Victoria Police has publicly admitted to a significant failure in its use of wide-ranging search powers, confirming it conducted a series of non-compliant weapons search operations over an eight-year period. The force will now inform the state's independent anti-corruption commission of the breaches.
Scope of the Non-Compliant Operations
The admission follows an internal audit and inquiries from Guardian Australia. Police have identified 23 separate occasions where designated area search powers were used without full legal compliance. These operations date back eight years, with the most recent breaches occurring as late as November of this year.
While the overwhelming majority of over 200 weapons search operations in the period were valid, these specific failures have wide implications. Hundreds of individuals were potentially searched without proper authorisation during the non-compliant operations. Crucially, the administrative errors led to 33 people being charged or fined, all of whom will now be contacted by police and advised they can appeal.
How the Legal Breaches Occurred
Under Victoria's designated area laws, police can search anyone entering a specified zone for weapons during a set time, typically using wands or pat-downs. Most such searches fall under Operation Omni. However, the law sets strict conditions for declaring these areas.
A police spokesperson stated most issues stemmed from administrative errors, such as public notices failing to include the name of the relevant event. In four specific cases uncovered by Guardian Australia, operations were advertised on a police website but not published in the government gazette as legally required. These related to protests in Melbourne's CBD on 22 November, 15 November, 19 October, and 13 September.
Other breaches included searches conducted outside designated event hours and operations over multiple days that were not properly linked to a specific event as the law demands.
Reactions and Calls for Accountability
Victoria Police has stated it has strengthened its internal processes and that recent legislative reforms will help prevent future issues. It also clarified that a recently announced six-month weapons search operation in the city is unaffected.
However, the compliance failures have sparked serious concern from civil rights advocates. Ilo Diaz from the Centre Against Racial Profiling argued the breaches prove police should not have been granted increased powers. "These invalid designated areas show that we cannot trust Victoria Police with these powers," Diaz said. "If these designated areas remain unchallenged, it will be communities of colour who will be impacted most."
Diaz emphasised that the errors were only uncovered due to public scrutiny, stating, "this shows that if it wasn't for people looking through the government gazette, this would never have been picked up." The ongoing audit may yet reveal further non-compliant operations as the force continues its review.
