Jack's Law — Random Metal Detector Search Powers

Labor commitment, announced on 16 September 2026 by Premier Ben Carroll, to introduce 'Jack's Law' in Victoria. The law would allow police and protective services officers to use handheld metal detector wands to search people in public places for knives without a warrant and without requiring reasonable suspicion. Equivalent laws already operate in Queensland, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania. Responses: Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Nerita Waight described it as copycat social policy making for votes and said it would be another costly failed initiative that would see Aboriginal communities unfairly targeted, and that it conflicts with human rights obligations; VALS cited 2024 Racial Profiling Data Monitoring Project findings that Victoria Police search Aboriginal people at 15 times the rate of Caucasian people. Greens justice spokesperson Katherine Copsey said the policy lacks evidence and that young people, First Nations people and communities of colour would bear disproportionate impacts. Supporters of such laws in other states argue they deter knife carrying and allow early intervention before weapons are used.