NSW Police will be given the power to scan people for knives in busy areas such as shopping centres and transport hubs as the Minns government tightens laws after a spate of high-profile stabbings, including the Bondi Junction attack and the Wakeley church assault.
The new measures will target the possession of knives, particularly among young people, and will include a ban on selling knives to under-18s unless they need one for work or study.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed during a sermon In Sydney.
NSW will develop legislation modelled on Queensland’s so-called Jack’s Law to give police the power to “wand” or “scan” people for knives without a warrant in designated areas, including transport hubs, shopping centres and other crowded places.
To stop copycat events following an attack, the time-limited powers would be made available to police when a relevant weapons offence or knife crime had occurred within the past six months.
Police will be able to “wand” or “scan” people over a 12-hour period, with an option to extend.
Queensland introduced Jack’s Law after a campaign by Brett Beasley and his wife Belinda, who spent years pushing for new powers after the death of their 17-year-old son Jack in 2019.
A memorial was set up inside the Bondi Junction shopping centre to pay tribute to the victims killed in last month’s stabbing rampage.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
The teenager died from a stab wound after he was attacked in Surfers Paradise while on a night out.
Premier Chris Minns said NSW had “borne witness to the devastating outcomes of knife-related violence”.
Six people, including five women, were stabbed to death in a horror attack in Bondi Junction Westfield on April 13. Two days later, Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed while speaking at the altar of Wakeley’s Christ The Good Shepherd Church.
A 16-year-old boy died on April 26 after a stabbing in the small town of Narromine, about 40 kilometres west of Dubbo. A 26-year-old man has been charged with his murder.
A 22-year-old surfer was also stabbed to death near Coffs Harbour on the same day.
Minns said the reforms would be based on Jack’s Law and include a “commonsense increase to the age limit for purchasing knives from 16 to 18 to make it harder for children to get access to these deadly weapons.”
“I know that many in our community have followed the devastating media coverage and heard the stories of victims and families – tragically, there have been so many recent examples,” Minns said.
“Our communities are still in mourning, but it’s essential that we step up to take immediate action to send a clear message that NSW will simply not accept these kinds of crimes.”
The Police Association campaigned heavily for the government to urgently introduce new powers for police to conduct non-invasive knife searches in public.
The NSW Health Services Union also called for Minns to follow Queensland. One year after the stabbing death of paramedic Steven Tougher in Campbelltown, Gerard Hayes, the union’s secretary and an influential figure within the NSW Labor Party, said knives had become an increasing issue.
The NSW government last year introduced laws which doubled penalties for some knife offences. The maximum penalty for possessing a knife in a public place or school doubled to four years in prison, a $4400 fine, or both.
However, data provided by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research reveals only 131 people were convicted for knife possession or wielding offences in the first few months of the new penalties being enacted. The data shows that between October, when the new penalties were introduced, and December last year, most offenders received fines, and only one jail sentence was imposed.