Police can already scan you for a knife without any reason to suspect you’re carrying one. A new bill will make that power permanent, extend how long it can run, and widen where it applies. Here’s what’s changing.
Since late 2024, NSW police have been able to set up "designated areas"—train stations, shopping centres, sporting venues, and other public places—where officers can stop and scan people with hand-held metal detectors for concealed knives, without needing any particular reason to suspect a specific person. What began as a temporary, time-limited trial is now set to become a permanent fixture of policing in this state, with wider powers than before. If you spend time in Sydney’s public spaces, transport network, or entertainment precincts, it’s worth understanding exactly what officers can and can’t do.
The wanding regime sits under Part 4A of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW). It was introduced with a built-in expiry: the powers were due to lapse three years after commencement. A bill introduced in NSW Parliament in late June 2026 removes that sunset clause entirely, following a government-commissioned statutory review and recommendations arising from the coronial inquest into the 2024 Bondi Junction stabbing.
In other words, a power that was sold to the public as temporary and exceptional is being converted into an ordinary, ongoing part of policing in NSW.
Alongside removing the expiry date, the amending legislation broadens the scheme in several practical ways:
Within a declared area, an officer can require you to stop and submit to a scan without needing to point to any particular suspicion about you individually—the power is deliberately suspicion-free within the zone. If the scanner reacts, police can require you to produce whatever triggered it, and can then scan you again. Refusing to comply with a lawful wanding request is itself an offence, carrying a fine of up to $5,500.
The law does still require the process to be carried out in the least invasive manner reasonably possible, and it does not authorise a search of your bags or pockets—wanding is confined to scanning the outside of your body and clothing. If a scan or a produced item gives police a genuine basis to suspect you’re carrying a weapon, that can escalate into a search and potential charges under separate knife offence provisions, which already carry penalties of up to four years’ imprisonment and fines running into the thousands of dollars.
Government figures cited when the bill was introduced show tens of thousands of scans conducted since the scheme began, with several hundred weapons seized and a couple of hundred people charged as a result. Framed against the total number of scans carried out, concealed weapons are found in only a small fraction of cases—a point critics have raised in arguing the scheme’s benefit doesn’t match its intrusiveness.
Advocacy groups, including Aboriginal legal advocacy organisations, have raised concerns that a power exercised without any requirement for individual suspicion inevitably relies on officer discretion—and that discretion doesn’t fall evenly. Data showing a significant rise in charges against Aboriginal people since laws like this were introduced has fuelled arguments that wanding operations can escalate minor or unrelated interactions into further charges, even where no weapon is ultimately found.
Because these powers don’t depend on any suspicion about you personally, being scanned—or even briefly detained for the scan—doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. But an interaction that starts as a routine wanding can escalate quickly: an item in your bag or pocket that sets off the scanner, a nervous reaction, or an unrelated outstanding matter can all turn a 30-second scan into something more serious. Knowing your rights during the process, and what police are and aren’t entitled to do, matters more as these powers become permanent and more widespread.
If you’ve been scanned, searched, charged, or detained as part of a knife wanding operation—or any interaction that followed one—it’s important to get advice quickly. Our experienced criminal lawyers can review whether the police followed the correct process, whether any resulting charge can be challenged, and whether you may be eligible for a Section 10 non-conviction order. Contact NS Criminal Lawyers for a confidential discussion about your situation.
This article provides general information only and is not legal advice. The law referred to is current in New South Wales as at the date of publication. For advice about your circumstances, please contact a qualified criminal defence lawyer.
