05-06-2025
Record number of machetes seized in Victoria this year, police say
Police have seized a record number of illegal knives from Victorian streets this year, with an average of 44 confiscated every day.
As of this week, Victoria Police said it had seized 6,876 blades, machetes and zombie knives, with about three-quarters taken from people in metropolitan Melbourne.
The state police force's publication of illegal knife seizures on Friday comes amid a push by the state government and law enforcement to drive down knife crime.
This includes a ban on the sale of machetes from stores across the state, which took effect last week.
Police said the number of knives seized this year was expected to pass the 2024 total of 14,805 — an average of 40 per day.
The force said there had been a 31 per cent increase in knives it's seized and destroyed since 2015.
"Recent incidents, including the Northland youth gang fight and a mass stabbing in Bairnsdale, have understandably heightened community concern around the prevalence of knives in the community," a police spokesperson said.
The Northland shopping centre brawl involving seven young males in Preston on May 25 sent frightened shoppers fleeing the complex or hiding in stores.
In the same week, a woman in Bairnsdale in the state's east allegedly stabbed four men.
Earlier this week, two teenagers were injured in a suspected machete attack in the Victorian town of Shepparton.
Police said officers conducted regular "designated weapons search operations" at busy community locations, including 11 so far this year at transport hubs and shopping centres.
During the search operations this year, officers have seized 59 illegal knives this way, police said.
"While this is only a very small percentage of the almost 6,900 edged weapons seized this year, these operations remain integral to both preventing people carrying knives and ensuring the community feels safe," police said.
