A FRESH START FOR QUEENSLAND Jack's Law becomes permanent in Queensland

• The Crisafulli Government has made Jack’s Law permanent, with the Parliament passing new legislation tonight.
• The Crisafulli Government’s Making Jack’s Law Permanent Bill includes changes that allow police to use hand-held scanners to detect deadly weapons in all public places.
• Passing of the Bill comes as police mark more than 3,000 arrests under Jack’s Law. 

The Crisafulli Government has passed the landmark Making Jack’s Law Permanent Bill in Parliament today, delivering on its commitment to strengthen community safety and prevent knife violence.  

Introduced in honour of 17-year-old Jack Beasley who tragically lost his life in a knife attack in 2019, the law empowers police to use hand-held metal detectors (wanding devices) to detect and seize concealed weapons in public places. 

Making Jack’s Law Permanent Bill allows police to search for weapons beyond designated precincts to any public area, enabling faster, intelligence-led interventions wherever the need arises. 

Between 2 April 2023 and 5 June 2025, police conducted 116,287 scans, arrested 3,080 people on 5,597 charges, and removed 1,126 deadly weapons from Queensland streets. 

The Bill also removes the sunset clause introduced by the former Labor Government, which would have seen the law expire after two years – a move that the Crisafulli Government rejected in favour of a permanent and proactive approach. 

Under the former Labor Government, crime was allowed to flourish due to a decade of weak laws that didn’t hold perpetrators accountable for their actions. 

The Crisafulli Government is delivering a fresh start for Queensland, adding more police to the frontline and strengthening the laws to make our communities safer. 

Minister for Police and Emergency Services Dan Purdie said making Jack’s Law permanent was a critical step towards restoring community safety. 

“Under the former Labor government, this lifesaving initiative would have abruptly ended,” Minister Purdie said. 

“Under Labor, there were unnecessary administrative burdens which have now been removed to allow police to effectively use Jack’s Law to detect and remove weapons off our streets.    

“Jack’s Law is a proven deterrent, and more than 3,000 arrests shows just how critical it has become in modern policing.