Overview
- Community organiser Tarneen Onus Browne and performance artist Benny Zable have lodged a Federal Court case, represented by the Human Rights Law Centre, to quash Victoria Police’s designated-area declaration.
- The declaration empowers officers to stop and search people or vehicles without a warrant, conduct wand or pat‑down searches, order removal of face coverings and direct non‑compliant individuals to leave the area.
- Six‑month powers now cover the CBD and surrounding precincts including Docklands, Southbank, East Melbourne, the MCG, the Shrine of Remembrance, Carlton Gardens and South Melbourne until May 29, 2026.
- The challenge argues the designation breaches the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and that mask‑removal directions at protests infringe the implied freedom of political communication, with an expedited hearing sought before the 26 January Invasion Day events.
- Victoria Police defends the measure as a response to rising knife crime and says it has zero tolerance for racial profiling, while advocacy data report low search yields and racial disparities in who is searched.