Featured in Farrago 2025 - Volume 101, Edition 3.

Police weapons search powers have been expanded under new amendments, sparking concerns that the state government is putting marginalised communities at risk. 

In a batch of crime and policing laws announced on March 13, the Victorian Labour Government has made amendments to designated weapons search area regulation. The changes allow police to declare a location as a designated search area for up to six months, up from the previous maximum of 12 hours, and to decrease the mandatory public notification period from 10 days to 12 hours. 

Under the previous regulations, details of designated areas were required to be published in a Victorian newspaper, as well as the Government Gazette. These regulations have also been amended, replacing the need for newspaper publication with declarations on the Victoria Police website. 

According to Minister for Police, Anthony Carbines, police powers are being expanded to "keep Victorians safe” after a record number of knives were seized from Victorian streets in 2024. 

Greens State MP for Richmond, Gabrielle De Vietri, believes that “these kinds of indiscriminate stop and search powers are discriminatory and anti-democratic", and communities are put at risk by shortening the period between publication and effect. 

Reducing dissemination time for designated area details could impact community awareness of active search zone whereabouts, and of individuals’ rights within them. 

“These laws should not be there to try and catch people out with a weapon,” Ms De Vietri said, commenting that details should be widely communicated so that communities can take appropriate measures and understand their rights. 

In designated search areas, people have different rights than under regular circumstances. 

According to Victoria Police, officials have the power to stop and search any person for weapons. This includes anything or any vehicle in the possession of that person. Individuals may be given a ‘pat down’ search or searched using an electronic wand, and they must cooperate with that search.  

It is an offence to fail to comply with, or to obstruct or hinder a search. A primary concern of the Greens Party is that community members will be unaware they are in a designated area due to the new reduced publication times and may attempt to deny search requests. 

“It can really snowball if a community is not aware of these new rules,” Ms De Vietri said. “If you refuse to produce ID, you can be arrested. Then, if you resist arrest, then you can be charged.” 

When a designated area was declared in their electorate on March 5, Ms De Vietri alerted her community of the details via Instagram. 

She also raised racial profiling concerns, citing findings from the Centre Against Racial Profiling that Aboriginal people are 11 times more likely to be searched than people perceived to be white. 

Ilo Diaz, a representative from the Centre Against Racial Profiling, shared that the expansions of police power are a “massive intrusion into people's right to privacy” that will cause racial profiling. 

“They don't work, and they harm our communities, particularly communities of colour,” he said. 

The Centre Against Racial Profiling has published findings on their website revealing that although rates of weapons found in searches of racialised groups are roughly equivalent to, or less than, the find rates of white people, these demographics are more likely to be searched by police without cause. 

Mr Diaz stated that designated areas should not exist due to these harms. 

“There is no middle ground to this legislation. There is no better way.” 

In an article published in the Age on March 15, Deputy Commissioner of Regional Operations Bob Hill stated that “these searches are about all protecting the community. If you are not carrying a weapon, then there’s nothing to worry about.” 

Mr Diaz combatted this statement by highlighting the long-term effects of negative police contact on racialised communities. 

“It causes more trauma on someone who already doesn't have a good relationship with police, and these designated areas, they're targeted at exactly these cohorts,” he said. 

Therefore, the State Government’s decision to extend the maximum declaration period could allow these communities to be targeted by police long-term. Ms De Vietri said this decision by the state government points towards further expansion to police powers in future. 

“The Labor state government is very much at the beck and call of this race to the bottom approach to law-and-order. They are trying to look tough on crime, and in the process, they are doing a lot of damage to the community,” they said. 

Mr Diaz has stated that The Centre Against Racial Profiling will continue to disseminate information about active designated areas in Victoria to promote community awareness under the new amendments.