Police wanding powers in NSW.

The news in short.

Wanding is the use of a handheld metal detector, a slim electronic wand, to scan a person for concealed metal. Most of the time the target is a knife. NSW police gained the power in December 2024 under the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) and Other Legislation Amendment (Knife Crime) Act 2024 (NSW). The scheme sits in Part 4A of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW), the Act most people know as LEPRA.

The power began as a trial. It was tied to a sunset date so Parliament could review it. In 2026 the review was done. The Government made the powers permanent, extended how long a scanning zone can run, and added more places where a zone can be declared. Operation Foil in the first week of July was the largest use of the power so far. The result is that a person going about an ordinary day in a train station, a shopping centre or a pub precinct can now be stopped and scanned without having done anything to raise suspicion.

The power is real, and it is broad, but it is not unlimited. The rest of this article sets out where it applies, what an officer can and cannot do, what happens if you say no, and what to do if a scan turns into a charge.

Can police scan you with a wand in NSW without a reason?

Inside a declared designated area, yes. This is the part of the scheme that surprises people. For the scan itself, the officer does not need a warrant, and does not need to suspect that you in particular are carrying a weapon. The whole point of the power is that it removes the ordinary requirement of reasonable suspicion for one narrow step: passing a wand over the outside of your clothing.

This is a real change. Outside a designated area, an officer cannot search you unless they hold a reasonable suspicion, on grounds an officer could later explain to a court, that you are carrying something unlawful. That test has been the backbone of stop-and-search law in NSW for decades. The wanding power carves out a set of places and a set of hours where the test does not apply to the scan. If the wand stays silent and the officer forms no suspicion, that is the end of it. You walk on.

What is a designated area for wanding in NSW?

A designated area is a place a senior officer has declared, in writing, so that wanding can take place there. The power cannot be switched on across the whole state as a matter of routine. It has to be declared for a defined place and a defined block of time.

The places that can be declared are set out in the Act. They include public transport stations and their surrounds, such as car parks and set-down areas; transport vehicles within two scheduled stops of a designated station; shopping precincts; sporting venues; pubs and clubs; and, since the 2026 changes, major entertainment venues. A declaration runs for a set period, now up to 24 hours after the 2026 amendments raised the cap from 12, and it can be extended if the criteria are met.

The declaration is not automatic. A senior officer can only declare a place where, in the previous 12 months, at least one offence was committed by a person armed with a knife or other weapon, or at least one serious indictable offence involving violence against a person occurred there. That history requirement is the main legal check on the power. If the trigger event did not happen, the declaration should not have been made, and a search that flows from an invalid declaration is open to challenge.

Is a wand scan the same as being searched?

No. A wand scan is meant to be non-invasive. The officer passes the detector over the outside of your clothing. It is not a pat-down, it is not a search of your bag, and it is not a direction to empty your pockets. The Act requires the officer to use the scanner in the least invasive way that is practical, to tell you their name and station, and to have their body-worn camera running.

The scan is only the first step. If the wand indicates metal, you can be asked to produce the item. If you produce a set of keys or a phone, the matter ends. If the wand indicates a weapon, or your behaviour gives the officer a reasonable suspicion, the officer can then move to a personal search. That further step is not authorised by the wanding power. It runs on the ordinary search provisions of LEPRA, which means the officer must be able to point to the suspicion that justified going further. The line between the scan and the search matters, because the two steps rest on different legal foundations and each can be tested separately.

What happens if you refuse to be scanned by police in NSW?

Refusing a lawful direction to be scanned in a designated area, without a reasonable excuse, is an offence. It can attract a fine of up to $5,500. The law does not give you a right to refuse simply because you know you are not carrying anything.

The bigger risk is what a refusal invites. A refusal, walking away after being told to stop, or giving a false name are the behaviours most likely to attract a charge on their own, on top of anything the scan might have found. A refusal can also feed into an officer's decision that there are now grounds for a full personal search. In practice, the safer course for most people is to comply with a lawful direction and to raise any complaint about the lawfulness of the stop afterwards, with a lawyer, rather than at the scene. If you think a direction is unlawful, say so calmly, do not resist physically, and note the officer's details.

Where did the NSW wanding powers come from?

The model is Queensland's Jack's Law. It is named after Jack Beasley, an 18-year-old who was fatally stabbed on the Gold Coast in 2019. Queensland introduced scanning powers in 2021 and later made them permanent. NSW followed with its own version, starting the trial in December 2024.

The NSW trial ran for about 18 months. Over roughly two years of operations, police recorded tens of thousands of scans, the seizure of hundreds of weapons, and a few hundred weapons charges. The Government pointed to those figures, to the statutory review, and to a recommendation from the inquest into the Bondi Junction attack, when it decided in mid-2026 to keep the powers. The amending law that took effect on 27 June 2026 removed the sunset clause, lifted the declaration cap from 12 to 24 hours, and expanded the list of eligible places to include major entertainment venues.

