Knife Laws

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:43): My question is to the Attorney-General. Can the Attorney-General update the council about the government's nation-leading knife law reform commencement and weapon surrender?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (14:44): I thank the honourable member for his question and his very strong interest in knives and the proper regulation of them. Last week, the government announced the final phase of our nation-leading knife law reforms and when they will commence next year. The laws form the third phase of reforms requiring secure storage of knives for retailers and the display of prohibition notices, aimed at better protecting South Australians from opportunistic knife crime.

We know this will require a change to the way some retailers do business, which is why we have allowed for a 10-month lead-in time before these changes fully come into effect. This will ensure that affected businesses have time to understand how the new laws affect them, as well as allow retailers to take any necessary measures required to comply with requirements before they do commence.

Exemptions to the secure storage requirement for retailers will apply in cases where the knives being sold don't actually pose a threat, such as disposable bamboo knives used for the consumption of food, butter knives or similar knives sold in a cutlery set that do not have a sharp point or a sharp, dangerous edge, as well as razor blades that are permanently enclosed in a cartridge.

Exemptions will initially apply for fishing and tackle stores, in recognition of the impact of the algal bloom on these sectors. These will be set out in regulations in the coming months. These storage requirements are similar to what we have had in place for spray cans, which have been in place since 2001. We want to eliminate the potential to steal weapons from retailers and use them to threaten staff and other people in stores or in those sorts of retail environments, as well as committing offences elsewhere.

This is a final transfer of reforms in relation to this set of knife law reforms, which has included stronger search powers for police, including the ability to do metal detector wanding at shopping centres, public transport hubs and places where an incident of violence is likely to occur; a complete ban on the sale of dangerous knives to all minors; and reclassification of swords and machetes as prohibited weapons, where as a result penalties of up to $20,000 or two years' imprisonment will now apply for possession.

In conjunction with the reclassification of machetes and swords, the Commissioner of Police announced a three-month surrender period, which ends in two weeks, on 30 September at midnight. South Australians can continue to anonymously dispose of dangerous weapons to police stations outside the CBD until the end of September. After this date, anyone surrendering weapons will have to give their name and contact details.

It is pleasing to see South Australians respond in kind, and since the start of the three-month surrender period I am advised 2,343 weapons have been surrendered to SAPOL between 1 July and 4 September, including 1,156 machetes and 722 swords. That is an average of nearly 36 weapons a day that are not in public and potentially falling into the wrong hands. The government is grateful that so many members of the community have been ready to back these new laws by doing the right thing and getting rid of dangerous weapons. The safety of the community is a top priority for the government, and we are committed to ensuring the state has strong and effective laws in this respect.