Electric Trike#Victoria #police expand #warrantless #search powers over large parts of #Melbourne with no reason given.
Victoria police has declared the entirety of #MelbourneCBD and large parts of East and South Melbourne as a “designated area” for six months, which provides officers with greater search powers without a warrant.
The declaration makes it an offence for anyone to stop or resist police from conducting “pat down” searches, or removing “items of of outer clothing such as headwear, scarves, jackets, etc”:
It is an offence under the Act to obstruct or hinder a police officer or protective service officer in the exercise of a power to stop and search a person or vehicle or to fail to comply with a direction to leave the designated area.
The announcement also gives police the power to demand people remove face masks that may allow them to conceal their identity or protect themselves “from the effects of crowd-controlling substances”, such as pepper spray:
A police officer may also exercise their power under the Act to direct you to leave the designated area if you refuse to remove a face covering.
Designated areas are often declared to allow police to deal with major planned protests or demonstrations. In this case, the declaration has been made from 30 November to 29 May, 2026.
A reason for the six-month period has so far not been provided by Victoria Police.
The force has the power to make designated area declarations under section 10D (1) of the Control of Weapons Act 1990.
Marco Hackney
Ralph Hosking
Peter Riley
Tim Richards
Nigel Aves