Knives stashed in public places across Melbourne, police believe

In short:

Intelligence briefs show Victoria Police is concerned "communal weapons" are being stored by young people in public places across Melbourne.

The force estimates it seized more than 15,000 machetes, zombie knives and other knives in Victoria last year.

What's next?

Labor and the Coalition have both pledged to expand police stop-and-search powers to combat knife crime if elected at the state election in November.

Teenagers trying to skirt Victoria's machete ban are planning attacks using communal blades secretly stashed at some of the state's busiest train stations, police believe.

Victoria Police intelligence briefs obtained by the ABC show police are concerned the ban on owning machetes, introduced a year ago, has fuelled the growing trend among underage offenders.

The police reports, obtained through Freedom of Information laws, flagged a rise in "communal weapons storage" as a result at major public transport precincts across Melbourne, which have seen a spate of violent stabbings, bashings and carjackings in the past two years.

"It is highly likely offenders are storing weapons at railway stations for later use in commission of offences,"the report said.

But an "intelligence gap" means police do not know the true number of weapons, which often also include kitchen knives and gardening tools, being hidden in public places.

Australian Catholic University criminologist Nathan Ryan said young people were seeking to reduce the risk of being caught carrying illegal weapons.

"To counter the risk they've engaged in this hiding behaviour and essentially creating weapons caches around suitable locations or locations where they might commit a crime," he said.

Shadow Police Minister Brad Battin said knife crime was already "out of control" and that minors hiding weapons in public places put the community at greater risk.

"You have to assume the kids are putting them in there because they're easy to get to, easy access, places they can get to without a car and where we generally have the most incidents of knife crime," he said.

Premier Ben Carroll this week announced Labor will give police sweeping powers to stop and search anyone in public if re-elected.

The legislation, known as "Jack's Law", would bring Victoria in line with Queensland, where teenager Jack Beasely was fatally stabbed on the Gold Coast in 2019.

The opposition promised the reform in September last year, after the government picked up the Coalition's policy to ban machetes.

Criminologists and rights groups have argued there is little evidence to suggest expanded stop-and-search powers will lead to a reduction in violent offending.

Jack's Law seeks to address knife crime

Under current legislation, Victoria Police can only randomly search people for weapons inside pre-approved search zones between specified dates and times, which are often listed ahead of time in newspaper ads or posted to government websites.

Police Minister Paul Edbrooke said the new powers would give police the tools they needed to get dangerous blades off the street and encouraged people to report illegal weapons.

"Victorians are absolutely appalled by knife crime,"he said.

"Anyone who knows of a machete being kept in a public place should report it to Victoria Police."

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said members were "well aware" that people tried to hide weapons out in the community.

"As part of our regular patrols, Protective Services Officers conduct sweeps of railway station surrounds to detect weapons which are purposefully concealed from public view," she said.

The intelligence included a list of people known to police with previous weapons offences in the zones they planned to search.

Areas surrounding train stations, bus stops, shopping centres and Melbourne's CBD have been prominent search zones because of a spate of public knife fights and assaults, some of them fatal.

Crimes committed at train stations jumped from just under 8,000 offences in 2017 to 12,579 in the year to June 2026, according to Crime Statistics Agency data.

In March, 22-year-old security guard Aidan Becker was allegedly stabbed to death by a group of machete-wielding young people after he tried to stop them from attacking a schoolboy.

In 2023, a teenager fatally stabbed 16-year-old Pasawm Lyhym outside Sunshine train station.

The intelligence reports detail planned weapons searches that were prompted by dozens of knife attacks across Altona, Werribee, Morwell and Melbourne's CBD between late 2024 and mid-2025.

Among the attacks was a woman bashed and stabbed with a weapon so severely on Elizabeth Street that she was left fighting for life.

In another, two men bashed and stabbed another man because he refused to hand over his shoes.

Then in October last year, sushi chef Wan Lai was allegedly randomly stabbed on her way to work in Little Bourke Street.

Loading...Victoria Police seized 15,000 machetes, zombie knives and other knives last year.

The Jack's Law announcement this week came after potential life sentences were brought in for children convicted of murder, carjackings and violent assaults, as well as the tightening of the state's bail laws, which made it more difficult for repeat offenders to be released.

It is also again a crime to commit indictable offences — crimes that carry jail terms — while on bail.