The Miles Government had moved to bring forward the legislation after initially introducing a bill in November.
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said too many times the community has seen the devastation which can result from someone possessing a knife, including lifelong trauma for the victims, their families, and the community.
“Therefore, the Queensland Police Service welcomes the new laws as another tool for police to use in ensuring the best protection for the community,” Carroll said.
“We are relentlessly focused on disrupting dangerous behaviour to ensure the community feels safe not only in their own homes but also in public.”
The legislation follows the introduction of “Jack’s Law” in 2023, created after the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Jack Beasley on the Gold Coast in 2019.
It also expanded legislation to allow police to use personal metal detectors or “wands” to search people in so-called Safe Night Precincts as well as on public transport.
The legislation follows Victoria’s efforts in October to reduce skyrocketing incidences of knife-related crime involving school-age youngsters, with a joint campaign between Crime Stoppers Victoria and Victoria Police.
According to the Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit, hospital admissions related to knife assaults more than doubled in under three years, with 820 patients – or upwards of two people a day – arriving at state emergency departments in the 2021-2022 financial year, including 91 young people aged between 2 and 18.
In June, The Age revealed that 24 stabbings had been reported to that point in Victoria in 2023, including a wild melee in a public park between groups of teenagers that left a 13-year-old and a 14-year–old with serious injuries.
The Victorian campaign included legal FAQs, knife-carrying warning signs, quotes and stories from students, Victoria Police officers, and community members impacted by knife crime, to highlight the far-reaching consequences of knife carrying.
In this first-hand account by a witness to a friend's stabbing, he describes the devastating consequences of a young high-schooler's moment of mind-blowing madness.
For educators, the concern is knives are everywhere, including on school grounds, where many students are carrying them and are more than prepared to use them in fights.
Stella Smith, CEO of Crime Stoppers Victoria told EducationHQ in October that there has been an increase in youth crime, and in particular, violent youth crime in the last few years.
“There is simply no excuse for carrying a knife illegally – and through this campaign we want to show the potential devastating consequences of knife crime,” Smith said.
In Queensland, the new legislation means it is now an offence to sell knives, gel blasters and edged weapons like machetes, axes and swords to juveniles.
To further curb the notoriety of weapon possession among young people, it will be prohibited for knives and other items to be advertised in a violent manner or in a way that suggests they are ‘suitable for combat’.
The maximum penalty for possession of a weapon in public will increase from 12 to 18 months’ imprisonment for a first offence, increasing from 18 months to two years for the second offence.
The reforms have been welcomed by Jack Beasley’s father Brett, but he said more legislative changes were necessary.
“I believe that the whole Youth Justice Act needs to be rewritten. I mean, the kids back in those days aren’t the same as they are today,” he said when asked about juvenile crime.
“Knives and other dangerous items have no place in a young person’s life.
“We have to combat knife crime from every angle; by educating young people about the dangers of knives and by restricting the availability of knives to young people.”
Michael Stewart, who lost his teenage son Balin in a fatal stabbing, called the new laws a “baby step” but believed education remained a priority.
He runs the Balin Stewart Foundation that aims to reduce knife crime and people carrying weapons through education.
“We were blindsided so awareness is something that’s dear to our heart,” Stewart said on Wednesday.
“My main focus is educating teens and getting teens to actually not want to carry a knife, that’s the No.1 step.
“If other kids go ‘hey, if you’re carrying a knife, I’m going to tell police on you, it’s not something that we put up with in our community’, then that’s the way to go.”
Despite a restriction on the sale of certain knives and firearms to minors, little can be done to halt the prevalence of household knives being regularly brandished with vicious, and sometimes fatal, consequences in street crimes and brawls, but also in schoolyard disputes.
In last year’s Victorian knife crime education campaign, one student involved in the consultation leading up to the campaign implored those around him to be better informed.
“I want the community to be more educated when it comes to knife crime, what it is, what can be classified as knife crime and what a criminal record can mean for your life,” he said.
“I’m grateful to have this opportunity to use my student voice to help my community.”
The students identified that fear, force, and control may be the main motives for those carrying an illegal knife and so co-created campaign messaging and concepts to encourage potential offenders to consider the dire consequences of picking up a knife.
Police have seized more than 450 knives and dangerous weapons since the introduction of Jack’s Law in Queensland.
Police Minister Mark Ryan said the new laws further support the impact Jack’s Law is having on community safety.
Generally, it is illegal to physically possess a knife in a public place or a school in Queensland unless you have a ‘reasonable excuse’.
In a landmark case in August last year, a court found the statewide ban against carrying religious weapons on school grounds to be racial discrimination after a Sikh woman argued the ban that stopped her carrying a ceremonial sword, the kirpan, was discriminatory.
Education Minister Grace Grace admitted at the time, the department had not been prepared for the court’s decision and the Government as a whole was considering its long-term ramifications.
The Queensland Government has committed $6 million towards knife prevention and education campaigns, including $500,000 over two years to the Beasley Foundation and $200,000 over two years to the Balin Stewart Foundation.
For more information on the Balin Stewart Foundation, click here.
For more information on the Beasley Foundation, click here.
A comprehensive set of student, teacher and parent/guardian resources are now available on the Crime Stoppers Victoria website here.
(with AAP)
