Police Wanding Powers in Australia: NSW's Designated Areas and Queensland's Jack's Law (2026)

Police in New South Wales and Queensland can require a person to submit to a hand-held scanner search without a warrant, but the two states' powers are structured differently. NSW's power applies inside police-declared designated areas; Queensland's applies at a defined list of public venues with no prior declaration.

Jurisdiction scope: This page addresses warrantless hand-held scanner ("wanding") powers in New South Wales and Queensland, the two jurisdictions where a specific scanner power has been verified, as at 21 July 2026. It notes Victoria's separate designated-area search power without asserting a scanner-specific reform one way or the other. This page does not address every Australian jurisdiction's search powers, and it is not legal advice about a specific search or detention.

New South Wales: Designated Areas Under LEPRA Part 4A

The Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW) contains a dedicated Part 4A, spanning ss 45D to 45R, that governs the warrantless use of a hand-held scanner. The operative power is s 45K, "Authorised use of hand-held scanner without warrant in designated areas": "A police officer may, without a warrant, require a person in a designated area to stop and submit to the use of a hand-held scanner." The power does not extend to using a scanner on board a public transport vehicle inside a designated area; s 45K(2) says so expressly, and a note to the section explains that a separate provision, s 45L, covers scanner use on board public transport vehicles in more limited circumstances. Which areas qualify as a "designated area" is governed by a separate provision setting the criteria a senior police officer must apply before making a declaration. This page does not state when Part 4A commenced or when its sunset clause takes effect; readers needing that information should confirm it directly against the current, in-force version of the Act.

Queensland: Jack's Law and a List of Relevant Places

Queensland's equivalent power, commonly referred to as "Jack's Law," is set out at Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 (Qld) s 39BA, "Use of hand held scanner without warrant in relevant places." Unlike the NSW model, it does not require police to first declare a designated area. Instead, the power applies directly at a defined list of "relevant places": licensed premises, a public transport station, a public transport vehicle, retail premises, a safe night precinct, a shopping centre, a sporting or entertainment venue, or a designated business and community precinct. Section 39BA(2) allows a police officer who starts to exercise the power at a relevant place to continue exercising it in a public place in relation to that same person, even after the person leaves the relevant place. This page does not state when Jack's Law became a permanent, statewide power, or when it expanded from its original trial locations; readers needing that detail should confirm it directly against the current, in-force version of the Act.

Victoria: A Separate Power, No Confirmed Scanner-Specific Reform

Victoria maintains its own designated-area search power under the Control of Weapons Act 1990 ss 10D-10L, allowing police to search a person in a declared area without a warrant in specified circumstances. This is a different, earlier framework from the hand-held scanner powers described above for NSW and Queensland. As at the date this page was verified, no 2024-25 reform introducing a comparable hand-held scanner power specific to Victoria could be confirmed from a primary source, and this page does not assert that such a reform does or does not exist; a reader needing the current, complete picture of Victorian search powers should confirm directly against the Control of Weapons Act 1990 and any amending legislation.

What a Wanding Power Does Not Do

Both the NSW and Queensland powers are confined by their own statutory limits. NSW's power operates only inside an area that has actually been declared a designated area; outside that area, the ordinary rules governing police search powers apply. Queensland's power operates only at the relevant places its legislation lists, or in a public place once the power has already started being exercised at one of those places. Neither provision authorises a general power to scan any person in any public place at any time. This page describes the structure of these powers; it does not advise a specific reader on how to respond to, or avoid, a scanner search, and any question about a specific encounter with police should be directed to a legal practitioner admitted in the relevant state or territory.

Why Two States Built Different Models for the Same Problem

NSW and Queensland arrived at broadly the same policy goal, letting police screen for weapons in high-risk public settings without needing a warrant for every individual search, by building structurally different legal mechanisms. NSW's designated-area model requires an upfront administrative step, a formal declaration against set criteria, before the power becomes available anywhere; this creates a documented, time-and-place-limited authorisation that can be checked after the fact against the criteria that justified it. Queensland's relevant-places model instead builds the authorisation into the class of location itself, a licensed venue or shopping centre is always a relevant place once the Act commenced there was no need for a preceding declaration for that category of location. Neither model is simply a copy of the other, and a comparison between the two states should not assume that the same set of places, or the same procedural safeguards, apply in both.

See how the items police search for are classified in prohibited weapons in Australia and knife laws in Australia. For the full cluster, see the Australia weapons law hub.

This page provides general legal information about warrantless hand-held scanner powers in New South Wales and Queensland, verified 21 July 2026. It does not address every Australian jurisdiction, and it is not legal advice about a specific search, detention or encounter with police. For advice about a specific situation, consult a legal practitioner admitted in the relevant Australian state or territory.