Source : Perth Now news
Almost 1500 weapons have been seized under landmark reforms that have made an impact across the country.
However Queensland remains Australia’s crime capital for the third straight year despite the success of Jack’s Law, which allows police to search using handheld metal detectors or wands in any public space without a warrant.
The Queensland government has revealed the reform’s impact, along with crime figures after the first full year of implementing its controversial “adult crime, adult time” laws.
Officers have scanned 198,469 people across the state under the Jack’s Law legislation.
They have seized 1439 weapons and charged 2934 people with 5810 offences since the Crisafulli government made Jack’s Law powers permanent and rolled them out to all public places in July 2025.
In Brisbane alone, police have scanned 54,391 people, seized 315 weapons and charged 708 people with 1468 offences.
”When you look at the over 1400 weapons that have been seized, and you walk amongst our community, you just don’t think people are carrying knives, but they are,” deputy premier Jarrod Bleijie said on Friday.
The law was named after 17-year-old Jack Beasley, who was fatally stabbed during a night out with friends at Surfers Paradise in 2019.
”Jack’s legacy lives on through these life-saving laws, with every dangerous weapon seized a potential life saved and another family spared the heartbreak we have been forced to endure since Jack’s tragic death,” Jack’s father Brett Beasley said.
The law’s influence has spread across the country with NSW, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory adopting versions.
The Queensland government said Jack’s Law, along with its ”adult crime, adult time” sentencing reforms, was tackling a youth crime crisis.
The “adult time” laws allow for youth offenders as young as 10 to face a mandatory life sentence for serious offences such as murder.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed Queensland had about 12,000 fewer victims of crime in 2025, a 4.1 per cent decrease.
The Queensland government had claimed in July there had been a 9.6 per cent drop in crime victims based on police data.
David Crisafulli had vowed during the 2024 election campaign to stand down if crime victim numbers had not dropped in his first term as Queensland premier.
His tough-on-crime stance has continued with recent laws that ensured anyone who committed a serious offence while already on bail would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 months behind bars.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released this week revealed Queensland followed a national decline in victims across the country.
However Queensland still had the most victims of crime with 277,411 ahead of NSW’s 258,956 and Victoria’s 255,931.
