Queensland has passed landmark legislation granting police officers permanent powers to search people for weapons in public spaces without a warrant.
Introduced as a trial in April 2023 to honour 17-year-old Jack Beasley, who was killed during a knife attack in 2019, Jack’s Law allowed Queensland police officers to use hand-held metal detectors (wanding devices) to detect and seize concealed weapons from random individuals.
The law was applied to public transport stations, vehicles, and 15 designated entertainment areas across the state.
While Jack’s Law permitted police officers to conduct body searches without a warrant, the searches required authorisation from a senior officer following proper consideration.
In August 2024, the former state Labor government passed a community safety bill that expanded the scope of Jack’s Law to include areas such as shopping centres, retail premises, sporting and entertainment venues, licensed venues and rail lines.
The bill also extended Jack’s Law’s expiry date from April 30, 2025, to Oct. 30, 2026.
However, under the latest changes, Jack’s Law will now apply to all public places and remain in effect indefinitely, surpassing the previously set deadline.
According to data from the Queensland government, police conducted 116,287 body scans between April 2, 2023, and June 5, 2025.
Government’s Response
Queensland Police Minister Dan Purdie said the new law was one critical step closer to ensuring a safer community.“It will provide a strong deterrent for those who wish to carry dangerous weapons in our community,” he said.
“It will provide efficiencies by streamlining the underlying framework.
“The bill will remove the onerous authorisation environment in prescribed relevant places within the current framework and remove the requirement to notify a manager or occupier of a premises prior to exercising Jack’s Law.”
Jack’s parents, Brett and Belinda Beasley, welcomed the news and thanked the Liberal National state government for their support.
“Today is not just about making new laws, it’s about protecting people, and we’re proud that Jack’s legacy is about making Queensland safer.”
Criticisms of the New Law
In a recent submission (pdf), the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP) raised concerns that expanding Jack’s Law permanently will result in a significantly higher number of young people entering the youth justice system for non-weapon-related offences.Citing data from Queensland police, the QATSICPP stated that during trials in two locations, only 36 percent of charges resulting from wand searches were weapon-related, while 52.7 percent were drug-related.
“QATSICPP is concerned that without appropriate safeguards in place, wanding could lead to unnecessary criminalisation of individuals for minor offences rather than effectively addressing knife crime,” the submission said.
The human rights organisation argued that Jack’s Law undermines the protection of individual liberty by allowing police officers to conduct body searches without reasonable suspicion.
The QCCL was also concerned that police officers could abuse the power granted under Jack’s Law to target individuals based on prejudices and generalisations about people in the community.
