australia Day protesters launch court fight against expanded Victoria Police search powers
Protesters are racing to the Federal Court to launch urgent action against expanded police search powers they say could “harm us and stop us from speaking up” at anti-Australia Day rallies planned for January 26.
Expanded police search powers are set to be challenged in court by an Australia Day protest organiser and a taxpayer-funded human rights organisation.
Last month, following a surge of knife crime, Victoria Police declared Melbourne’s CBD and some surrounding areas — including the MCG and the Royal Botanic Gardens — a “designated area” for six months.
Under the designation, officers can now search a person and their vehicle for weapons without a warrant, and can order a person to leave the designated zone if they refuse to remove a face covering, since November 30.
Tarneen Onus Browne, who organises the annual ‘Invasion Day’ protest, is among plaintiffs backed by the Human Right Law Centre that will file action in the Federal Court against the Victorian Assistant Police Commissioner’s decision, seeking a resolution before Australia Day.
They will argue that the law, particularly its limitations on face coverings, is unconstitutional as it stifles the right of peaceful assembly and is otherwise “not necessary” for community safety.
“We have a constitutionally protected right to express ourselves politically through peaceful protest and designated areas interfere with our ability to do so,” the HRLC.
“The centre has brought this matter urgently so that it can be heard before 26 January 2026, to allow this important day of protest to continue without undue police interference.”
Indigenous activist Onus Browne said that the expanded powers will “deter” protesters on January 26 and “supercharge the harassment” of First Nations peoples.
“I’ve been organising the Invasion Day rallies for the last 10 years, and see this as our national day of protest,” Onus Browne said.
“What does it say that Victoria has just signed a Treaty but are now expanding the powers for police to harm us and stop us from speaking up about our history and resistance?”
Onus Browne is a community organiser with the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance collective — the group that organises the annual Invasion Day protests in Melbourne’s CBD.
Deputy Commissioner of Regional Operations Bob Hill defended the force’s use of the designated area.
He said it was “evidence-based” and confirmed children would be subject to two types of searches, even without a parent or guardian present.
“Victoria Police is on, I believe, solid ground and evidence-based legislative framework that supports that Omni operation,” he said on Monday.
“We have evidence to suggest that we require that type of overlay to combat the knife crime that’s occurring in the CBD and in other parts of the state.
“Young people, yes, they’ll be subject to an initial wand search that should take no more than 10 seconds.
“They’ll be subject to a pat-down search, but that’s where it ceases.
“No child will be subject to any more comprehensive searching unless they have a guardian or parent present.”
Deputy Commissioner Hill said the searches would be conducted randomly.
He said the members were well aware of the human rights of each individual and the operations were “attached to, and informed by, human rights impact statements”.
He said the force had a “zero tolerance approach to racial profiling”.
“We’ll see a random selection of people that will be (for example) walking through a shopping centre or through a railway station, they’ll be randomly selected to be subject to an official wand, pat-down search, and in some cases, a strip search,” he added.
“We do not discriminate. It’s a random selection of people and we do not have any tolerance for racial profiling in our organisation.
“Those people will be selected randomly.”
Victoria Police announced the expansion of police powers following several shocking incidents of knife crime in Melbourne, including the random stabbing of a woman in the CBD and the killing of two teens in Cobblebank.