Not everyone agreed. Legal and community groups raised concerns about police discretion, about the effect on young people and on Aboriginal communities, and about scanning being used in a way that is anything but random. Those concerns did not stop the powers being made permanent, but they are part of the record, and they inform how a court will look at whether a given use of the power was fair and within the law.

Can a wand scan lead to a criminal charge?

Yes, and this is where the power meets the charge list. If a scan and any follow-up search finds a knife in a public place, the usual charge is custody of a knife in a public place or school under section 11C of the Summary Offences Act 1988 (NSW). The maximum penalty is 20 penalty units, currently $2,200, or two years imprisonment, or both. The defence turns on reasonable excuse, and the burden of proving that excuse is on the accused. Our page on custody of a knife in NSW sets out how that runs.

If the scan finds a prohibited weapon, the stakes are higher. A taser, a stun device, a flick knife or a set of knuckledusters is dealt with under the Weapons Prohibition Act 1998 (NSW), where the maximum penalty for unlawful possession is 14 years. Our page on unauthorised possession of a firearm covers the parallel firearms regime that catches the guns seized in operations like Foil.

The first question in any of these matters is whether the police did what the law required. Was the area validly declared? Did a trigger offence occur there in the past 12 months? Did the officer identify themselves, run the camera, and stay within a non-invasive scan? Did the follow-up search rest on a genuine reasonable suspicion, or on the refusal alone? Where a step was not authorised, the evidence obtained may be challenged under section 138 of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), which lets a court exclude evidence that was improperly or unlawfully obtained. The court weighs the seriousness of the breach against the value of the evidence. It is not an automatic exclusion, but it is a real argument, and it is the argument that most often decides these matters.

What we do for clients charged after a wand scan.

The work starts with the brief. We ask for the declaration itself, the record of the offence that triggered it, the body-worn video, and the officer's notes on what was said and done. Each of those documents can be tested. A declaration that does not identify a valid trigger, a scan that went further than the Act allows, or a search that rested on nothing but a refusal, all give a defence lawyer something to work with.

For a person with a clean record charged with custody of a knife, the subjective case matters as much as the legal argument. A section 10 outcome, which avoids a conviction, is achievable for a first offence with a credible reasonable-excuse account and strong character material. Where the item is a prohibited weapon, or where the scan was part of a wider set of charges, the matter is more serious and the defence is built accordingly. Either way, the advice is the same on the first call: do not enter a plea before the brief is read.

Frequently asked.

Can police scan you with a wand in NSW without a reason?

Yes, but only in a declared designated area. Inside a designated area a police officer may scan you with a handheld metal detector without a warrant and without any individual suspicion that you are carrying a weapon. Outside a designated area the officer needs the ordinary reasonable suspicion under LEPRA before searching you.

What is a designated area for wanding in NSW?

An area a senior officer has declared in writing so that wanding can take place. Eligible places include transport stations and their surrounds, transport vehicles within two stops of a designated station, shopping precincts, sporting venues, pubs and clubs, and major entertainment venues. A declaration can only be made where a knife or weapon offence, or a serious indictable offence involving violence, occurred at that place in the previous 12 months.

What happens if you refuse to be scanned by police in NSW?

Refusing a lawful direction to be scanned in a designated area, without a reasonable excuse, is an offence. It can attract a fine of up to $5,500. A refusal can also give police grounds to consider a full personal search, and walking away after a lawful direction to stop can lead to arrest.

Is a wand scan the same as being searched?

No. A wand scan is a non-invasive pass of a handheld detector over the outside of your clothing. It is not a pat-down and it is not a search of your bags or pockets. If the wand indicates metal, or the officer forms a reasonable suspicion, a personal search may follow under the ordinary search provisions of the Act.

Where did the NSW wanding powers come from?

They are modelled on Queensland's Jack's Law, named after Jack Beasley, who was fatally stabbed in 2019. NSW introduced wanding on a trial basis in December 2024. In 2026, after a statutory review and a recommendation from the Bondi Junction inquest, the powers were made permanent, the maximum declaration period was extended to 24 hours, and major entertainment venues were added to the eligible places.

Can a wand scan lead to a criminal charge?

Yes. If a scan and any follow-up search finds a knife, the usual charge is custody of a knife in a public place under section 11C of the Summary Offences Act 1988. A prohibited weapon such as a taser is charged under the Weapons Prohibition Act 1998, which carries far heavier maximum penalties. Whether the designation and the search were lawful is often the first question a defence lawyer asks.

To speak to a criminal defence lawyer, call Aaron Kernaghan on 0421 717 019.

This article is written by Aaron Kernaghan, criminal defence lawyer at Good Legal Lawyers, as at 7 July 2026. It is commentary and reflects the personal opinion of the author only. It is not legal advice, it is not a substitute for advice on your own matter, and it does not purport to be accurate or complete. Any matter referred to may be before the court and any person charged is presumed innocent. For advice on a specific matter, contact Aaron Kernaghan on 0421 717 019 or contact the firm.

More criminal-law commentary by Aaron Kernaghan.

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