From 1 September 2025, machetes will be classified as prohibited weapons, meaning they will be banned for sale and possession in Victoria. Machetes can be broadly described as a cutting edge knife with a blade of more than 20 centimetres. However, the government will consult with industry on this definition before the ban starts, with kitchen knives not intended to be included. To lawfully possess a machete – for agriculture or hunting purposes, for example – you will need to apply for a permit. In Victoria, possessing a prohibited weapon can attract a sentence of up to two years imprisonment.
The machete ban is part of a broader package of laws aimed at addressing crime, particularly knife-related offences. The Government will also amend the Terrorism (Community Protection) and Control of Weapons Amendment Bill, which is currently before the Victorian Parliament, to allow the Chief Commissioner to declare a location a designated search area for up to six months, instead of 12 hours. This is a significant expansion of police powers.
From 1 September 2025, machetes will be classified as prohibited weapons, meaning they will be banned for sale and possession in Victoria. Machetes can be broadly described as a cutting edge knife with a blade of more than 20 centimetres. However, the government will consult with industry on this definition before the ban starts, with kitchen knives not intended to be included. To lawfully possess a machete – for agriculture or hunting purposes, for example – you will need to apply for a permit. In Victoria, possessing a prohibited weapon can attract a sentence of up to two years imprisonment.
The machete ban is part of a broader package of laws aimed at addressing crime, particularly knife-related offences. The Government will also amend the Terrorism (Community Protection) and Control of Weapons Amendment Bill, which is currently before the Victorian Parliament, to allow the Chief Commissioner to declare a location a designated search area for up to six months, instead of 12 hours. This is a significant expansion of police powers.
Currently, the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police can declare a location like a train station or a shopping centre a designated search area so police can search people without a warrant or reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and seize items. However, a place can only be declared a designated search area for 12 hours at a time.
Within a designated area, during the period of time declared, members of Victoria Police have the power to:
It is a separate offence to obstruct or hinder a search.
Critics of these amendments argue this policy will result in significant over-policing and racial profiling.
Currently, the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police can declare a location like a train station or a shopping centre a designated search area so police can search people without a warrant or reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and seize items. However, a place can only be declared a designated search area for 12 hours at a time.
Within a designated area, during the period of time declared, members of Victoria Police have the power to:
It is a separate offence to obstruct or hinder a search.
Critics of these amendments argue this policy will result in significant over-policing and racial profiling.
A remote WA prison holding mostly First Nations people is “unfit for purpose”, with people sleeping on the floors and cockroach infestations.
A number of Victorian prisons may have to be renovated or rebuilt after the Supreme Court found that no “open air” was being provided to inmates in multiple units.
The Liberal Queensland government has announced plans to significantly minimise the rights to vote for people in prison.
The death of a 16-year-old First Nations teenager in a notorious youth unit of an adult prison in Western Australia was preventable and predictable, and the result of “serious longstanding deficiencies in the system, a Coroner has found.
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