Violent offenders using knives may be locked up for longer as a record number of machetes and other blades are seized, mostly from criminals and youth gang members.
Police have confiscated more than 15,000 knives, machetes and zombie knives in Victoria in 2025, an average of 47 per day.
Most were seized in searches related to known offenders, while officers also targeted youth gang members, Victoria Police said.
An additional 6000 knives were surrendered through a machete amnesty.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said 21,000 weapons taken off the streets highlighted the scale of the state’s knife crime “problem”.
“I am acutely aware of how much concern knife crime generates in the Victorian community, with multiple recent incidents striking at the heart of how safe people are and how safe people feel,” he said.
A standalone knife crime offence that could land criminals in jail for up to three extra years has been put forward by the Victorian government.
It would apply to someone accused of a public knife fight, who would currently be charged with affray but under the plan could also face using a knife to commit an indictable offence.
Premier Jacinta Allan said the laws would be introduced to parliament before the end of 2025.
“This strengthens and toughens the consequences for people who engage in this brazen and violent offending,” she said.
Mr Bush said having certainty about the consequence of illegal behaviour was an important deterrence, particularly for youth.
Law and order has dominated the lead-up to the November 2026 Victorian election, with offences up 15.7 per cent statewide in the 12 months to mid-2025 and retail incidents surging more than 20 per cent.
A knife fight between rival gangs at Melbourne’s Northland Shopping Centre in May sent people running for their lives and led to the government fast-tracking an interim ban on machete sales.
Before he was ousted as Opposition leader, Brad Battin pledged to fund an extra 200 protective service officers for “strike teams” to patrol high-risk shopping centres and precincts if elected, on top of their role monitoring train stations.
The coalition’s retail crime plan echoes several of Labor’s promises including workplace protection orders that ban abusive or violent offenders from shops.
It also includes a digital platform staff and employers can use to report abuse and crime, upload evidence and apply for orders directly through Victoria Police.
The state government recently unveiled a crime crackdown including tougher penalties for offenders as young as 14, criminals who recruit children and anyone who attacks customer-facing workers.
This summer, protective service officers will be voluntarily deployed to shopping centres and the government has funded handheld metal detectors to unearth weapons.
Police union boss Wayne Gatt slammed the government’s plan as a “brain fart”, while the Australian Retailers Association and National Retail Association welcomed the bipartisan commitment to curb retail crime.
