Police force around people to randomly look for a weapon without an order in a public place has been made permanent in Queensland, despite worries, the MES-related crime will not reduce.
Known as Jack’s Law, the legislation was mentioned in honor of Queensland -Teen Jack Beasley, who was stabbed in 2019 and killed at the Gold Coast while one night out with friends.
Jack Beasley was killed in a stabbing attack in Surfers Paradise. ((Delivered))
This is what changes
The legislation adopted on Wednesday expands Jack’s law to allow the police to request authority from a senior officer to scan a person on a knife or weapon in a public place.
According to the new legislation, officers can use a handheld scanner in a “relevant location” without the need to request the authorization of a higher officer.
A “relevant place” is defined as a recognized building, public transport station, public transport vehicle, shopping buildings, safe night area, shopping center, sports or entertainment location.
The police say that 1,100 weapons were found under the law of Jack. ((Leveld: Queensland Police Service))
The police no longer have to offer to inform people who are scanned or a manager or resident of a place where people are scanned.
According to the changes, the police commissioner is no longer obliged to publish information about any authority granted on the police website within two months, but this will still be included in the annual report.
The amendment expands the powers after October 2026, when they would expire.
“We have promised that we would make this life-saving legislation permanent and today we do not do that alone, but we are expanding it everywhere from the back of police intelligence,” “
Police and Purdie Minister said.
Jack’s father, Brett Beasley, described Jack’s law as “one of the most powerful” introduced in Queensland.
“We are very proud,” he said. “We looked down on Jack every day and we know that Jack would be proud of what we did for him.”
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The police first got the power to use a handheld scanner without a command to detect whether a person had a knife as part of a process in two safe night areas on the Gold Coast in 2021.
That process was then expanded to all safe night areas and public transport stations in the entire state.
Further changes to the law Last year, the process was extended to more public places, including shopping centers, shopping buildings, sports and entertainment locations, recognized buildings and railway lines.
What have the results been so far?
The police carried out 116,000 scans between 2 April 2023 to 5 June 2025, which resulted in the seizure of 1,100 weapons.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Rhys Wildman said it was a “enormous care” that 1 percent of the Scandeners turned out to be wearing weapons.
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“These laws are used daily throughout Queensland and ensure that they can keep our community safe and also protect our officers,” he said.
He said that the exercise had led to more than 3,000 perpetrators being charged with violations with regard to weapons, drugs and other matters.
What has been the reaction?
Professor Janet Ransley of Griffith University, who was co-author of a revision of the 12-month process of Jack’s Law on the Gold Coast, said that making the laws permanent will not achieve what the government promises “.
“The government promises safer communities and a reduction in violence, but the only publicly available data that relates to the use of magic racks shows that they have no influence on reducing knife -related violence,” she said.
“Simply removing knives from the community does not translate into reduced violence.“
Janet Ransley says that taking knives from the streets does not lead to a reduction in crime. ((Delivered: Griffith University))
Professor Ransley said there was no doubt that Magic witers were effective in detecting knives, but there had to be further steps to address underlying drivers that give people to wear knives.
“We see the distraction of important resources and important police time to a tactic that has no evidence to support this,” she said.
When he was asked about the need for an independent assessment, Mr Purdie said that the laws had been tested and guaranteed cameras and compulsory reporting by the police goods for five years.
“I think what the police have shown in recent years that they can be trusted to use this legislation,”
Said Purdie.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Wildman said that since the trial two complaints against the police had been filed, which had resulted in no further action and the scans were considered lawful and justified.
“What that emphasizes is the professionalism with which our frontline police operates these laws every day,” he said.
Jack Beasley was killed in a stabbing attack in Surfers Paradise. ((Delivered))
In an entry to the committee that should consider the changes, the Queensland Human Rights Commission advised to postpone the right of Jack permanently until there was a further independent revision to its efficacy in detecting knife crime.
It submitted the use of handheld scanners without order or reasonable suspicion “substantial limitations for human rights”.
Then Purdie says that he trusts the police on the laws they need to take knives off the street and keep people safe. ((ABC News: Lucas Hill))
Purdie said he believed that the government “had found the balance between civil liberties and ensured that our police have the power to stop people wearing knives.”
“The statistics speak for themselves,” he said. “We trust the police with these more difficult laws because we are concerned about reducing victims.”
Katherine Hayes says that many young people would not be aware that wearing a knife is a crime. ((ABC News: Chris Gillette))
Chief Executive Katherine Hayes from the Youth Advocacy Center Katherine Hayes expressed his concern about removing the option to give a person an information message about the search that helped to inform young people about their rights in intimidating situations “.
“We see that many of our customers do not know their most fundamental legal rights and legal obligations and that most of them do not know that it is a crime to wear a knife,” she said.
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