The Victorian premier has announced a change in policy, stating that a re-elected Labor government would allow police and protective services officers to stop and search individuals for knives using handheld metal detectors. This decision aligns with a previous commitment by the Coalition opposition to adopt Queensland's Jack's Law, named after 17-year-old Jack Beasley, who was fatally stabbed in Surfers Paradise in 2019. Under the new policy, police and PSOs would be given 1,200 additional handheld metal-detecting wands to be used on individuals in public places starting early next year. Police Minister Paul Edbrooke stated, "Anywhere, anytime," emphasizing the broad scope of the new powers. The move has received bipartisan support, despite concerns from criminologists and human rights advocates who argue that such laws may not effectively reduce violence. Sarah Schwartz, the legal director of the Human Rights Law Centre, criticized Premier Ben Carroll for "ignoring the evidence and yielding to pressure in a race to the bottom to suppress democratic freedoms and human rights." She warned that the new powers could lead to police harassment and the targeting of marginalized groups, while failing to enhance community safety. A Griffith University study of a 12-month trial of Jack's Law on the Gold Coast between 2021–22 found no reduction in violence as a result of the searches, and noted that they risked human rights. Swinburne University criminologist Joel McGregor stated that "tough-on-crime policies" would not effectively address the underlying causes of crime, particularly among young people. He noted that while police might find and remove weapons, it does not address the reasons why individuals carry them. In Victoria, police are currently only authorized to perform warrantless pat-down searches in "designated areas." A recent federal court ruling deemed a six-month designation of the CBD as a designated area invalid. Premier Carroll said the government would work with legal experts to ensure Jack's Law is "watertight," stating, "Victorians are sick of knife crime, and so am I." Jack's Law has also been adopted in Tasmania, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory, following advocacy by Jack's parents. In New South Wales, warrantless search powers apply only in declared designated areas. Victorian Labor's shift marks a significant change for the state government, which previously resisted expanding search powers under former leader Jacinta Allan. After meeting with Beasley's parents in September 2025, then-police minister Anthony Carbines stated that Victoria's existing search powers were "safe and effective." Jack’s father, Brett Beasley, welcomed the change, saying, "It’s about bloody time." However, data from Queensland police showed that 77% of those searched were male, and 22.6% of those with a known ethnic origin were Indigenous, despite their making up only 4.6% of the population. In Victoria, just over 1% of searches in designated areas found illicit items.