TRANSCRIPT
From the fatal Bondi knife attacks in Sydney's east - to the Wakeley Church stabbing in the city's southwest, change is on the way from the NSW government.
The state's Police Minister Yasmin Catley is vowing to combat the wave of knife crime the state experienced last month.
"We do not want to see the likes of these violent attacks in recent times and it is because of that this reform will ."
The new laws would raise the legal age for a person to buy a knife from 16 to 18, and make it illegal to sell a knife to anyone under age - with some exceptions.
Chief among the proposals - to give police expanded powers to search or use metal-detection wands on a person without reasonable suspicion or warrant in public areas.
The powers can be activated where a weapons offence took place in any location during the past six months.
Here's New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns.
"The fear they may be wanded or searched or scanned at a NSW train station we hope changes the culture where a young person decides not to take a knife or stabbing implement with them."
The proposals are modelled on Queensland's Jack's Law, which passed last year following the stabbing death of teenager Jack Beasley on the Gold Coast in 2019.
His parents met with NSW leaders last week in their bid to implement Jack's Law nationwide. Next, they hope to target Victoria.
But these so-called "extraordinary" powers have caused concern for some lawyers and civil liberty groups.
Samantha Lee, a senior solicitor with Redfern Legal Centre, says there's no evidence that expansive police powers will actually deter knife crime.
Instead, she says, it places certain communities at risk of being overpoliced and racially profiled.
"Well there's plenty of research to demonstrate that First Nations people and people from low socio-economic circumstances are more policed than others and when you introduce new police laws it is those communities who will be impacted the most."
The state's attorney general, Michael Daley, has defended the proposals and believes they send a strong message to people thinking of taking a knife with them when they leave their home.
"These are carefully crafted, proportionate, well considered measures to make sure we keep the pressure on people who think it's ok to walk out the door with a knife without a reasonable excuse."
For the Sikh community who carry a kirpan, a small dagger, as a requirement of their faith, they also hold some reservations around the amendments.
While they believe the majority of police officers are aware of the religious significance attached to it, they're concerned there's not enough community awareness about the kirpan.
Following a spate of knife attacks in the state, Vice President of the National Sikh Council of Australia, Amarinder Singh Bajwa, says he hopes the public won't express heightened panic if they see a kirpan.
"The community needs to know about our faith. It is a symbol of our dignity as well as the symbol of our protection."
The proposed reforms are expected to pass through the state parliament.
