NSW police to be given powers to search people for knives with no warrant under new proposal

"Wanding" laws already in place in Queensland will be introduced in NSW allowing police to search for knives without a warrant in transport hubs and shopping centres.

Under the NSW plans, police will be able to search without a warrant in designated areas, including transport hubs, shopping centres and nightlife and entertainment precincts. Source: AAP / Dan Himbrechts

Key Points

• New wanding laws will allow NSW police to better stop and search people for knives.
• The powers allow police to use hand-held metal detectors without warrants in some areas.
• The powers can be used "in circumstances where a relevant weapons offence/knife crime have occurred within the past six months".

NSW police will be able to stop and search people for a weapon without reasonable suspicion or a warrant under new laws designed to crack down on youth crime.

Premier Chris Minns says the government will implement so-called "wanding" powers in Australia's most populous state after a spate of high-profile knife attacks that shocked Sydney, including one in the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre where six people died last month.

The powers, hailed as a success in Queensland, allow police to use hand-held metal detectors without warrants in designated night precincts and around transit hubs.

"In recent weeks and months, we have all borne witness to the devastating outcomes of knife-related violence," Minns said.

In recent weeks and months, we have all borne witness to the devastating outcomes of knife-related violence.

Chris Minns

The legislation will be modelled on police search powers used in Queensland and based on Jack's Law, named after teenager Jack Beasley who was stabbed to death on the Gold Coast in 2019.

More than 500 weapons have been taken off the streets since the reforms were introduced in March 2023.

Under the NSW plans revealed on Monday, police will be able to search without a warrant in designated areas, including transport hubs, shopping centres and nightlife and entertainment precincts.

The powers can be used "in circumstances where a relevant weapons offence/knife crime have occurred within the past six months," the government said.

The authority will last for 12 hours, with an option to extend.

The reforms will also make it illegal to sell knives to a child under the age of 18, with exemptions for those who need a knife for work or study.

Attorney-General Michael Daley said there were too many young people "who think it is okay to put a knife into their pocket to carry out their daily business".

"The worrying thing is that, if they are open to carrying it, then they are probably open to using it," he said.

"We want people to stop carrying knives, to leave them at home and to stop using them."