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‘Political step’ or ‘invaluable instrument’? The police have the power to search without a warrant
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‘Political step’ or ‘invaluable instrument’? The police have the power to search without a warrant

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For the next six months, police in Melbourne will have the power to stop and search people without a warrant. According to them, this will be an invaluable tool in taking guns off the streets.
But experts have questioned whether the rules go too far and have raised concerns that they could be used to target certain groups.
From Sunday, police and security officers will be able to exercise powers within the Melbourne CBD, Docklands, Southbank, the sporting precinct and parts of South Melbourne. The powers expire on May 29, 2026.
“These operations are invaluable in helping police remove guns from the streets as knife crime has increased in Victoria,” a Victoria Police spokesperson told SBS News.
Melbourne Mayor Nicholas Reece said he welcomed the move and that council was in favor of the introduction of a “circuit breaker”.
“This is very much welcomed by us. We have seen a 20 per cent increase in crime in the central city in the last 12 months. That is a fact,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
RMIT assistant dean of social science research and policy Dr Kathryn Daley has told SBS it is “almost entirely” a political move as Victoria heads to the polls at the end of next year.
“(Youth) crime has become a really politicized problem. The government wants to be seen as doing that, and the police need to be seen as doing that,” she said.
Earlier this month, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan introduced ‘adult time for violent crime’ laws, with children as young as 14 potentially facing life sentences under the proposed changes.

Then Opposition Leader Brad Battin said at the time: “The Prime Minister is chasing a new headline with no plan to see this through and make it happen.”

From Sunday, police and security officers will be able to search people without a warrant in the Melbourne CBD, Docklands, Southbank, the sporting precinct and parts of South Melbourne. Credit: Victoria Police

According to the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency, the number of criminal incidents recorded by Victoria Police in the year to June 30, 2025 was 483,583, compared to 408,930 the year before, marking an increase of 18.3 per cent.

Property crimes and deception are the largest crime category in the state at 66 percent. This includes theft, burglary and arson, and such crimes are four times more common than crimes against the person, such as assault.
In September, Victoria Police reported that 0.07 per cent of the population was responsible for 40 per cent of crime, with teen recidivism identified as a major factor.
The warrantless search powers also include people under the age of 18, and Daley said young people are more likely to be in public areas such as the CBD because they have limited other places to socialise.
“They can’t go into bars, they are under 18. Often security guards move them into shopping centers because young people hanging around are seen as a bad sight,” she said.

“Young people coming together and congregating over the summer holidays will be targeted by police because people now see young people as potential gangs or criminals.”

Daley said even though police said if you’re not carrying a gun you don’t have to worry, it’s still humiliating to be searched.

“Imagine you’re sitting in Federation Square hanging out with your friends, and the police come up and knock you down, ask to take off your coat and search you. You may not have a gun, but that’s still a humiliating experience.”

The powers are “unprecedented”

Daley told SBS News: “The reality is that people feel unsafe and when people get scared they want to feel an increased police presence. But there is no evidence that these stop and frisk laws will actually make people safer.”

“(The powers are) a huge reach with no evidence behind it, and there is not even a suggestion that there is any kind of logic or basis for its geographical scope, but also for its duration.

“It’s a real slippery slope to people’s civil liberties and the rights and freedoms to move around public spaces.”

Inner Melbourne Community Legal (IMCL) has also warned the forces will infringe on the civil liberties and freedoms of people visiting the city.
IMCL chief executive Nadia Morales said the powers were “completely excessive”.
The powers give officers the ability to search a person or vehicle without a warrant, including asking someone to remove outer clothing or remove bags and belongings from their pockets.
Police can also conduct searches using an electronic wand, or patting people down.

Morales said: “For a city that claims to be the most livable in the world, it is a sad day indeed.”

Will unwarranted search powers target minorities?

A Victoria Police spokesperson said they have zero tolerance for racial profiling, echoing comments made earlier in the week following the publication of a report alleging racial profiling.
“Our officers are well trained to check a person’s behavior, not his or her background.”
However, Daley said, “In the past with stop and frisk laws, we knew that certain groups were overrepresented in the target population – especially racial minorities and youth.”

Recent data, released on Monday by the Center Against Racial Profiling (CARP), includes all searches carried out by Victoria Police in 2024 and recorded on the L19C forms – warrantless searches.

Project researchers found that Aboriginal people were 15 times more likely to be searched by Victoria police officers than white people, while people perceived as African were nine times more likely.
People perceived as Middle Eastern and people perceived as Pacific Islander were five times more likely to be searched than white people.
CARP founder Dr Tamar Hopkins said: “The data confirms that police search some racial groups at a much greater scale than white people.”
SBS contacted Allan and Victoria Police for further comment but they had not responded at the time of publication.

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