The independent Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe has criticised a decision by police to expand search powers across inner Melbourne for six months, describing the move as “outrageous” and likely to lead to racial profiling.
Victoria police on Tuesday declared the CBD – along with parts of Docklands, Southbank, the sporting and entertainment precinct, East Melbourne and South Melbourne – as a “designated area” from Sunday until 29 May 2026.
This means police and protective services officers (PSOs) have the ability to randomly stop and search anyone without a warrant or reasonable grounds. Vehicles can also be searched.
The declaration was instantly met with criticism by human rights and legal groups, including Inner Melbourne Community Legal, which said it was unprecedented both in its geographic scope and for the length of time it was intended to apply for.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, on Wednesday defended the six-month declaration, saying it was consistent with a plan by the new chief commissioner, Mike Bush, to increase police visibility and reduce serious and violent crime by 5% each year.
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But Thorpe told ABC Radio Melbourne on Wednesday that First Nations people and other minority groups could be targeted by police as a result.
“It’s outrageous. This is unprecedented police powers. And I think Jacinta Allan is throwing us all under the bus,” Thorpe said.
She alleged racial profiling by police was a “massive problem in Victoria”, pointing to researched published by the Centre Against Racial Profiling on Monday. The research, based on data obtained from Victoria police under freedom of information laws, found people perceived by police to be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander were 15 times more likely to be searched than white people in 2024, but were less likely to be found with prohibited items.
It also found African community members were eight times more likely to be searched by police than white people, but also less likely to be found in possession of banned items.
“If you have black or brown skin, then you are going to be targeted by the police more than any non-black or brown, any white person,” Thorpe said.
“I’ve spoken to many mothers and grandmothers who are fearful of letting their kids out or their brothers or their uncles – simply because of the colour of their skin.
“This is just a desperate, desperate approach to trying to win racist votes.”
A police spokesperson on Wednesday reiterated the force had “zero tolerance towards racial profiling”, with officers “well trained to police in response to a person’s behaviour, not their background”.
Police also released an image of weapons seized during a three-day designated area operation run in the city earlier this year.
They said 47 weapons, including baseball bats, knuckle dusters, machetes and Stanley knives, were found on a “range of different individuals” through “wand searches, asking people to remove items from their pockets and bags and pat down searches”.
“Weapons search operations in the CBD earlier this year have led to the seizure of a significant number of edged weapons – preventing community harm,” the spokesperson said.
“To declare a designated area, there must be either an extensive history of weapon-related offending in the area, or police intelligence that indicates this measure will prevent likely offending.”
Allan said there were “strict oversight measures in place” to investigate allegations of racial profiling.
“This action by Victoria police is firmly focused on keeping everyone who comes into the city safe and that’s a right that I believe all people who come in and out of the city deserve,” Allan said.
