Overview
- Starting Sunday, 30 November, to 29 May 2026, the declaration covers the CBD, Docklands, Southbank, the sporting precinct, and parts of East and South Melbourne.
- Within the zone, police and PSOs can stop and search people and vehicles without reasonable suspicion, use wands or pat‑downs, and require removal of outer clothing or face coverings.
- It is the first declaration of this duration under recent changes to the Control of Weapons Act, under which obstructing a search or failing to comply with a direction to leave is an offence.
- Police describe the powers as an invaluable tool to curb rising knife crime and cited earlier CBD operations that seized 47 weapons; Melbourne’s lord mayor backs the measure and the premier has defended it.
- Civil liberties groups and researchers call the move an overreach, pointing to Liberty Victoria’s finding that only about 1% of designated‑area searches uncovered illicit items and CARP data showing stark racial disparities in searches.